Tooting Your Own Horn 101

In yesterday's post about my experience at the book signing, my friend Jimmy Clark made this observation:

Good start Sid. I'm sure when word about your book gets out you will sell more copies. I am sure that publicity is the most important thing in selling books.

That made me think about publicity. I used to know something about it, but with the Internet, the rules have changed. CreateSpace sent out more than five-thousand press releases, but no one has been calling or writing me about review copies or books. The only activity I saw on the Internet was in the press release sites. I put an ad in the local paper about the book signing, but only a couple of people noticed it.

The profit margin on a book is small so you can't do too much advertising without losing money. So what's the answer?

I've been reading about selling on the Internet. One of the suggestions was to review books similar to your own, especially those of authors who are well known and selling. That way your name is out there and there is a link back to you. I've only done 20 reviews so far and I can already see an increase in my Internet search standing. Also, my blogs are being picked up in many places including a library in Canada, Carbonite's Facebook page, and even a German website for librarians.

Another suggestion is to do what are called virtual tours. That means I find blogs that have followers who might be interested in my book and talk to the blogger about posting a review and/or interview of me and my book. I've done some of this already and have some reviews and interviews scheduled. I need to do more.

I learned today how to check the competition. The article said to use your favorite search engine and type in link:competitor.com where competitor.com is the website for someone with a similar book. Doing so will list all websites that link to the competitor's site. The idea being to get some of those sites to link to mine as well.

I also found a place on the web where you can post articles that can be used free by bloggers and ezines needing content. Within the article, you include information about your book and links to your website.

So, there is much to be done. And these marketing techniques are necessary for books published in the traditional way or by print on demand such as mine. However, I have the advantage over traditional published books in that I can continue to market for much longer.

Reader Comments are Fun

I've started getting feedback from readers of Where Love Once Lived and I'm anxious to get more.

Rollo Newsom, who wrote the Amazon.com review, read the book from the galley proof, and besides, you can't trust him not to boast about the book just to help sell it. But, now several people have finished reading the book after it was officially released. Here are some of the comments I've received so far.

Peg Case (she is an author herself and had read an early draft of my book) sent this:

I finished Where Love Once Lived last night. It flowed really well and was most enjoyable. You have a great grasp of characters and clever ways of illustrating them with a few words, and your plot hung together better than I recall the first time I read it. I felt that there were some unresolved plot lines that made me wonder if you plan to use them if you write a book featuring Liz. (Like who is going to run the business now he owns it again and what happens to Laura....) I confess that I got annoyed with Brian - and to a certain extent, Karen - for obsessing so much over "should I or shouldn't I " and "will she ever forgive me? And "am I worthy of her?" Maybe it's a middle-aged guy thing. There were places where I wondered if they might be autobiographical - like Tony's history with singing, for example. All in all, it was a fine book, Sid. I look forward to your next which sounds like it is more my style.

Sandy Althaus (who bought the first book) writes:

I am enjoying your book so much. Wonder how Karen and Brian will finally get together again!"

Then, later:

Finished your book and thought you did a great job. Loved the way you incorporated the bookmobile and the comfortable way the message of Christ was presented. I will write a review as soon as I am off the iPhone and have a "real" computer at my finger tips!

Jimmy Clark (who bought the second book) wrote:

I will start reading the book soon. The cover art is beautiful. It really works well for your book.

Cathy Harris (who bought the first Kindle) sent this:

Sid, I just found and purchased your book on my Kindle! I am excited.

I started it last night and saw a few areas, but I read through them with no trouble. I didn't last long because it was late and we go to early church. I am enjoying it very much.

Can Technical Writers Write Novels?

My friend Jimmy Clark posted this comment in Facebook:

I'm enjoying following your blog, Sid. Everyone who is good at technical writing dreams of writing a novel some day. Do you think this skill is transferable to writing fiction? Do creative writing classes help a lot. Thanks.

Here's my answer:

Thanks for the comments, Jimmy. Yes, I think technical writing skills easily transfer. It is communicating and technical writers know how to do that. Guy Perry, a friend who is a technical writer, helped me with the first draft of this book. It was amazing how much he improved it. I remember thinking at the time, how easy it would be for him to write a novel.

I took online classes from Writer's Digest. I started with basic creative writing, then short stories, then novels and advanced novels. I took the advanced one four times. It was mainly a way to get your work criticized by a professional novelist as well as classmates. Classes helped keep me on a schedule.

I took my classes through Writer's Digest's writers online workshops. See: http://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/retail/. I checked it today and they are changing their name to Writer's Digest University. Writer's Digest has been around a long time in magazine format. I took correspondence courses from them years ago, before computers. They are reliable. Getting the right instructor makes a big difference in what you learn. Check out the instructors carefully. Don't just look at their bios. Check the books they've written. See if they have been successful or not. It is hard to find a successful author who also teaches, but they are there. My instructor, Bonnie Hearn Hill, didn't seem to teach for the money. I think she just loved the interaction with students. However, she is no longer on the author list at Writer's Digest. She is now teaching online classes at WritersEducation.com.

Thinking about Guy Perry, and how he helped me with the first draft of Where Love Once Lived, reminded me he wouldn't take money for editing my manuscript. When I insisted, he suggested making a contribution to my church, San Gabriel Presbyterian in Georgetown. That's what I did. And, since Guy is also a singer and long-time member of the Austin Lyric Opera Chorus, I knew he would approve of designating the donation to the bell fund. We now have a wonderful bell choir thanks in part to Guy and my need for an editor.