I just opened an email that I probably shouldn't have opened before coffee. It was titled "Get your book noticed by libraries and bookstores", and since that's what I've been trying to find a marketer to find out how one does such things, I opened it....
Surprise, surprise, surprise, as the old character, Gomer Pyle, used to say on the Andy Griffith Show.
The email says that a review needs to be placed in a certain magazine in order for the bookstores and libraries to see my books and note that they are worth buying. The review needs to be done by one of the magazines staff members. The staff member needs to be paid $350 for each month one wants the review to appear for this magazine.
Obviously, the company that hit up my email address for this kind of cash infusion into their business so that I can get mine off the ground doesn't realize that, although I doubled my income between the re-issues of two books and the publication of the third over the past 18 months, I still only made $50 on the year in royalties for the books and Kindles sold on Amazon. No one at all bought my books from Barnes & Noble over the year.
Considering that I'm spending more per month than I made on the year for the business credit card that I used to hire the models for the front covers, and that I took a HUGE gamble to try to boost sales (which didn't happen as I'd hoped, so I gambled and lost), this "marketing scheme" doesn't appeal to me at all, even on the off chance that someone would actually put my books into a library should this magazine ACTUALLY be a legit thing that gets into the hands of those in charge of buying for the libraries. I'm thinking I'd be better off to do as I did before, and just get a couple of copies of the books to put into the libraries in the towns where I lived and grew up here in the state. At least if people in Gray, Bangor, and Dexter can pick up a book at the local library and pass the reviews on by word of mouth, should they like them, I might manage to get a few more people to go and pick up copies at Amazon or Barnes & Noble for next year - and it certainly WOULDN'T cost me $350 per month to do so.....
So, for those who follow this blog in the hope that I'm going to spill the beans on some major secret of how to get your books into bookstores and libraries, therefore giving your indie book a chance at becoming a New York Times Bestseller (which is ENTIRELY based on book sales through book stores, mind), I'm going to leave you with a word of caution, as I've obviously skipped something along the way that would encourage people to buy, buy, buy......
Be very careful where you spend your money when you start gambling on ideas of how to boost sales. In my own experience, the beautiful covers I have from hiring models and the sweet people who've modeled for me (and brought TONS of engagement to my Facebook fan pages when I post their photos as the characters I asked them to portray) didn't pan out as sales, but I've made some very marvelous friends. The advertising schemes also didn't pan out as well as simply keeping this blog and writing about such things as I've shared this morning. In short, for the indie authors and publishers out there, the best thing that can happen to you is to gain free advertising from those who have purchased the books and put their reviews in places like Goodreads or Amazon.
Now I'm off to file my tax paperwork, produce the proof that I had a major loss in my business (with proper documentation for the US government so I get a little tax break because of the gamble that didn't pay off), and pray that somehow, some day, I'll be able to get my books into at least the LOCAL bookstores and libraries so that my fellow Mainers can at least wander through and find one on the rack. Otherwise, that cover gambit won't EVER pay off......
Blessed be, and thank you for the almost 3000 views that I've gathered on this blog since I started it in 2013. Even if the books aren't selling, it's still a major thrill to see how many people in other countries come and visit this place where I can share my thoughts with y'all.....
Surprise, surprise, surprise, as the old character, Gomer Pyle, used to say on the Andy Griffith Show.
The email says that a review needs to be placed in a certain magazine in order for the bookstores and libraries to see my books and note that they are worth buying. The review needs to be done by one of the magazines staff members. The staff member needs to be paid $350 for each month one wants the review to appear for this magazine.
Obviously, the company that hit up my email address for this kind of cash infusion into their business so that I can get mine off the ground doesn't realize that, although I doubled my income between the re-issues of two books and the publication of the third over the past 18 months, I still only made $50 on the year in royalties for the books and Kindles sold on Amazon. No one at all bought my books from Barnes & Noble over the year.
Considering that I'm spending more per month than I made on the year for the business credit card that I used to hire the models for the front covers, and that I took a HUGE gamble to try to boost sales (which didn't happen as I'd hoped, so I gambled and lost), this "marketing scheme" doesn't appeal to me at all, even on the off chance that someone would actually put my books into a library should this magazine ACTUALLY be a legit thing that gets into the hands of those in charge of buying for the libraries. I'm thinking I'd be better off to do as I did before, and just get a couple of copies of the books to put into the libraries in the towns where I lived and grew up here in the state. At least if people in Gray, Bangor, and Dexter can pick up a book at the local library and pass the reviews on by word of mouth, should they like them, I might manage to get a few more people to go and pick up copies at Amazon or Barnes & Noble for next year - and it certainly WOULDN'T cost me $350 per month to do so.....
So, for those who follow this blog in the hope that I'm going to spill the beans on some major secret of how to get your books into bookstores and libraries, therefore giving your indie book a chance at becoming a New York Times Bestseller (which is ENTIRELY based on book sales through book stores, mind), I'm going to leave you with a word of caution, as I've obviously skipped something along the way that would encourage people to buy, buy, buy......
Be very careful where you spend your money when you start gambling on ideas of how to boost sales. In my own experience, the beautiful covers I have from hiring models and the sweet people who've modeled for me (and brought TONS of engagement to my Facebook fan pages when I post their photos as the characters I asked them to portray) didn't pan out as sales, but I've made some very marvelous friends. The advertising schemes also didn't pan out as well as simply keeping this blog and writing about such things as I've shared this morning. In short, for the indie authors and publishers out there, the best thing that can happen to you is to gain free advertising from those who have purchased the books and put their reviews in places like Goodreads or Amazon.
Now I'm off to file my tax paperwork, produce the proof that I had a major loss in my business (with proper documentation for the US government so I get a little tax break because of the gamble that didn't pay off), and pray that somehow, some day, I'll be able to get my books into at least the LOCAL bookstores and libraries so that my fellow Mainers can at least wander through and find one on the rack. Otherwise, that cover gambit won't EVER pay off......
Blessed be, and thank you for the almost 3000 views that I've gathered on this blog since I started it in 2013. Even if the books aren't selling, it's still a major thrill to see how many people in other countries come and visit this place where I can share my thoughts with y'all.....
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