All blogs are property of authors and copying is not permitted.

Click image to one-click your copy of Soldiers of Fortune

CLICK BELOW & SUBSCRIBE TO THE RB4U NEWSLETTER

Sunday, September 4, 2011

The Most Bang For Your Buck!

Good morning!

I know. It's way too early to be so chipper and I'm not really that chipper yet myself. I just thought I'd annoy everyone first thing on Sunday morning. I've only had about 3 sips of coffee myself. :-)

Anyway, today I'm blogging about advertising. I heard that collective groan out there. o_O

What should you pay for, participate in or whatever to get the most out of your advertising dollar. I'm in no way a guru of advertising, but I thought I'd share some of my thoughts and things I've tried.

The number one way to sell books? Write more books.

That's right. Write more books. When a reader finds you and enjoys the first one, they are going to want to look for more. This step costs you nothing more than the time to write the next one and sell it to the publisher. Readers are hungry for cheap and entertaining material. With the economy so bad right now, if they can lose themselves in a great story for a few hours for a small amount, they'll be all over it. (Readers, pipe in here and give us your opinion, too)

Number Two? Answer emails.

Yep, if you have your signature set up with your books titles, buy links, etc., every time you answer an email, you are advertising yourself. The more someone sees your name, the more likely they are to recognize it and think, "Wow. She's all over the web. I need to see what she's got going on."

Number Three? Guest blog

Again, you are getting your name out there and name recognition is the name of the game for an author.

Number Four? Post on facebook.

I'll admit, I pay for a facebook ad. It's not much per week, but my fan page likes have double over the last month or so I've been doing this. The more facebook people who like your fan page, the more your name gets out there on their newsfeeds when you post. I also have my fb page set up to auto post to my twitter as well. You can set the amount per day you spend and it doesn't have to be a lot.

Number Five? Write series pieces.

Readers love series pieces. They get into the first set of characters in a book and they want more. They want to see what happens. They love reading the next set of characters and visiting old ones in a new book.

These are just a few tips I've learned. Not everything will work for everyone, but I've lost count of the times people have come up to me at conferences and said, "I've seen your name all over the place." Name recognition is imparative for an author and it equates to sales. If your publisher doesn't have you up on Amazon, B&N, ARe, Bookstrand, Fictionwise, etc., bug them to get your book up. The majority of sales come from these third party sites. If you are self-published, do the same thing. Most of these guys will list your book even if it's not through a traditional publisher route, but check with them.

~ Until next month

Sandy

12 comments:

Shay MacLean said...

Great post,Sandy. I agree with you on all those points. I'm still a newbie at all of this so I'll be taking your advice into consideration as I revamp my website, signature, etc.

Now back to getting that next book written. :)

Tianna Xander said...

Hi, Sandy. Thanks for the great post. I would have to agree with you on writing series books. As a reader, I love series books, as an author, my readers are always asking when the next one is coming out. I've never tried Facebook, but I could see where it would benefit you if you have the means to try it. Thanks again!

Liz said...

cool! I'm 5 for 5. I only have 3 shorts pubbed but in the next 3 months will have 2 novels, 1 short in an anthology and a trilogy in the 1NightStand series for Decadent Publishing...I pay for the FB ad for my brewery and love the return on $25 a week I get so once my books come out I will try that for "Liz Crowe" too! great post.
Liz

Carly Carson said...

Great advice, Sandy!!! I think you are absolutely right. I'm going to post a link on my indie writing group.

Marie Rose Dufour said...

Very good pointers.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Sandy. Wonderful advice. That was just what I needed to hear right now.

Paris said...

Sandy,

Great advice and the one I have to agree with most to keep your name out there is to write another book.

Mary Corrales said...

Great advice. Thank you. You are absolutely right about the best way to sell books is to write more books.

You'll often see a bump in sales from previous books when you have a new book out.

jean hart stewart said...

Great post...I've been without a computer, a working one that is, so am trying to catch up. I'm on a friends computer now. I'm on Facebook but never knew you could buy a page...

Daisy Dunn said...

Wonderful post, Sandy. I agree 100% with all of your points. Great advice that I am putting into practice as we speak!! Thanks for the post :)

M. S. Spencer said...

All good points Sandy, thanks! I'd like to learn more about advertising on other websites. I've done as much as I can with free promos & would like to try something relatively cheap to see if it increases sales. M. S. Spencer

Sandy Sullivan said...

Thanks everybody for your wonderful comments.

These are things I've tried myself so I thought I'd share some of my experiences. Advertising is so hit and miss and not everything works for everybody. It's worth a shot though!

Go for it!

Sandy

Share buttons