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Originally Posted by Tome Keeper
I'm not sure what you mean by promotion on Amazon, it's not meant to be a promotional space, it's a bookstore. If your promoting your books well elsewhere, people will go to Amazon to buy if that is their preferred store. Are you referring to the forums? I know Amazon has cracked down on publicity in these areas but this is actually welcomed by many users.
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Strictly speaking, that's true... however, major publishers and those who have an advertising budget do have promotional ads all over Amazon, including around competing books, and in the forums sections. I realize that Amazon is basically cracking down on advertisements that aren't actually paid for, and I know customers prefer to block ads, even for products they want (an irony that never escapes me), but it gives me the impression of an uneven playing field.
I'm still trying to muster up an actual "advertising budget," and the limited forays into paid ads that I have been able to manage haven't borne any fruit (far too limited in scope). Still working on that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbcohen
Personally I think that no matter what you do on the amazon store you will have troubble simply becuase you are not John Grisham or Clive Cussler, authors that seem to be able to command huge book prices and still move tons of them.
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I agree, not being famous already definitely makes my selling job harder!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbcohen
Look at other sucessfull authors that write in your genre and how they have reached their customers (in other words don't reinvent the wheel simply pick up the wheel that others have invented already). Such as David Weber and Michael R. Hicks if you write sci-fi.
Another way some authors have reached their customers is to talk about their books at conventions. Some authors that I have heard of will talk about their work at Star Treck conventions.
Others that I have seen will make a name for themselves first by writting for established series then venture off on their own once they get a bit of exposure. Some of these series include: Star Treck, Star Wars, Executioner (see mackbolan.com for this one).
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Some good ideas there... though my travel budget is even more limited than my advertising budget!