So, Jenny Elliott and I were talking about marketing stuff and she said that another author had complimented our tactics. Said the only thing that could be made better was the price. I love even numbers and have been doing everything at an even price. Apparently that is a bit of a bad thing.
So I went back and fixed the ebook price by a penny… for everything. And in doing it…Word Play got “republished” on draft2digital. Which means that they decided to review it. And it was written back in the all Amazon days. So I have to go back and fix it. The manuscript has several mentions in it of Amazon. Which causes d2d fits. It means I have to get it done before I can get that one available for Kobo and Apple books. Grrrr. Yeah I will get it done, but I’m annoyed because I thought I was done with it.
I’m also annoyed because I am fairly certain that I created the problem myself. And adding to my own workload is just assine.
The next few months are going to be busy for me. (Yes I seem to do that to myself a lot) So, as I am sitting here trying to get all my weekend work caught up, I realize that my poor blog is AGAIN neglected. Friday we are releasing Andrew McDowell‘s second edition of Mystical Greenwood. That means I am trying to gather images and activities for the release day on our Facebook Party Room group. I have things I am trying to put together for the Fae Corps Blog…again to get everyone possible to see his book.
That is just the first thing I am doing. Then, I have our Halloween Anthology. This year it is called Darkness Screams. It received so many outstanding submissions that I split it to accommodate the quality of stories. (I have done this before with other anthologies)
So I am neck-deep in editing, Marketing image creation, and formatting for these two. I give myself two months to do this with each anthology because I have a routine. Once approved I invite the author/artist to join the company discord. I have each anthology set up in a private room within the channel. This allows Files to be shared and questions answered easier. I ask everyone to sign a contract (So I can legally publish their story/art/ poetry and they have protections of their copyright) I ask for a bio written in 3rd person and an image to represent them. (I say an image because I have had a few who gave me photoshopped images, due to personal reasons. ) Then I sit down and put together a rough draft of the anthology. I don’t worry in the first rough about perfect formatting or having it be edited and polished. After I get a feel for how the anthology will flow, I feel like I am more capable to suggest edits. Yeah, that seems so silly…the grammar will not change based on how it fits in the book, right? Actually, it might. It will help me to see the story on its own instead of trying to place it mentally in an imaginary book. I send the suggestions to the author and give them a deadline for when I need to see the finished copy.
Then I start while waiting for the stories to come back…to make images to catch the interest of possible readers. I do (For most of the anthologies) a cover reveal, A author/artist list for each anthology, A image to represent each story, and a meet the author/artist graphic. That can be quite the undertaking. In Darkness screams that is 3 graphics just to list the author/artist in each one. I, as you can see above, combined the cover reveals. I have already today done the story graphics for each book.
I still have more to do just for the anthologies… Then I have another book we are releasing in October. The third book in Ashira Dayta’s Magick Saga. (The cover reveal should be happening soon on Fae corps Blog. I am quite proud of that cover) It releases on October 31st. I have to do some images for marketing it as well.
Then I have other projects that are ongoing and need my attention. (For example Formatting for a Poetry book by NK – Titled Valley of Thoughts. We are supposed to be releasing that next year. Editing for Ruan Bradford Wright’s Novel Toe-Rag which is expected to release in February. Writing my own poetry and prose books. And just being a mom and person who has housework that is not getting done more often than not.)
I honestly intend to do this blog every week..but I end up overwhelmed. I think I will just post some of my poetry this week. I thank you for your patience. I swear I am not forgetting y’all.
Coffee House Writers is releasing two anthologies this winter! With nearly three dozen writers and over one hundred pieces total, there is something for everyone in these collections.
Paperbacks of both will be available internationally on the two release days as well!
#NIghtmareWhispers PRE-ORDERS ARE HERE! Nightmare Whispers Volume 1: The Darkness Within releases on October 31st 2020, but if you act now you can pre-order yourself a copy of the books for the discounted price of $5.#NWTheDarknessWithin #Anthologies #Horror- Pre-Order Here: http://www.books2read.com/Nwthedarknesswithin
#NIghtmareWhispers PRE-ORDERS ARE HERE! Nightmare Whispers Volume 2: Madness Echoes releases on October 31st 2020, but if you act now you can pre-order yourself a copy of the books for the discounted price of $5.#NWMadnessEchoes #Anthologies #Horror - Pre-Order Here: http://www.books2read.com/NWMadnessEchoes
#NIghtmareWhispers PRE-ORDERS ARE HERE! Nightmare Whispers Volume 3: What Remains releases on October 31st 2020, but if you act now you can pre-order yourself a copy of the books for the discounted price of $5.#NWWhatRemains #Anthologies #Horror- Pre-Order Here: http://www.books2read.com/NWWhatRemains
I decided to do something fun today for Monday Poetry…I decided to show y’all my poetry related pinterest boards. Pinterest is a black hole for me, a time sink where I will lose track of time. So let me show you some of what I have been doing there.
first board is other poets and fun bits of lyrics. I enjoy reading poetry as much as writing poetry. so I save the ones I like.
The second board is Prompts. because sometimes the muse is a fickle thing.
Above you see my two current decks. The way that I do readings is simple. You let me know which you want, I read, you donate to my PayPal what you feel appropriate. The options are 1 card or 3 cards. I read what I see in the cards. You don’t have to ask questions or give me information. It is a fairly simple reading either way.
Now if you want a video chat reading with more of a complex read… I use the Celtic Cross layout. 7 cards. I will send if asked a recording of the reading (Done in Zoom) That is $25 straight up. That one I ask for the money up front as it is a very time consuming affair.
I always am as discreet as you would like. For any reading you receive a picture of the cards and my reading of them. And you always choose the deck.
Ok… You have a manuscript written and ready for publishing… Now what? Here comes what I think is the hardest part of it… You have to build up interest. If you are a introverted shut in like me, you don’t do well with face to face. Personal sales are always going to be better. People always find it harder to say no in person.
Still, it is not hopeless. Eye catching promotions with a good blurb, a good cover with a intriguing title…. These are essential for a online sales campaign. Setting up a preorder helps too. (I found that out the hard way. Impatience is a flaw… Lol)
So you start with the title and cover. You have a blurb (it is the description you wrote for the back cover). This is enough to start doing some promo images.
I have recommended Canva before, it is free to use. Premium only opens fonts and images that are locked. Having recently dealt with new authors learning about this, I think that the advice most need is to experiment. You want easy to read and pleasing to the eye.
The images above are examples of promo images. These were all done for Fae Corps Through the Sunshine anthology. Note that the text is eye-catching but readable. All include the story blurb, the cover, and the author picture and name. Each is a little bit unique with a common theme. You can do multiple images, that is ok. You should share to each of your social media outlets and try to get your friends to do the same.
Some of the marketing is understanding your ideal reader. Not everyone is your reader. If you try to please everyone you will fail. Like Serena… Her ideal reader for her books is generally one who enjoys a good dark side. Horror and dark fantasy that is blunt in how it deals with the story. One that doesn’t shy away from a little gore. The story in Through the Sunshine is a little lighter for her usual. My reader is usually children or those who love poetry.
You also want to consider the world stage. This affects the reader greatly. Right now people are clamoring for escaping from the mess of the real world.
So you have the reader in mind…make an image to appeal to that person. For example… For Serena’s The Death of Neverland I searched for bloody journal… Added the book cover, some text to invite curiosity, and the link to buy the book.
Note that the link is in red to make it more visible. Be careful with colors. You need for people who are color blind or visibly impaired to be able to read it without trouble. Brighter colors in fonts often hamper such. Also bright yellow and white background colors can be painful.
Hope that this helps. Do you have any questions on marketing? (Another thing to look for is blogs that are willing to post book promotions. I do on occasion. So does Functionally Fiction who also does book reviews.) Reviews are your biggest promotion. Many readers will base their choice on reviews.
Pattimouse 