Down Time?

What does Debra do in between releases?

It's been a while since I've had a new release. My last release was New Year's Eve at The Corral which made its debut last December. The beginning of this year started out with a fairly major dry spell for me. I was away from writing for a really, really long time. I picked it back up in the summer again and was able to make enough progress to submit a completed story to a new publisher in October. As you know, now I'm in a holding pattern on that one until I hear back...probably in January or February.

In the meantime, I spent the month of November on a new project and won my first NaNoWriMo. At some point I need to finish up that mss and get it polished to send off...somewhere. It will all depend on what happens with the submission I have out there right now. I have to admit, I was a bit burned out after NaNo and haven't really been back at actual writing with any kind of consistent schedule at all. But I'll get back to it. The characters and setting are never far from my mind, I just needed a little break after the intensity of November.

In December I participated in a Facebook release party for a fellow TWRP author. I'd done a very simplified release party for myself once, but had never participated in one for another author with a multitude of 'hosts'. It was quite the adventure! I learned a lot. During the event I noticed that many of the authors have really neat 'promo ads' as I call them. (I'm sure they have an actual name, but that label works for me!) Since I've been trying to be a bit more active on social media, I've noticed a lot of these 'promo ads' as well on both Facebook and Twitter.

So I decided to give it a go. I'm a big fan of Publisher, so I did some copying, pasting, cropping, resizing, and downloading free clip art and graphics, and I've been creating my own promo ads. After creating in Publisher, I save as a jpeg and then I can just insert into posts on Facebook and Twitter as a picture. Here are the ones I've done so far:

This week I'll do one for my NYE story, and then probably put together ones for my other books as well. I also want to do one for my Corral series and one for just the holiday stories. They're pretty quick and easy to do. I don't spend hours and hours on them for sure. A professional graphic artist would probably do a bit better with design and layout, but for me, they work. And they're fun for me to do! I try to do each one a little bit differently, but I'm really digging the cover inside a e-reader device, so I tend to use that a lot. Sometimes I include a blurb or a tag line or a review.

I've joined some book marketing Facebook sites, so last week I was really plugging my Christmas stories. Even though they aren't new releases, it's been fun breathing new life into them with different posts and these 'promo ads'.

So, no, an author doesn't really ever have down time, it's all a matter of figuring out how to drive readers your way, whether your release is brand spanking new, or if you're just revisiting it to attract a new audience. Updating my web-site and taking a look at Instagram are also on my to-do list in the next couple of weeks.

Until next time,

Happy Reading and Happy New Year!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Book Promotion

Ana forwards a great Jerri Hines post about book promotion

http://romanticpicks.wordpress.com/2014/07/26/write-a-good-book-and-they-will-readwith-the-right-promotion/

Write a Good Book and they will read…with the right Promotion!

 JULY 26, 2014 BY JERRI HINES

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One of the things I appreciate about being an Indie writer is the support we give each other. In this business, there is so much more than writing. Two of the most important issues Indie writers have besides writing a good book is promotions and reviews. Today I want to share what I have learned about promotions.

I went to the NEC conference in Salem, Massachusetts back in 2013. While there, I attended a workshop with Marie Force. The question arose on what promotions work. She had one answer— Book Bub. At the time, I had never heard of Book Bub. How naïve I was…when I got home, I discovered my book, Seductive Secrets, was on their website page cover. It explained a lot…why my books were selling. No matter what anyone says, Book Bub is a force in our industry.

I feel I owe Book Bub. I acknowledge that I wouldn’t be an Amazon bestselling author without their promotions. There are several of us that owe Book Bub. The bottom line of being an author is getting your book into the hands of readers. Book Bub gave that opportunity to me.

It’s the importance of promotion for no matter how great your book is, it won’t sell without promoting it in the right place.

There is one problem with Book Bub. It’s hard to get own their site. You notice that I didn’t say the price of their promotion, which range for $.99 bargain books from $640 for a Mystery, $580 for a Contemporary Romance to $500 for a Historical. It is cheaper for freebies and other genre. I say that the cost is relative to the results you receive. For the savvy author, you promote a book in a series…that’s where you make the most money. But even if you don’t have a book in a series, you will make the cost of your advertise plus. I believe its money well invested.

But what happens when you can’t get on Book Bub…what works? I have a few suggestions. Now these are based on my experience. Others may other suggestions. I have made it a point this year to try as many sites as possible. I am not saying anything negative about any site. What didn’t work for me, may work for someone else. I’m only including what has worked for me.

ENT- Ereaders News Today. Great place especially for the money spent. I use eBook Booster when I run a $.99 special. I find it is the best way to get on ENT. eBook Booster charges a fee for submitting your book to a list of sites. Money well spent in my opinion.

OHFB- A new site that is exciting to me. I place my last special with them. Several things I like about this site. Under their FAQ, they make a statement about their promotions. I found that they delivered what they promised. They also gave me my numbers from their site, which I found extremely useful. I highly recommend this site.

BOOKSENDS- I have used this site a few times with good results.

PEOPLESREAD- This one I have used a few times recently. Cheap advertising with decent results. For the money, well worth it.

Now there are tons of other places…like I’ve said these are the ones that have worked best for me that I’ve paid for… I’ve heard Pixel of Ink is a wonderful place to advertise as well. I can’t say. I’ve only had one free book on their site a couple of years ago. They haven’t taken anything of mine since. I have also heard good things about Pixel Scroll.

Now I can recommend other places like:

GOOD BOOKS, GREAT READS- Wonderful site. Recommend checking it out.

Some sites are free. You can go to Author Marketing Club and get list to where you can submit for free.

I asked other authors for suggestions. I had one suggest The Romance Studio. I have not used them, but she said that she was happy with her results.

I, also, had another author who was kind enough to share information she has accumulated. If you are looking for review sites, she has a comprehensive list. SHADOWS OF THE PASTblog has a whole list of free review sites.

You may notice that this list isn’t that long. Marie Force is right. Not many promotions can guarantee results. If you have had results from a site, please let me know. I will include it in my author resources page.

Hope this helps anyone interested in promotions. Have a great day!