Tag Archives: Facebook

The Road to Publishing – On the Street (Part III)

Wow! I have my manuscript edited, the self-publishing is finished, and now….  what do I do with my book?

If you are going through a vanity press or other self-publishing service, it is a little easier; they do all the “leg work” for you. If not it is just a matter of creating accounts on the various distribution channels (websites) and uploading the book that the formatting service should have prepared for you. The sites that I am currently using are:

CreateSpace and Ingram Spark will distribute your books to a variety of sales points, including Amazon and Barns & Noble On-line. This is important because, according to one publisher’s content editor that I recently heard speak, Amazon currently sells over 70% of all books.

Once you have your book uploaded it takes as much as a couple of weeks for the cover to appear, but the text and opportunity to purchase the book is quicker.  So, where are you?  You are now on the edge of the marketing cliff. The lake is deep so jump in… you can’t just wade around in the shallow spots.

Marketing P bulletsTraditionally, marketing included product, price, placement, and promotion, but the internet, social media, and spamming ads are changing that approach.  Unknown, image downloaded from Google. I intend to write more on marketing in the future.

 

Everyone should agree, the key is making the connection with readers. It is easy to get lost in the crowd, but you cannot ignore Amazon if the speaker I heard is correct. There is a lot of debate how effective social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat, etc, are at 1) reaching readers, and 2) encouraging sales. There are also genre specific author coops like FSFNet.com who specialize in Fantasy and Science Fiction authors/books. Recently, I submitted an article to LeRue Press‘s paper, What’s the Story. Lastly, plan on going to book signings; other than Amazon, getting in front of readers is essential. Word of mouth promotions is always a good thing.

I would encourage you, the writer/author, to use as many of the above channels as possible, time allowing. Keep in touch.

June 14, 2013 – What Has Happened This Week… WOW!

I apologize that it has been two weeks since my last post. I have been working on revising The Legend of Jerrod, trying to post to social media (Facebook /kingdom.torrence Twitter @kingdomtorrence & Goodreads), and I have officially started the first draft of Amanda’s Quest. I have also been communicating with the 2013 San Francisco Book Faire staff about post-faire issues (Honorable Mention in Science Fiction category). Tonight I signed a release so The Legend of Jerrod can potentially be listed in a magazine in August. Wow!

Holding my breath…

I received another great review from a reader: http://www.amazon.com/The-Legend-Jerrod-Torrence-ebook/product-reviews/B00B62FHEU/ref=sr_1_1_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Authors love to hear from their readers. Thank you all.

There are almost as many opinions about what should be in an author’s blog as there are authors’ blogs. Some argue the readers only want to know about your book(s). Others suggest writing about your author life, but not about personal issues. At least a few advise that readers want to know about the author and the author’s life. I will try to cut the fine line as delicately as possible.

I have been preoccupied with family and employment issues the last couple of weeks. The end of the school year is always busy. I also try to do volunteer work for a soccer league. I am reading The Druid Tree (available in the bookstore at FriesenPress.com) to research druids. My reading list includes books on magic and witchcraft. If I had time I would be studying fencing. Like everyone else, I keep plugging away.

I look forward to bringing you Amanda’s Quest in the next year. I hope you are enjoying reading The Legend of Jerrod and that you are passing that enjoyment on to others., But, for now, good night my friends.

March 24, 2013 – Great Beginnings

This week I spoke with photographer Cathleen Tarawhiti (@CTarawhiti) about the creation of book covers and discussed the chaotic life of authors on Facebook. I finished reading Puppies for Sale: $25.00, by Rosalie A. Pope, and Brief Visits – Sonnets from a Volunteer Chaplain, by Susan Palwick, both quick reads. Finally, I bought The Hobbit DVD by J.R.R. Tolkien, directed by Peter Jackson. With all this, I formed a question for myself; what is the greatest beginning for a book?

Above all else it has to be…

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat; it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”

Doesn’t that just make you want to curl up in a comforter and read forever? With that beautiful begining J.R.R. Tolkien compelled me to miss many college courses and nearly a semester of my life, but, in exchange, I became committed to fantasy.

Yet, there are other beginnings that somehow grasp a reader. How simple they may be while providing such profound impact…

“Call me Ishmael.”

How simple! How marvelous! You have to want to know what the book is about! It is not my genre, but you have to appreciate Herman Melville’s beginning.

And in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare begins…

“Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.”

What wonderful beginnings.
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