Being an indie author isn’t exactly glamorous. No one is
toasting you in New York. Your books aren’t gracing the front window display at
B&N. They’re not written about in USA Today or the Times either. You’re not
getting a whole lot of invitations to conferences or book signings. And
interviews on TV or radio? Forget it. Those communication vehicles are reserved
for authors signed by the big publishing companies. No, as an indie author, you’re
probably toiling in obscurity just hoping that one day your big audience will
find you.
But how do they do that? Spamming your Twitter followers
certainly isn’t a viable solution (no matter how dedicated some indie authors
seem to be to this method.) Facebook ads and webpage banners don’t seem to be
the magic ingredient. Paid book reviews might work, but you’re either paying a
fortune to a company like Kirkus or you’re cheating and facing a potential ban
from the very sites you need to be listed on.
No, the only way to establish a robust audience as an indie
author seems to be through the natural growth and buzz that legitimate book
reviews on Amazon generate. The more people that post something positive about
your work on that site, the more other people notice and decide to buy it for
themselves. A reader browses through books in a particular genre. A couple of book
covers, titles, or blurbs catch their eye. Which one are they more likely to
purchase, the one with a handful of reviews or the one that 100+ people publicly
recommend?
You know the answer to that one and so do I. That’s why I bit
the bullet and gave away the ebook version of my post-apocalyptic novel Storm Orphans last weekend. Almost 1000 people downloaded it over the course of those
three days. It had eight reviews at the time the promotion began. Yes, they’re
very positive reviews, but just eight of them after two years on the market. In
the three days since, a ninth review has been added to the list. Bless that
ninth person! “bsslady_j” you rock! Now I sit and wait to see how many more of
those 1000 people read, enjoy, and post something about my zombie-slaying crew on
Amazon. The more that do, the more likely others will take their lead and
decide to click that “Buy now” button.
Giving away the result of a year of work wasn’t an easy
decision, but it is a strategy. Now we’ll see if it pays off.
Love your writings!!
ReplyDeleteLove your writings!!
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