Authors, Writers, Publishers, and Book Readers

E- Book Promotion Days

Those of us in the independent sector of publishing will no doubt know that marketing a new book is akin to burning pound or dollar notes. You do all the promotion, you blog like mad, network like a social prostitute and throw money on great ideas, and all you get as a reward is one measly sale on Amazon.

But the other great thing you notice is that one measly sale makes a significant difference on your chart rating, promoting your book thousands of places up the scale. Many of us will know with the monolithic world of Amazon, that being at the top of your various genre charts is vital to the Mr and Mrs Bloggs of the world seeing your book and considering a purchase. But whilst you are dwindling in the realms of number 100 or even 1000 in the genre not even the most avid book searching geek is going to delve that far to find you.

This week I have attempted a bit of a promotion and it seemed to work in pushing my kindle book ( A Very English Revolution) to the front page of the Political Thriller chart, and that’s with only minimal additional sales (less than 10 I think). Maybe there is a chance that Bloggs will get his wallet out now.

This morning I thought of a great way for all of us to do something similar to help each other.

My idea is to promote our e-books as a collective. I have chosen e-books rather than paper copies because most of us sell e-books a much lower cost so it makes the exercise more viable than paper, although if it’s successful maybe we can consider paper as well.

Here’s the idea.

We create a list of interested authors who all possess a kindle. I can keep a register of interested parties or publish it somewhere, whatever we choose. Each author agrees a promotion day and the others share this on their blogs and social networks. When that day comes around each of us buy and download the book on the same day, therefore boosting that days sales ranking. If there are enough of us doing it then there is a chance of success.

Success breeds success, so if it works for one person then others will follow and each of us will have more of a chance to make front page heaven. Of course this does require trust in our fellow authors to do the deed, but what can I say? It’s an idea, if it works then we all win. You never know we might be downloading a great book we might otherwise totally bypass.

Interested to know what people think. Please share it around writer sites, as the more people are interested the more we can make this work. People can find me out in the virtual world but otherwise a mail at norristeve@gmail.com will engineer a direct response.

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Comment by Amanda Chambers on January 2, 2012 at 5:06pm: I'm still on-board. My blog isn't very pretty right now because I just switched to WP and haven't had a chance to put all the stuff back on my sidebar yet. All my readers are still there, though.

Stacy, if you'll email that list of questions you sent me, to the authors, I'll post interviews and links to the books on the scheduled days.

Comment by Stacy Eaton on January 2, 2012 at 5:10pm: Amanda - easier to just post the questions here and everyone can e-mail you directly. Post your e-mail on here.

Tell us a bit about yourself:

Do you work another job when you are not writing?

What is your favorite thing to do when you aren’t writing?

What is your favorite color? Why?

What is your favorite season? Why?

If you could live anyplace on earth, where would it be? Why?

If you could have any car, what would it be?

Tell us about your writing:

How long have your been writing? Was it a dream, a goal or is it just a hobby?

How many hours a day do you devote to writing? Do you have a set routine or do you write when the mood strikes?

Is there some place special you like to be when you write?

Do you listen to music or do you need a quiet place to write?

Tell us about your book:

What is the name of it and is it part of a series or a stand alone novel?

Where did the idea come from?

How long did it take to write?

What is it about?

Your other work:

Do you have any upcoming projects in the works or other books that have been published?

Where can readers connect with you?

Where can we buy your books?

Comment by Catherine Green on January 2, 2012 at 6:13pm: I think doing it over a few days might be a better option. Steve, doesn't our special offer price end on 10th January? That means yours will be at full price by the time we come to order it...

Comment by Steve Norris on January 2, 2012 at 6:18pm: I will have a word with Sarah tomorrow and see if we can hold off on the price change.

Mine should go back to my previous £2 price anyway so not a massive change.

Comment by Amanda Chambers on January 2, 2012 at 6:18pm: Sure. Authors, please send the answers to the questions above, directly to me at chefamanda at gmail dot com. Also include any information you want me to add about the book. I will use the blurb and photo from Amazon unless you tell me otherwise.

Comment by Matt T. Schott on January 2, 2012 at 8:04pm: With Catherine's comment I now understand why you did the dates so close. I can't wait to read all your books. I am also working on those questions Amanda, thanks for the opportunity.

Comment by Catherine Green on January 2, 2012 at 9:55pm: Ah right I see, I didn't realise you had a different price on yours, Steve. And Amanda, thank you, I will send an email shortly with my information.

Comment by Amanda Chambers on January 3, 2012 at 3:56am: I'm going to be out of town and away from a computer on the 6th & 7th. I have Catherine's interview, but I'll need Matt's no later than Friday afternoon (I'm on US Eastern time) so I can write and schedule the post for the 7th.

For all authors, if you can get me your interview and information at least two days before your scheduled day, I would appreciate it!

Comment by Steve Norris on January 3, 2012 at 3:42pm: Ok - So agreed with publisher to keep my price at the same level until the end of the month. Done my interview for Amanda. I'm all set to go.

Do we want to keep the same dates or should I spread it out over a few more days?

Comment by Stacy Eaton on January 3, 2012 at 4:07pm: Steve could you put me a bit later in the month - I am about to start my inventory process for my business and I'm not going to have time to do the interview right now.

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