tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post2820410775720566224..comments2018-04-18T07:30:53.398-07:00Comments on Not Your Usual Suspects: Publicity – Boon, Bane or Just Dratted Distraction?Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11286314155783213006noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post-49760033655032419922017-06-08T10:57:54.269-07:002017-06-08T10:57:54.269-07:00You read my mind when you wrote this post. I agree...You read my mind when you wrote this post. I agree with how much time is involved with social media, yet readers don&#39;t know about me unless I promote my books. It&#39;s a balancing act for all of us, if only I had the perfect solution. I do what I can and afford, but it never seems enough.Carole Pricenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post-32288051123318518002017-06-08T10:05:30.846-07:002017-06-08T10:05:30.846-07:00Thanks for putting this down in a blog. It&#39;s r...Thanks for putting this down in a blog. It&#39;s reassuring to know our struggles are shared!<br /><br />Yes, there was a gold rush in the early days when not too many ebooks were out there. Now it&#39;s a struggle. I&#39;m reissuing many of my 100+ books--romantic comedies, Regencies, medical romances--as I regain rights, and writing new mysteries (Safe Harbor Medical Mysteries, to be precise). I don&#39;t mind keeping up the website and some social media, and I occasionally blog on someone else&#39;s site as a guest. Buying ads is sometimes helpful, but not on Facebook (in my experience).<br /><br />It&#39;s ongoing. Mostly, I&#39;m grateful that in the years when I was raising a family and needed a steadier income (even though far from large), Harlequin was paying halfway decent advances and buying more or less regularly. I also taught writing.<br /><br />Now I&#39;m still writing and promoting fulltime but the income doesn&#39;t match. Thank goodness for savings and investments.Jacqueline Diamondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10491842326767839163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post-55628673407097533392017-06-08T08:59:24.691-07:002017-06-08T08:59:24.691-07:00It&#39;s a tough business. I hate doing promo too....It&#39;s a tough business. I hate doing promo too. I&#39;ve heard time and time again the best promo you can do is write the next book. But I could have 100 books written and if no one knows who I am, it won&#39;t matter. Throwing money at advertising is stupid I think, unless you&#39;re already a name brand. So what to do? I love to write, but I also love to have readers. It is really why I write. I&#39;m not going to spend more time doing promo than writing, but unfortunately, I&#39;ll still have to spend time on social media and blogging to continually introduce myself to the world.Brenda Whitesidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04162555468154752820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post-46713059751651499292017-06-07T20:25:25.324-07:002017-06-07T20:25:25.324-07:00Marie, I think the biggest reason for dropping sal...Marie, I think the biggest reason for dropping sales is that there are more e-books out every year -- and they never go out of print. The field is just so crowded, it&#39;s harder for readers to find your book ... and for writers to find readers. Sierra Donovanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00550535744012603427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post-58076861704872143692017-06-07T12:27:22.918-07:002017-06-07T12:27:22.918-07:00I think the key is to do things you enjoy doing. I...I think the key is to do things you enjoy doing. If you&#39;d rather talk to real people an idea might be to go to reader conferences. I probably have a slightly different perspective. As a British Canadian it took me forever to be comfortable about trying to sell myself. Then I realized no one else was going to do it for me. I enjoy FB and for me it&#39;s not just readers I interact with, but real friends and family. Readers have become real friends too. I promo my books, but I like to think those feeds are more about me as a person than BUY MY BOOK :)<br />I&#39;m lucky enough to be able to afford to hire a PR firm, but that isn&#39;t a magic pill for promo. You can&#39;t shout into the vacuum and expect people to part with hard earned cash. <br />And I think people know if you aren&#39;t being real, or genuine, so if you hate social media you really are better off not being on it. <br />Having met you in person I think you are lovely and wonderful. I believe you could use your (dare I say crotchety) personality as a genuine platform to make reader bonds with like-minded individuals. <br />This is a bit disjointed, like my brain today :)<br />Toni Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09006694783089788568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post-1964079738110184812017-06-07T10:23:27.013-07:002017-06-07T10:23:27.013-07:00I completely understand your frustration. I experi...I completely understand your frustration. I experience much of the same. But, unfortunately, it really is a necessary part of being a writer these days. The key, which I have not exactly perfected, is to choose a few effective methods (although who knows what those are), and focus on those. Trying to do too much can be a killer. Laura Carter&#39;s comment was excellent! What a great idea. :) When I heard Eloisa James speak a few years ago, she said that she is 50% writer and 50% business woman. Even a big name like her feels she needs to promote and connect with readers. I&#39;m afraid it&#39;s just a part of the process now. Good luck!!Alicia Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12003539473772776004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post-42902195343453444982017-06-07T09:10:47.003-07:002017-06-07T09:10:47.003-07:00You--and many of those who commented above--have &...You--and many of those who commented above--have &quot;told it like it is.&quot; One other gripe. Spending so much time on Internet promotion, not to mention writing, means I have almost no time to read fiction for pleasure, and oh my, do I hate that. <br /><br />Thanks for putting into words what so many of us experience! Radine Radine Trees Nehringhttp://www.radinesbooks.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post-44801392548739095182017-06-07T08:09:03.027-07:002017-06-07T08:09:03.027-07:00Whilst I agree with the difficulties (time pressur...Whilst I agree with the difficulties (time pressures, money etc.) that you mention, I would encourage you to remember that you are a reader and if you want to make money from your books, you are asking readers to part with their hard-earned cash, too. I absolutely agree that publishing houses often do little to support promotion and, in my opinion, especially given the low royalties we earn, should be doing a heck of a lot more. That said, try to remember that you love books and reading. Pushing ads about your own work isn&#39;t the only form of promotion. You have a LOT in common with your readership, that being a love of books. Use that to connect. I run a book club, for example, for one hour each month through my Facebook group. I would be reading books in any event so it takes only one hour of my time. I don&#39;t promote my books, I share my love of books with my readers. I build relationships in this way and hopefully engage with new readers who are interested in reading my new releases and back list. Reach out to fellow authors and cross-promote, so the word about your books isn&#39;t coming from you but authors who have read and enjoyed your books (meaning you might feel less &#39;cringe&#39; about it and it endorses the books). Laura Carterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16550777473875619599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post-74543225637011017132017-06-07T07:20:32.032-07:002017-06-07T07:20:32.032-07:00I agree! I&#39;m as confused on how to promote my ...I agree! I&#39;m as confused on how to promote my stories, just like you are. I&#39;ve been self-published since 2011. I had two AWESOME years in 2012 &amp; 2013, but sales have been dwindling since then, and yet I have published more books. I have a lot of writer friends who tell me to advertise...to promote my stories with blogs, and book launches. Unfortunately all of these places cost money. Well, if sales are dwindling to almost nothing, how am I supposed to afford to pay for these promo services? I have 42 books out there, and still I&#39;m lucky if I can earn $200 a month in royalties. It&#39;s quite sad. Back in those years when I was kicking butt in sales, I rarely did promotions or blogs. So why was I getting so many people buying my books when I wasn&#39;t promoting? And now when I&#39;m promoting (the best I can without having to pay lots of money) why are sales down? Marie Higginshttp://mariehiggins.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post-33047407054201334412017-06-07T07:04:21.377-07:002017-06-07T07:04:21.377-07:00I self-published via Amazon&#39;s CreateSpace, but...I self-published via Amazon&#39;s CreateSpace, but using my publishing company&#39;s ISBN. I also published the same title for the Kindle. I more or less threw my book on Amazon and hoped for the best. I have enough income that I have to file income taxes, but I&#39;m not getting rich. And that&#39;s okay. <br /><br />I gave away a few books to friends and family asking for reviews. I have a website and a blog, neither of which I keep up to date. I designed nice business cards using Vista Print, and I try to keep them with me - but when I have an opportunity to give someone my card, I either forget to do it or I can&#39;t find one in my purse! <br /><br />In my opinion, publicity is linked to motivation. I admire writers who blog on a regular basis, but I&#39;d rather spend that time writing (or reading). <br /><br />SighBrenda Jenkins Kleagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07532965687986492107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post-77229017270557980112017-06-07T06:19:16.528-07:002017-06-07T06:19:16.528-07:00Janis, I couldn&#39;t have said it better. Anyone ...Janis, I couldn&#39;t have said it better. Anyone who writes faces the same problems with finding time to write and money and time to publicize. I love to write, hate to promote. A vicious circle indeed. Thanks for reminding us we are all in the same boat.Fran McNabbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17193141285229214245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post-9259412459517806412017-06-07T06:13:34.469-07:002017-06-07T06:13:34.469-07:00I agree. This marketing aspect of writing is a tim...I agree. This marketing aspect of writing is a time suck and something I do not enjoy doing. You summarized the problem perfectly. If someone has the answer, please share.Marishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14714052867941990380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post-79734916636273716802017-06-07T05:06:41.202-07:002017-06-07T05:06:41.202-07:00I agree with your observations and feel similar fr...I agree with your observations and feel similar frustrations. Like you, I continue to blog. But it&#39;s something I want to do. As for Facebook and Twitter, I don&#39;t believe these forms of social media have helped sell my novels. Through publishers, I&#39;ve connected with many other writers like yourself. Of course, they are not likely to buy my novels and I don&#39;t ask it of any of them. In fact, I give away books and hope for reviews. I review many books myself. <br /><br />The reason we want to get a major agent is because they have entre to the big publishers. These publishers sent the books to major review pubs. A good review from them or a starred review can get you huge library orders and entrance into bookstores. This will get you readers. So has the system changed? Not much. <br /><br />Every now and then you will see a self-pubbed author break through the barriers, but this is rare. Good luck to the rest of us!Jacqueline Seewaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09177500620940251009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545210782126483136.post-63259856531477652632017-06-07T05:00:40.330-07:002017-06-07T05:00:40.330-07:00Oh how very TRUE Janis! &quot;Writers should writ...Oh how very TRUE Janis!<br /><br />&quot;Writers should write and readers should read&quot;....Love it LOL!<br />Good luck and God&#39;s blessings<br />PamTPamela S Thibodeauxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12951038997223264816noreply@blogger.com
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