Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book General > Writers' Corner

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 11-15-2018, 04:57 PM   #1
Steven Lake
Sci-Fi Author
Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Steven Lake's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,157
Karma: 14743509
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Michigan
Device: PC (Calibre)
3rd Party Book Promotion Suggestions?

Hi all. I'm back again. (Life seriously needs to stop kicking me in the shins all the dang time, otherwise I'd be here more. Sheesh.) Anyhow, I'm wondering, from your personal experience, what are the best sites (outside of this one, as I already know the details about promoting here) for promoting your work. I know there used to be a wiki page on this years ago, but that's long gone now. So I'm up for suggestions. I know Library Thing, and GoodReads were once suggested, but those all seem dead now, or are has beens. However, there were other sites as well, including Kindle sites and such, that were suggested for a writer to go to in order to promote their works. I'm hoping to go try those again as it's been years since I've been able to properly promote my books, and I want to give it a spin again. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
Steven Lake is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-16-2018, 02:48 AM   #2
gmw
cacoethes scribendi
gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
gmw's Avatar
 
Posts: 5,809
Karma: 137770742
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Australia
Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650
First suggestion: ignore me because I am not a good example for how to promote your books. (I exist here and pretty much nowhere else - except, of course, actual resellers like Amazon, etc., and I do almost no self-promotion.)

Second suggestion: remember vydorscope? he used to be a regular here. He posted My Journey To Self Published Success on his website. (Apparently he has been so successful that he feels no longer feels the need to talk to us wannabes , Just kidding, Vincent!) That article makes good reading and matches up with what I've read elsewhere over the years: you need a good sized backlist of books (you have those), and you need a good marketing strategy to become visible - Vincent's article offers an excellent example of how that might be done.

Third suggestion: I still think this advice from Hugh Howey is worth revisiting to remind yourself what self-publishing is about.


And, after reading those, you will probably work out that - IMO - the only 3rd party book promotion sites worth being on are those that sell your books - because that is where the majority your potential new readers are likely to find you. So get together a strategy, like that described by Vincent, to get yourself in front of readers on sites that sell your books for an extended period.

No strategy is a guarantee, but some combination of backlist, visibility and writing that "breakout" book that people finally notice is what you are striving to hit. I don't know of any 3rd party promotion site that will offer you anything close to what you might hope for by marketing new releases in an effective manner with resellers.
gmw is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-16-2018, 10:21 PM   #3
Steven Lake
Sci-Fi Author
Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Steven Lake ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Steven Lake's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,157
Karma: 14743509
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Michigan
Device: PC (Calibre)
Awesome! Thank you for the help! I'm 100% sucktastic at marketing, so these will be a great way to help me out.
Steven Lake is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2018, 03:04 AM   #4
gmw
cacoethes scribendi
gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.gmw ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
gmw's Avatar
 
Posts: 5,809
Karma: 137770742
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Australia
Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650
I know what it's like to suck at marketing (self-publishing is not my first failure at this specialised skill).

There is something Vincent says in his article that I don't entirely agree with: "I was four books in before I started to actually learn the business. Not the best plan!"

I think his experience shows that inexperience in the beginning does not spell the end of all hope; it shows you can make mistakes and yet still recover from them. When read in combination with Hugh Howey's experience, you can see that it is possible to learn-on-the-job, so to speak, and still make a success out of it. Indeed, this may be the best - or at least the most common - way of making a success at self-publishing.

There are, of course, many readers out there that will cringe with the idea that I seem to be encouraging new writers to send out yet more unedited crap into the swamp. But reading the linked articles will show an emphasis on getting professional help. The point is to do the best you can (and can afford) at every stage, while being reassured that it is possible to recover from mistakes if you keep learning as you go. For obvious reasons, I take heart from this lesson.
gmw is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2018, 03:13 AM   #5
meeera
Grand Sorcerer
meeera ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.meeera ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.meeera ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.meeera ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.meeera ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.meeera ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.meeera ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.meeera ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.meeera ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.meeera ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.meeera ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
meeera's Avatar
 
Posts: 5,647
Karma: 66099782
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Australia
Device: Kobo Libra 2, iPadMini4, iPad4, MBP; support other Kobo/Kindles
Goodreads is not remotely dead, but it's primarily a user-to-user social site. If you start spamming your books at people, they will block and report you right quick.

However, one way to promote your writing is to simply participate in social media like Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, Litsy etc (WITHOUT plugging your book constantly). Follow people who seem interested in the sorts of things your book is about and in the things you are interested in, and engage with them. But it has to be authentic for you to have a hope of success, and it's a long game.
meeera is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
3rd Party Oasis Cases positively4th Amazon Kindle 27 06-28-2016 12:14 PM
3rd party applications for DR800S? martienne iRex 2 05-31-2010 06:28 AM
3rd Party Tools Requested Mackx iRex 8 08-17-2009 12:20 AM
3rd party Iliad webbrowser? CommanderROR iRex 5 12-02-2007 05:58 PM
iLiad What 3rd Party Apps to you Use and Rely on? Adam B. iRex Developer's Corner 8 08-08-2007 08:09 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:20 PM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.