Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Pimping!

Good morning, gentle readers.
This blog entry is a day late, 'cause it's hard to be a pimp.
Don't worry, I'm not running a string of prostitutes. I'm not selling sex, just trying to sell my book.
When you set foot on the indie author's path, there are a lot of things that you don't know when you start out. Like the degree of time you'll have to devote to promoting your writing.
Unless you've got bags of money, like that little guy from the Monopoly game, you can't afford to hire a reputable publicist to handle promotions.  You've got to do it yourself.
Which means using Twitter and Facebook to get the word out re your work. It means contacting ebook reviewers and websites that will promote your ebook.  Some indie authors with Facebook pages for their work, pay for targeted ads. I've heard of some using Google ads, as well.
It's a time consuming process, not for the faint of heart. I've heard from other indie authors how much they hate promoting their stuff.  No one seems to like doing it, but, depending on how well you want your book to sell, you have to do it.  It is a necessary evil.
Unfortunately, one can spend so much time pimping the stuff you've written, that it cuts into the time you'd normally spend writing new stuff. 
I've just released my first full-length novel, Dawnwind: Last Man Standing, and am starting on the sequel, at least, in my head.  I haven't had time to start physically writing it, because I spend a fair amount of my time promoting my earlier stuff!
There are rumors among indie authors, Internet legends whispered in the dark forums where we tend to congregate, of other indie authors who have Made It.  Writers who have achieved success marketing their books, leading to an almost supernatural groundswell of perpetual sales and thus, eliminating the need for them to do such intensive self-promotion.
I don't know if I believe this story, but if it's true, I really hope it happens to me.

1 comment:

  1. If all it takes is just a whisper of someone telling you they liked your book, or you are in the top 100 free ebooks, or you sell three in one day, these little nudges from the Universe are giving you a view of things to come. Still, agree about wanting to get down to some writing. Susan Orlean wrote "tweat your word count on Twitter every day" as a means to stay on track...

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