In any endeavor there is always that point in which everything seems to come to a standstill.
We find ourselves in limbo.
We sniff the air nervously, alert for the tang of Rod Serling’s cologne – or the rum-scented reek of his pipe smoke.
“Am I getting anywhere?” you ask.
“Am I on the right road?”
Stop for just a minute and try and remember when your three years old and your parents were driving you any great distance and you asked that inevitable question – “Are we there yet?”
It’s just nerves.
That’s all it is.
That manuscript that you have been trying to complete. That novel that you think you will NEVER finish?
It’s just nerves.
Same thing goes with promotion.
I’ve been promoting HAMMURABI ROAD for about three days. I’ve sold a few more copies than I would have – but not enough to begin singing arias in tongues yet.
Should I panic?
Should I give it up?
No.
It’s just nerves.
I will persevere.
***
Last evening my promotion campaign with Jeff Bennington’s TWEET THIS BOOK went live.
Jeff is a great guy and an indie writer and a fellow who has an awful lot to say about indie writing in general.
You can sign up to his TWEET THIS BOOK service by using this link.
Depending on how much you pay Jeff tweets your book and posts it on his Facebook a certain number of times over a certain amount of days.
I intend to utilize THE KINDLE BOOK REVIEW next month for a promotion I am planning for my new Kindle Select release UNCLE BOB’S RED FLANNEL BIBLE CAMP – THE BOOK OF GENESIS.
In a very real way what I am doing this month with HAMMURABI ROAD is nothing more than a rehearsal for what I hope to do with The Book of Genesis. I’ll be launching my very first Kindle Book Countdown from May 5 to May 12 with The Book of Genesis – and I hope to determine how best to promote this Countdown.
So I have got a plan – sort of – if you squint – and your glasses are on crooked.
Today also marks my entry into the pages of THE FUSSY LIBRARIAN – a book promotion site that sends out a daily newsletter to readers all across the globe advertising certain discounted and/or free e-book releases.
You can sign up to receive their newsletter HERE!
So far my promotional efforts have indeed raised the Kindle ranking for HAMMURABI ROAD and have resulted in a few more sales than per usual. I intend to continue these efforts to see if I can artificially create some REAL momentum.
I do not know if this will work but sometimes the only way a fellow like me can figure things out is just to jump on in to the deep end of the pool and start splashing around, hoping that I look a little like Johnny Weissmuller.
I’ll keep you updated as I go.
***
Lastly, I want to mention Kindle’s new dashboard – which is a real improvement over their clunky less-friendly old version.
One of the things that Kobo had over Kindle was a REALLY user-friendly dashboard – or at least I found it very friendly. You could tell just how many books you had sold and how many free books you had moved with just a click of a button – whereas Kindle showed you a big old Excel style listing of your sales which always hurt my eyes to look at.
Hey, I am older than the dirt that grows on dirt. My eyes don’t work the way they used to.
This is one of the cool things about taking part in this huge new indie publishing revolution. None of the players are sitting still for very long. There are changes and advances almost everyday. A fellow has to keep on his feet to keep up with all of these changes.
Here’s to the future.
Now I have to get back to working on my next manuscript. I am about three chapters from the end of a big fat Bigfoot novel and I can smell Rod Serling’s cologne tanging up nostril holes.
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
No comments:
Post a Comment