Well.
“The Troll Hunter” went live a few days ago, and I’ve been busy with self promotion. I have something of a “blitz and pray” marketing plan, with each unit sold having a link to my website. I spend an hour every day, searching and looking at the web, and signing up for ebook sites and book reviews. It’s a lot of fun. Thus far, I’ve signed up for:
www.Kindleboards.com —site for all ebooks in Kindle format.
Amazon Author space —webpage for all ebook authors.
www.MySpace.com — I hate these kind of sites, but I’m not going to do Facebook or Twitter so…
www.goodreads.com – another site for writers.
And I’ve contacted three sites regarding reviews for the ebook. Awaiting replies.
Signed up for (and paid $95) Kindle’s Book-of-the-day promotion (I got the 3 day plan). An exceptionally good deal I think, but because of a backlog (a lot of other writers think the same way as I do, it appears) my book won’t appear until sometime after Feb.11, 2011.
Since my financial resources are limited, I’m trying to do as much as I can for free. If I have to pay for advertising, I’m trying to get the most bang for me buck. Most of my manuscripts will be edited before being posted by freelancers, so I’m trying to save cash for that. If the original three sell, that is.
I’ll also include www.authonomy.com (I’ve taken all but one book down from there) but this is more of a writer’s group and not necessarily readers.
I’m trying to find ways (and sites) to get to more readers. I’ll have a book trailer for “The Troll Hunter” coming soon (within a week I hope) and that will go up on you tube. If you have any ideas, let me know, and I shall investigate.
Now, for the big question… how many ebooks have I sold since October 4th?
The answer… none.
Why do I tell you this? Like I said, it’s an experiment for me. And I want to post my experiences here for any other would-be writer who feels his/her material is good enough to be sold but just haven’t been picked up by a publisher yet. How many other writers are going to come on stage and say they’ve sold zero books? Not many. There’s been about 300 hits on my site so far, and half of those have been family or friends. So it’s early, I figure. I hope.
But, I’m not out of my first month yet.
And I’ve got two more ebooks to go online.
I remain… optimistic.