Thoughts At One In The Morning is proud to present a blog post series for unpublished writers on the self-publishing world. I have asked four indie authors to share with you the different steps they have taken on their journey. They will discuss the writing process itself, the steps in between, and publishing itself. Please join us every week for a new topic on the journey to becoming an indie author!
Our Indie Author panel:
Marie Landry, author of Blue Sky Days
You can find her on her blog Ramblings Of A Daydreamer.
A.M. Hargrove, author of The Guardians Of The Vesteron series
You can find her on her blog A.M. Hargrove.
Avery Sawyer, author of Notes To Self
You can find her on her website The Teashop Girls.
Michelle Flick, author of The Owens Legacy: Revelations
You can find her on her blog Oh! For the LOVE of BOOKS!.
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This week on The Journey of Self-Publishing:
Marie Landry: When the book was first published, I did extensive promotion, between the blog tour, regular blogging, and talking about it on Twitter and Facebook.
Avery Sawyer: I offered book bloggers review copies. I used social networking to announce the book. I planned free days and promoted them on social networking.
Marie Landry: No. I had an idea for one, but without having a paperback copy, it was pretty much impossible. I haven’t scrapped the idea entirely though; it’s filed away under ‘maybe someday’. ;-)
Avery Sawyer: No, although I am thinking of getting some bookmarks printed up so I have something to hand people in real life.
Marie Landry: No. My promotional budget was pretty much non-existent, so I had to come up with other ways to get the word out. I’ve heard that GoodReads ads are really effective though, so if I had the money, that’s where I’d spend it.
Avery Sawyer: I did a little bit of Facebook advertising, but I don’t think it worked.
Avery Sawyer: In the case of my self-pubbed titles, no. They are electronic only.
Marie Landry: I wanted to order bookmarks, but the sites that made the type I want only ship within the States, and I’m in Canada. Other things I thought of weren’t in my budget, but I wanted something, so I had a friend create a Blue Sky Days jewelry line with handmade beaded bookmarks and necklaces for four of the main characters, and I gave some of those away during the launch.
Avery Sawyer: Not yet.
~Promotion~
What ways did you use to promote your book?
Marie Landry: When the book was first published, I did extensive promotion, between the blog tour, regular blogging, and talking about it on Twitter and Facebook.
Avery Sawyer: I offered book bloggers review copies. I used social networking to announce the book. I planned free days and promoted them on social networking.
A.M. Hargrove: I started through Amazon and Smashwords. Then I got wise to Goodreads and how it could help. I also started Tweeting. If I had been smart, I would have jumped on Twitter long before I did. I didn't join until after I published. DO NOT do that. Join WAY before you publish. Start building up your followers. Use it as a place not only to promote but to make contacts. Twitter is filled with people doing the same thing--self-publishing --and they can help you SO much. It's a totally awesome social media platform. I also use my website and blog, although I don't really enjoy blogging that much. I think the reason behind that is I don't read many blogs unless they are book reviews. I'm not going to blog about other books because I think it can come off as caddy -- you know, if I read a book I don't like and review it, it may sound bad coming from another author. I think a lot of bloggers have awesome sites and are very creative, but it's just not really my thing. I mainly use my website and blog for information on my books--upcoming tours, releases, etc.
Did you do any real life promotions?
Marie Landry: No. I had an idea for one, but without having a paperback copy, it was pretty much impossible. I haven’t scrapped the idea entirely though; it’s filed away under ‘maybe someday’. ;-)
Avery Sawyer: No, although I am thinking of getting some bookmarks printed up so I have something to hand people in real life.
Did you pay for an ad on a site?
Marie Landry: No. My promotional budget was pretty much non-existent, so I had to come up with other ways to get the word out. I’ve heard that GoodReads ads are really effective though, so if I had the money, that’s where I’d spend it.
Avery Sawyer: I did a little bit of Facebook advertising, but I don’t think it worked.
Did you get hard copies of your book to giveaway?
Avery Sawyer: In the case of my self-pubbed titles, no. They are electronic only.
A.M. Hargrove: I haven't done the print version of my books yet, but I am considering it. so I can't do any hard copy giveaways. I have don a lot of ebook giveaways though. I've done them through blog tours, reviews and through Smashwords itself.
Did you get other media like bookmarks, postcards, buttons with your book on it made?
Marie Landry: I wanted to order bookmarks, but the sites that made the type I want only ship within the States, and I’m in Canada. Other things I thought of weren’t in my budget, but I wanted something, so I had a friend create a Blue Sky Days jewelry line with handmade beaded bookmarks and necklaces for four of the main characters, and I gave some of those away during the launch.
Avery Sawyer: Not yet.
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Thank you for the great advice on promotion!
Join us next week when our Indie Author panel will tell us about The First Few Months after publishing and how to keep the interest going on your novel.
~If you liked this, check out the earlier editions of The Journey of Self-Publishing series~
~If you liked this, check out the earlier editions of The Journey of Self-Publishing series~
