At the end of last year, I self-published my first novel, To Trust the Wolf. It was the culmination of a life-long dream to finally write a novel and get it into the hands of strangers. Technology has advanced to the point where it is fairy simple for anyone to publish their novel. So, why bother courting the publishing industry with its Byzantine customs and procedures that almost require a masters’ degree to figure out when you can just click some buttons and publish your book yourself?
Promotion. The publishing industry may be losing its hold on the tools of publishing, but it still controls the main promotion channels which are needed to successfully market and sell your book. Sure, you can push that button and grin when you see your name and your book on Amazon, but there is no easy button to push that allows you get reviews for your book, that allows you to let the readers who might be interested in your novel that it even exists.
I tried the Kindle Select Program. I tried lowering the price from five dollars to three dollars. I listed the books on several different websites. For the first six months, the book did all right. In six months, I made about a hundred dollars in royalties. Thanks to the Kindle Select Program, over 900 copies of the book were distributed worldwide. That’s not bad, in my opinion–that’s way more people reading my work than ever before.
But of those 900 readers, only one wrote a review. I will always be grateful to that person–in fact, if I got anything out of this experience, it is that I gained a friend, someone I’ve never actually met (yay, Internet!). My friends and family have been very nice about leaving complimentary reviews on different sites, but so far only one stranger has left me a review.
I don’t know if reviews are the key to marketing a book, but it feels to me like they are fairly important. I’ve spent a lot of time over the last six months researching self-promotion for self-publishers. I put together a pretty ambitious marketing plan designed to get and keep attention on the book. I just needed to get started on it.
Then I reviewed my sales for July. As near as I can determine, I sold one ebook in the entire month of July. I sold two paperbacks, but just one ebook. And I sat there thinking, why am I knocking myself out over this?
I’m really busy right now. I’m a stay-at-home dad in the morning, and I manage a wine bar at night. In a few weeks, I’ll be adding classes into this mix. Time is becoming very precious.
Meanwhile, there’s the second book. The novel is the first part of a trilogy. I needed some time off after pushing the first book out, but it is time to get back to work. I left my characters hanging, and I need to get them moving again. I keep sitting down to work on the second book and end up flipping through my outlines, my scene descriptions, my new characters and sighing wistfully, because I just don’t feel like I have the time.
Something’s got to give. I want to work on the second book. I want to return to Raioume. I’ve started dreaming about it at night. And I can’t give up on the child care, on work, or on school.
So, starting August 1st, I’m suspending my marketing efforts to sell the first book. I went to Smashwords, and set the price to zero. Right now, instead of trying to make money on it, I’m just going to let it get out into people’s hands. Maybe eventually Amazon and Barnes & Noble will follow suit. I don’t know. I am leaving the paperback at $7.99, which is about as cheap as I can afford to go.
Anyway, if you’ve been curious about the book, now is your chance to grab a copy of the ebook. And if you like it, pass it along to someone. Buy a relative a copy of the paperback as a gift. Drop me an email telling me what you thought. Leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. I really do hope that you enjoy it.
But I’m going to be focusing on being a dad, being a manager, being a student. And writing another novel. Because I really want to be a novelist, not a book promoter.
And I need to return to Raioume.
