I have recently received a flurry of emails from authors all experiencing the same things …
Their books are gathering dust on the shelves (including the cyberspace shelves…)
Giveaway or Freebie days are great, lots of books downloaded or given away, then, when the book price returns, nothing moves and reviews from readers are scarce, if at all, even from the Giveaway in exchange for honest reviews…
WHAT ARE THEY DOING WRONG?
Answer = Nothing.
ARE THEIR STORIES THAT BAD?
Answer = No, probably not.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a magic wand to change the situation many of you are in, nor can I utter any words of wisdom.
However, I can remind you all that my blog was set up to be a resource for authors and to expand the existing publicity opportunities for them to promote themselves and their books.
This includes having every kind of share button possible, provided by WordPress, available under each article, so that even though I use them to share the articles everywhere I have a presence (see the list on my About page), the authors themselves can ALSO use them to share with their friends, fans and family, as well as on their own Twitter, Facebook, etc, accounts.
Now, I am not saying that my blog will make your books fly off the shelves, but I can say it provides a means for you to get that little bit more publicity.
Here’s how:
For Authors, there are two types of post I do on my blog:
Featured Author
Where I have to research my subject author (these take up a lot of my time) and the articles are posted (almost) daily. I try to have as many completed (draft) articles in reserve as I can because they take so long to generate.
Guest author
Where the authors email me their own promo article, complete with details of their books, websites, and a photo of themselves that they won’t be embarrassed by 🙂
Guest posts are normally sent out on Fridays (but I don’t mind sending them out any other day the author prefers, either way I need at least 3 days to prepare them for publishing online.
The Guest Author articles can be as long as they like to make them, most authors are not shy but tend to spend most of their efforts on detailing their books, which I think is a pity, because ‘The Readers’ DO also seem to like knowing all about these creative people, including what they look like. Hence the tendency for photo’s and personal blurbs on most books printed nowadays (especially Hardbacks) and authors profiles on the Online bookstores (which I notice are not always exploited by authors…).
Publishing Houses don’t do these things just to fill a space, like every other business, there are reasons why they do things.
I have been asked why I don’t post the reviews of books I’ve read, on my own blog, after all, I do book reviews, including posting them on Goodreads, Amazon (.com and .co.uk), Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, or wherever else the author needs them posted.
The reasons are that my reading time has become severely restricted now, for various reasons, so it takes me a while to get through books (what I could normally have read in a day now takes me a week)and I don’t want this blog to become another Books Review Site. That is why I have included a list of Book Reviewers on my blog.
If you look down the left column of my Main Blog Home page, you will find a list of Book Reviewer sites, I don’t know if they charge or not, but I do know they give good, constructive and well balanced reviews on their blogs (and in some cases, also on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, etc)
If you use any of them and they publish their review of your book on their blogs, don’t forget that most WordPress based blogs have a reblog option at the top of the page (you will need to be signed in to your own WordPress based blog to see it) plus, they usually have share buttons, so their reviews can be shared all over the place, (that’s why I have so many share buttons, so authors can share my articles about them with their own friends and fans in addition to what I do as a matter of routine).
One thing to remember, YOU are not alone in having books seem popular during giveaways, etc, then seem to fall out of favour when they need to be bought …
I suspect that the General Public, aka ‘The Buyers’ (unless they order through their local Libraries), in these uncertain economic times, consider books (like so many other so called ‘non-essential’ things) to be the last thing on their minds to spend money on.
So all I can advise is for you to adhere to the three “P’s”
publicity … Publicity … PUBLICITY at EVERY opportunity.
One last thing…you all know this blog started on 4th April 2013, have a look at the stats on the top of the left column…in 2½ months this blog has had over 8000 visitors and gathered 320 followers from around the world, so it must be having SOME effect.
But, it could have even more impact if these stats were increased by several factors and that is where YOUR SUPPORT comes in, providing you think it is worthy of it.
In order to give YOU more publicity and spread the word about your books, this blog needs to increase its readership even more, therefore, I am asking you to spread the word about it to all your friends, family, fans and complete strangers so that they come along, see for themselves what a wonderful bunch of people authors are and, hopefully, decide to come back time after time.
This is NOT an ego trip for me, I’m already a happy ape…this is about YOU getting more publicity!
It’s every authors dream to become famous and live off the proceeds of their book sales and it is my ambition to help you to do just that…
WHY? I hear you shout…
Because without books teaching me things, so I would try and do things that I’d never otherwise have tried or done, and also transporting me away from the mundane aspects of life, from a very early age, I would have gone completely barking mad before I had the chance to actually DO anything with my life.
As it is, I’ve had a full, active and interesting life (and still continues to be those things) and I strongly feel that it’s PAYBACK time!
THIS is why I keep asking if there is more I could be doing for you, are there more Groups I should join, other ways I should promote you in order to spread the word about you and your books?
Your spreading the word about this blog is needed!
Your comments are needed!
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog 
I can honestly say that I have only not read downloaded freebies on a couple of occasions – and only because I really wasn’t enjoying them. I download only when I’m looking for something to read, and if I find I’m getting behind I will stop downloading and catch up. I have gone on to buy other books from authors I have enjoyed.
I don’t have any decision to make about free downloads – I’m technologically unable to get onto Kindle! My books only download from Apple or Blurb and I can’t afford to do freebies from there, as both charge me for the downloads if I set the price as free. Decision made! Giving freebies is one thing, paying for people to download freebies is another kettle of fish.
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Another great post Chris and I don’t think free days like Amazon Select offers are the way to get more sales. Like you said, during there are heaps of downloads (seen it with friends) and after no sales or very few. I’m not of a mind to give away my hard work. I have one small book permanently free (it contains a short which won a contest and another in the same theme. Plus I could only use the picture I wanted as a cover if I wouldn’t make any money of it. The opportunity and incentive to make the book perma free and use it as a gift/sample of my writing whenever I want to give something away)
Like Jo I overspend on books all the time, but I even sometimes refuse free books, because I feel it is unfair to accept knowing I have a reading list which will take me at least three months to get through and I read a book every four days on average.
I’m just saying people love free, but forget the author behind the free book. Like you I dedicate my blog to the promotion of authors (pay it forward, you know?) and the odd review I post on it for books I particularly loved, the ones that don’t make it to that level do not get a review at all. Instead I mail the author telling them why I won’t be able to give a public review on their work. Sometimes they’re grateful and see my points and sometimes they get malicious. Which always puzzles me, because I aim to help them get a better product.
Anyway, I’m rambling again. Hahahha, try to shut me up. Oh! Bananas. *stuffs her face in silence*
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Reblogged this on Jo Robinson.
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I’ve downloaded quite a few free books. I go through the top 100 freebies on Amazon on the weekends. 99% Of the time I don’t find anything I like, so I don’t download anything, but sometimes I find a new author to follow. Some authors give all their books away for free at some time, and a lot of people think that if they hang around for long enough, they’ll get all of a particular writer’s list for free at some point. This is true for some authors. I think that giving away free books for a totally new writer is the only way they will ever find new readers. But don’t give away all your books. After my big revamp this month, the only books I’ll be giving away for free to the public will be my current and future short stories. I’ll be sending mobi or other format copies to my friends that are kind enough to read or review them, but I don’t mind waiting for reviews. So I think free is good to make your presence known, but if your readers know that you’ll give all future books away, they won’t pay. In amongst the guys who only download the free are real readers too. I spend between $20 & $50 dollars on books most months – quite a lot of them books from a series where I downloaded the first one free. Robert Rankin gave a couple of his away for free for Christmas, and he’s top of the heap, and traditionally published. Just saying…
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Great points Jo 🙂
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The e-book borrow and lend features from Amazon or Barns and Noble do have expiration dates, so after say – two weeks, the borrower can no longer open the book in the reader program\device. And if you have Amazon Prime, you can borrow books for free – not that Amazon Prime is free, but the borrowing is one of the features extended to you if you subscribe to it.
The truth is – having your e-book downloaded and having your e-book read are completely different things. I’m as guilty as anyone of downloading an e-book because it is free, but never reading it. I think there is a stigma around “free” as equating to “without value,” and while the book was downloaded because it sounded interesting, it may not be read. Even if it is read, the chance of review is slim, unless they loved it or hated it. Nobody said it was easy.
I dig what you are doing with this blog and I will support the effort. Great post and discussion, too.
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Thanks for that information Mitch, hopefully my blog will encourage readers to remember authors are human, reviews are important and expand their usual genre preferences 🙂
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WOW, THANK YOU for promoting my blog Kirsty 😀
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The other thing which completely baffles me is Amazon’s borrow a book a month thing.
Yeh right!
You are still paying for it for god’s sake, and yet a lot of people see the word ‘free’ even though how much it will cost to join and think they have got a great deal.
Give me strength.
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You would need to be one heck of a fast reader to borrow enough books to break even I suspect.
Barnes and Noble have a LENDME scheme where you can lend one of you books to ONE other person – HOW you get it back is a mystery to me 🙂
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And then there is Amazon’s absolute classic Chris – returning an ebook.
How the hell does that work?
You can simply delete it from your Kindle or Kindle app, so why return it?
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I hear that eBooks borrowed from a Library are on a software timer that makes it impossible to read the book when the time runs out, then there’s no point hanging onto it, so you delete it.
They also have some way of extending the loan period for eBooks.
HOW?
Haven’t got a clue …
It’s something cooked up by Overdrive software and Adobe 🙂
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Good post Chris – I actually blogged about free books on my blog the other day and then deleted it – coward that I am LOL. I know of far too many people who collect free books and then it just sits on their Kindles. Others readers only read free books, they say they can’t afford to buy so they only read what is free. Not sure what the point of that is, from the author’s point of view, it just seems like such a waste after all the hard work that went into the writing and marketing of the book by the author.
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I know what you mean, in my case it’s a kindle full of backlog for review, however, I DO also BUY books and STILL have to put them into the queue for reading 🙂
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“Other readers only read free books, they say they can’t afford to buy so they only read what is free.”
There are tightwads, or cheapskates depending on your point of view everywhere Rosemary.
I defy anyone to say they cannot afford US$0.99 for a Kindle book.
So many of what is on offer are priced that low. 😉
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I fully agree Jack, 99c = 77 pence in UK and a lot of books in secondhand bookstores or Charity Shops cost more than that!
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Reblogged this on lorettalivingstone.
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Thanks Loretta 🙂
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I’ll def mention this on my next weekly round up post. I have a guest author opportunity on my blog, too 😉
http://kristyfgillespie.com/
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Thanks Kirsty 🙂
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