I wrote this post and Tuesday's posts on Sunday morning, and then I DID something. Starting with boxing up the negative voices and shoving them in a corner. Still, I thought I should leave this post as a reminder to others not to give up.
-------------------
It's early Sunday morning and the house is quiet, other than the cat snoring and my computer humming. Hubs went back to bed a while ago. Me? I'm just sitting here in front of the computer, trying to convince myself to write something. Or edit something. Or DO something. Anything.
Earlier, I saw on Facebook what I think was the breakdown of a human being. When I first got on, I saw a long post that basically amounted to 'I hate myself and everything I've ever done and I'm so so sorry to anyone I may have hurt'. Then as I scrolled through my feed, I saw he'd made post after post of really depressing-ass songs. Not a writer. Just a dude who had sent me a friend request a month or so ago, who has until now seemed like a really cool and stable individual. At first, I thought he'd been hacked, but the songs... Well, after a bit, I decided that perhaps it was him after all. Which is really depressing.
But I get it. Been there, done that. Listened to the same songs.
Anyway, it all got me to thinking. And sitting here staring at my computer trying to force myself to DO something, lest I write a similar post of my own and thrown down a cavalcade of similarly depressing-ass songs.
You know, I think the songs actually make things worse. Scratch that. I know they make things worse. For godsakes, do not listen to Counting Crows. If you aren't depressed when you start, you will be by the time you're done. Suck the joy right out of you, they will. I used to wrap myself up in them, thinking they knew how I was feeling, but in the end, it turned out they were actually feeding my depression rather than empathizing with it. And once I realized that, I got those damn CDs right the hell out of my life.
Now, when I'm feeling blue, I put on my HAPPY mix and try to use that to lift myself out of it. Or I listen to Rachmaninoff. Hard to feel down listening to that.
My problem right now isn't so much that life is getting me down, it's that I don't feel like a writer. I don't feel like I even know how to write anymore. Not fiction anyway. I feel like when I sit down and start typing, all I'll produce is crap. I feel like the whole beginning of Cinder Ugly needs to be scrapped and I don't have the first idea on how to start it over. And I have no clue how to start anything else. It's all "'Crap? We love crap. Crap crap crap. Crap crap. Crap. Crap"*.
Yeah, I know... I'm the first one to tell you 'give yourself permission to write crap'. 'It's all fixable.' 'You can't fix a blank page.' Somehow that advice isn't helping today... err, for the past few months. The caveat to that advice, one I didn't realize was there until now, is that it's okay to write crap as long as you have some hope it'll be fixable later. And I don't have any faith this crap will be fixable. It's not fertilizer from which a rose will grow. It's toxic sludge from which nothing will ever grow.
Yes, I know what I have already written is not crap. It's what's coming out of my hands now that's crap. Or, at least, that's the thinking that's got me stuck.
Not sure how I'll muddle through this. I will. I think the first thing I need to do is kick all the negative voices out of my head. Or at least shove them all into a big box and then shove the box into a corner where I can ignore it. I'm working on it at least. I haven't given up. Nor will I.
The FB guy? I hope his outpouring of depression yesterday helps get his mind right. Sometimes you've got to pour it all out so you can fill up with something better. And sometimes, if you let it, it just fills up with more of the same. I really hope he finds some good and positive things to fill up on.
And now, finally, there's the first glimmerings of sunrise. A new day. Let's make this a good one, eh? Let's DO something.
* Norman Fell in the movie 'Transylvania 6-5000'.
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Monday, September 9, 2019
Friday, July 26, 2019
Well, Ain't That the Shits
I can't even... Just read this...
Upcoming Facebook Changes
We've already seen some of the crap they're pulling - limiting our reach, limiting what we see even after we've specifically asked to see it, etc. This is just more of the same only worse. If this keeps up, I predict a mass exodus. But where to?
So, I'm testing out alternatives. You can find me elsewhere here:
MeWe - like FB but without the reach that FB has yet.
Pinterest - an image thing, but with the opportunity for text
Parler - like Twitter but mostly personal/political from what I've seen so far. No much room for marketing I think.
Instagram - like Pinterest, except I don't have any 'compatible devices', so I never post.
Yeah, I still have Facebook (personal and business). And Twitter (although I almost never tweet - my FB page tweets when I post there).
Gotta try something, though, especially if FB is going to make posts with links (especially to places like Amazon) disappear in the feeds. If I can't use FB to sell stuff, what exactly is the point? I mean, I spent a lot of time developing my FB marketing strategy here. Rebuilding it somewhere else is going to be a huge timesuck and a royal pain in the ass.
But, hey, we've all gotta do what we've gotta do. Time will tell whether this works or whether I am well and truly screwed.
As always, you can find me here on this blog thing that has become passe apparently. :shrug: I'll keep blogging 'til they make me stop.
Upcoming Facebook Changes
We've already seen some of the crap they're pulling - limiting our reach, limiting what we see even after we've specifically asked to see it, etc. This is just more of the same only worse. If this keeps up, I predict a mass exodus. But where to?
So, I'm testing out alternatives. You can find me elsewhere here:
MeWe - like FB but without the reach that FB has yet.
Pinterest - an image thing, but with the opportunity for text
Parler - like Twitter but mostly personal/political from what I've seen so far. No much room for marketing I think.
Instagram - like Pinterest, except I don't have any 'compatible devices', so I never post.
Yeah, I still have Facebook (personal and business). And Twitter (although I almost never tweet - my FB page tweets when I post there).
Gotta try something, though, especially if FB is going to make posts with links (especially to places like Amazon) disappear in the feeds. If I can't use FB to sell stuff, what exactly is the point? I mean, I spent a lot of time developing my FB marketing strategy here. Rebuilding it somewhere else is going to be a huge timesuck and a royal pain in the ass.
But, hey, we've all gotta do what we've gotta do. Time will tell whether this works or whether I am well and truly screwed.
As always, you can find me here on this blog thing that has become passe apparently. :shrug: I'll keep blogging 'til they make me stop.
Friday, June 21, 2019
Facebook and Marketing
Recently, Facebook gifted us with the ability to pretty-up our Page and Group posts with bold and italics and bullet points or numbering and some other extraneous stuffs. Which is all well and good, but... and it's a big but for me... when you copy and paste text, it tosses in weird spaces and line breaks. And if you try to fix it, it makes it worse.
Frankly, it's a pain in the ass. And as we all know, making something that's already kind of a pain in the ass more of a pain in the ass tends to make one not want to do it anymore.
But I have to do it. Hitting the FB Groups the morning after an ad, when the ad generated sales have boosted my rankings, is a must. I need to take advantage of that better ranking - 17425 overall and 371 genre - to possibly gain some extra sales and maybe get some people to download the book for Kindle Unlimited so I can have residual page reads later. Plus, selling the day after an ad helps keep those rankings from dropping too quickly which leads to better sales. It's a circle thing.
Today's marketing image is:
Speaking of images, check out this useful post over at Elizabeth Spann Craig's blog - The Importance of Images in Social Media.
Now, if only the social media... ahem, FB... was cooperating. ;o)
Anyway, good luck out there with your marketing efforts. Any questions, let me know.
Edited to Add: When you post in a FB Group, you should see something like this now:
If you hover over the 'paragraph marks' symbol, you get the opportunity to change the format to Header1, Header2, bullets or numbering, and embedded quotes. If you select text, it gives you the opportunity to Bold or Italics the selected type. I think this is only in Group posts, but I'm not sure.
Frankly, it's a pain in the ass. And as we all know, making something that's already kind of a pain in the ass more of a pain in the ass tends to make one not want to do it anymore.
But I have to do it. Hitting the FB Groups the morning after an ad, when the ad generated sales have boosted my rankings, is a must. I need to take advantage of that better ranking - 17425 overall and 371 genre - to possibly gain some extra sales and maybe get some people to download the book for Kindle Unlimited so I can have residual page reads later. Plus, selling the day after an ad helps keep those rankings from dropping too quickly which leads to better sales. It's a circle thing.
Today's marketing image is:
Speaking of images, check out this useful post over at Elizabeth Spann Craig's blog - The Importance of Images in Social Media.
Now, if only the social media... ahem, FB... was cooperating. ;o)
Anyway, good luck out there with your marketing efforts. Any questions, let me know.
Edited to Add: When you post in a FB Group, you should see something like this now:
If you hover over the 'paragraph marks' symbol, you get the opportunity to change the format to Header1, Header2, bullets or numbering, and embedded quotes. If you select text, it gives you the opportunity to Bold or Italics the selected type. I think this is only in Group posts, but I'm not sure.
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
A Gentle Reminder
Time again for a gentle reminder...
PROOFREAD YOUR MARKETING MATERIALS!
Twice in the past few days, I've seen marketing materials with typos in them. One, the author used your instead of you're. The other, the author used there instead of their - twice in the same blurb. :headdesk:
Seriously, folks, this shouldn't be that hard. I mean, we're talking a few short paragraphs.
The first one was in a Facebook group. So, free advertising. The second was in a marketing newsletter that they obviously had to pay for. Which makes it doubly egregious.
FB group marketing... Sometimes shit happens. Lord knows I'm not perfect, and I've made mistakes. Which I then catch and edit. Yes, you can edit FB posts. There's a little ellipsis looking thing in the upper right corner of your status update. When you click it, you get a dropdown menu...
And there's an 'edit post' option. So, if you see an error, you can fix the error.
Once, I had to go back and fix a half dozen marketing posts because for some stupid reason the UK sales link was broken and I didn't notice until I'd posted the damn thing all over the place. Caught it, fixed it. It was only live to users for about ten minutes.
In marketing efforts you've paid for, fixing the flaw isn't necessarily possible. Here, you really need to pay attention. Because once you've sent it out to the powers that be, it's stuck there. Well, I guess you might be able to contact them if you have enough time. And then you can hope someone over there is paying attention and is nice enough to allow you to fix the error. But I wouldn't count on it. Proof, proof, proof.
Otherwise, you might as well put on your big red nose and floppy feet because you'll look like a clown.
In either of the above cases, the author may have proofed the holy hell out of their manuscript to make it all shiny and clean, but their marketing materials tell the world that they probably didn't bother. All that work down the drain.
So, yeah, a gentle reminder this morning... proofread your stuff, folks. It's kind of important.
PROOFREAD YOUR MARKETING MATERIALS!
Twice in the past few days, I've seen marketing materials with typos in them. One, the author used your instead of you're. The other, the author used there instead of their - twice in the same blurb. :headdesk:
Seriously, folks, this shouldn't be that hard. I mean, we're talking a few short paragraphs.
The first one was in a Facebook group. So, free advertising. The second was in a marketing newsletter that they obviously had to pay for. Which makes it doubly egregious.
FB group marketing... Sometimes shit happens. Lord knows I'm not perfect, and I've made mistakes. Which I then catch and edit. Yes, you can edit FB posts. There's a little ellipsis looking thing in the upper right corner of your status update. When you click it, you get a dropdown menu...
Once, I had to go back and fix a half dozen marketing posts because for some stupid reason the UK sales link was broken and I didn't notice until I'd posted the damn thing all over the place. Caught it, fixed it. It was only live to users for about ten minutes.
In marketing efforts you've paid for, fixing the flaw isn't necessarily possible. Here, you really need to pay attention. Because once you've sent it out to the powers that be, it's stuck there. Well, I guess you might be able to contact them if you have enough time. And then you can hope someone over there is paying attention and is nice enough to allow you to fix the error. But I wouldn't count on it. Proof, proof, proof.
Otherwise, you might as well put on your big red nose and floppy feet because you'll look like a clown.
In either of the above cases, the author may have proofed the holy hell out of their manuscript to make it all shiny and clean, but their marketing materials tell the world that they probably didn't bother. All that work down the drain.
So, yeah, a gentle reminder this morning... proofread your stuff, folks. It's kind of important.
Monday, May 27, 2019
FB Group Marketing Update
I know all of us are trying our damnedest to find the magic formula that will sell books. I don't have one. What I do have is a list of Facebook Groups that I market to**, in the hopes that someone getting the feed from those groups will be interested in the books I'm advertising. This sale I'm having (today's the last day) has born out the necessity for using this tactic.
The sale started last Tuesday. The paid ad didn't go live until Thursday, but I wanted to get a jump on knocking those Amazon rankings down to a more acceptable level, so I started first thing Tuesday morning with FB Group posts. By the time the ad went live, I'd sold 16 books (4 complete sets) using only those posts. And my rankings for all four books had dropped from the stratosphere down to the 110Ks.
Then the ad went live. Right now, I don't FB market on the days my ads go live - because I want to see which sales are almost certainly directly relatable to those ads. But Friday, I started up again with the ads. I should've hit the ground running and started with the ads first thing, when the rankings were at their lowest point, but I lazed and only ran half the posts at 6:15a. The other half got posts around 3p. Got some residual sales then. I took Saturday off for the most part and only posted to one new group. Saw a couple sales that day. Bright and early Sunday morning, I posted to all the groups. No sales on Sunday, but I woke up to five sales this morning. By the time you read this today, I will have done a final push. Fingers crossed it brings in additional sales.
I'll post more about the actual sales numbers on Wednesday.
As for the groups I post to, the list has grown and here it is:
Amazon Kindle Goodreads
Indie Authors International
Self-Published Crime Fiction Writers*
Crime, Thriller, Mystery Readers' Cafe*
Kindle Unlimited
Thriller Mystery and Suspense Book Club*
Thrillers, Killers, & Suspense*
Kindle/Book Club
Mystery and Thriller Publicity Book Club*
Indie Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Promotion
Free Kindle Books*
Kindle Krazy! Authors Actively Seeking Readers
Ebook, Book Ads and Self Promotion
Book Reviews and Promotion
Shamelessly Promote Your Books
Free Kindle Books UK*
Kindle Readers and Authors (new)
Promote Your Books Here (new)
* Not used during this sale because the genre or the price didn't fit.
If you remember the list from before, there are a few missing. For one reason or another, I left those groups and made a note to not rejoin them. Also, I have two groups I've requested membership to but they're still pending. If they accept me, I'll put them on the next list.
As always, if you use the above groups, please pay attention to their rules. For instance, the owner of the Indie Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Promotions Group has a strict rule about 'no romance / no sex'. Not that books can't have those things, but they'd better not be the primary storyline in the books you promote there. Unfortunately, people keep trying to break his rule and it seems to irritate the crap out of him. Do not irritate the people you're trying to market through. Seriously, don't.
And the Free Kindle Books UK isn't a group. It's a page and if you want to have your books marketed there, you have to send a message to the page's owner. She's been prompt and pretty cool, but don't push it.
Of course, posting to these groups can be a drudge. Picking the image, creating the verbiage, and then posting posting posting... Blerg. But for the time I put in on Tuesday/Wednesday, I made about $10 and that ain't bad. Plus, it was worth it to help boost ad sales.
I feel like I'm forgetting something, so if you have any questions, ask away. And whatever your marketing efforts, good luck!
** For free. Posting to FB Groups doesn't cost a dime. Shhh, don't tell FB or they'll find a way to charge us for it or something.
The sale started last Tuesday. The paid ad didn't go live until Thursday, but I wanted to get a jump on knocking those Amazon rankings down to a more acceptable level, so I started first thing Tuesday morning with FB Group posts. By the time the ad went live, I'd sold 16 books (4 complete sets) using only those posts. And my rankings for all four books had dropped from the stratosphere down to the 110Ks.
Then the ad went live. Right now, I don't FB market on the days my ads go live - because I want to see which sales are almost certainly directly relatable to those ads. But Friday, I started up again with the ads. I should've hit the ground running and started with the ads first thing, when the rankings were at their lowest point, but I lazed and only ran half the posts at 6:15a. The other half got posts around 3p. Got some residual sales then. I took Saturday off for the most part and only posted to one new group. Saw a couple sales that day. Bright and early Sunday morning, I posted to all the groups. No sales on Sunday, but I woke up to five sales this morning. By the time you read this today, I will have done a final push. Fingers crossed it brings in additional sales.
I'll post more about the actual sales numbers on Wednesday.
As for the groups I post to, the list has grown and here it is:
Amazon Kindle Goodreads
Indie Authors International
Self-Published Crime Fiction Writers*
Crime, Thriller, Mystery Readers' Cafe*
Kindle Unlimited
Thriller Mystery and Suspense Book Club*
Thrillers, Killers, & Suspense*
Kindle/Book Club
Mystery and Thriller Publicity Book Club*
Indie Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Promotion
Free Kindle Books*
Kindle Krazy! Authors Actively Seeking Readers
Ebook, Book Ads and Self Promotion
Book Reviews and Promotion
Shamelessly Promote Your Books
Free Kindle Books UK*
Kindle Readers and Authors (new)
Promote Your Books Here (new)
* Not used during this sale because the genre or the price didn't fit.
If you remember the list from before, there are a few missing. For one reason or another, I left those groups and made a note to not rejoin them. Also, I have two groups I've requested membership to but they're still pending. If they accept me, I'll put them on the next list.
As always, if you use the above groups, please pay attention to their rules. For instance, the owner of the Indie Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Promotions Group has a strict rule about 'no romance / no sex'. Not that books can't have those things, but they'd better not be the primary storyline in the books you promote there. Unfortunately, people keep trying to break his rule and it seems to irritate the crap out of him. Do not irritate the people you're trying to market through. Seriously, don't.
And the Free Kindle Books UK isn't a group. It's a page and if you want to have your books marketed there, you have to send a message to the page's owner. She's been prompt and pretty cool, but don't push it.
Of course, posting to these groups can be a drudge. Picking the image, creating the verbiage, and then posting posting posting... Blerg. But for the time I put in on Tuesday/Wednesday, I made about $10 and that ain't bad. Plus, it was worth it to help boost ad sales.
I feel like I'm forgetting something, so if you have any questions, ask away. And whatever your marketing efforts, good luck!
** For free. Posting to FB Groups doesn't cost a dime. Shhh, don't tell FB or they'll find a way to charge us for it or something.
Monday, January 21, 2019
Using FB to Market Books
Facebook, pain in the ass that it can be, is also a place to do some marketing.
I've talked before about FB groups. I may have talked before about FB ads - I don't remember. But I don't think, in either case, I've really addressed what works and what doesn't.
First off, FB ads. Or rather post boosts. (I'm not sure if I've ever done a real 'FB ad'.) Anyway, I'm talking about the thing where you pay FB to make your post more visible. I've done these on numerous occasions. I don't think I've ever seen a sale I can directly link to an FB boost. I don't think I've ever even seen any new Page follows from them. Why do I continue to use them? One word: Visibility. Even if I have no proof any of them ever work, they are splashing my name and my books out there to a couple thousand people. It might, I dunno, stick in their subconscious somewhere, so that when they see my books they might maybe think 'hey, I've heard of B.E. Sanderson' and then go peruse my titles. :shrug:
My first forays into boosting posts met with opposition. I was trying to do graphics and junk, and they always said that my graphics didn't meet their requirements. (Too much text in the image or some such nonsense.) Then I tried boosting posts that only had Amazon links. All of those have been approved so far. And every time I boost, my page views do skyrocket, so that's something.
One thing about FB ads is that you have to narrow the field by being specific about who you want to reach. I think for my last ad, I went into their thingie-bob and tried to target certain demographics. People who have said they like to read, for instance. Yeah, seems like a no-brainer, but you really have to dig deep to find that, and I wasn't finding it at first. Once I did that, I think the boosts were more effective. Your mileage may vary.
And I never have paid more than $20. Not sure if my ads would do better if I paid more, but that's about all I'm willing to pay for getting exposure.
Now, as for FB group posts. I've talked about this before. But I'd like to add some additional insights that might help you. For one thing, ads with photos instead of just links seem to do better. Not sure why - I mean, the link puts a damn picture in the post anyway - but from my experience, photos do better than just links. :shrug: I posted a couple of my latest marketing photos yesterday at The Writing Spectacle. Here are a couple others from my sale in December:
Nothing major. I took the photos myself, so it wasn't any additional money. But they really did seem to work. :shrug:
Another thing I've noticed is that my posts get more traction if I include hashtags. (A fact I forgot until yesterday's marketing posts.) Yeah, it didn't make sense to me either. Hashtags on FB? I thought hashtags were only for Twitter, but I guess they're everywhere now.
When you're making an ad for FB, I think there are a few key points you need to have in there. Chiefly, title, price, and links, but also put something in there that will attract attention - quote a review, drop a short teaser from the book, put a really short blurb. Make sure that if your books are in the KU program, you say that. Sure, the reader will find that out if they click the link, but they have to want to click the link to find out. Why make more work for them?
Here's the post that went out to the various FB groups yesterday:
*Another note. The sale is actually through Tuesday. But I brainfarted in a major way and all of my posts went live with Sunday in them. Every single freakin' one. Which goes to show that no matter how hard you try, there is always a chance you will fuck something up. No real harm done - except I look like I'm wearing a big, red nose and floppy clown feet to anyone who clicked the link and saw that the Kindle Countdown Deal did not end on Sunday. Chalk it up to live and learn. At least I spelled everything right.
I've talked before about FB groups. I may have talked before about FB ads - I don't remember. But I don't think, in either case, I've really addressed what works and what doesn't.
First off, FB ads. Or rather post boosts. (I'm not sure if I've ever done a real 'FB ad'.) Anyway, I'm talking about the thing where you pay FB to make your post more visible. I've done these on numerous occasions. I don't think I've ever seen a sale I can directly link to an FB boost. I don't think I've ever even seen any new Page follows from them. Why do I continue to use them? One word: Visibility. Even if I have no proof any of them ever work, they are splashing my name and my books out there to a couple thousand people. It might, I dunno, stick in their subconscious somewhere, so that when they see my books they might maybe think 'hey, I've heard of B.E. Sanderson' and then go peruse my titles. :shrug:
My first forays into boosting posts met with opposition. I was trying to do graphics and junk, and they always said that my graphics didn't meet their requirements. (Too much text in the image or some such nonsense.) Then I tried boosting posts that only had Amazon links. All of those have been approved so far. And every time I boost, my page views do skyrocket, so that's something.
One thing about FB ads is that you have to narrow the field by being specific about who you want to reach. I think for my last ad, I went into their thingie-bob and tried to target certain demographics. People who have said they like to read, for instance. Yeah, seems like a no-brainer, but you really have to dig deep to find that, and I wasn't finding it at first. Once I did that, I think the boosts were more effective. Your mileage may vary.
And I never have paid more than $20. Not sure if my ads would do better if I paid more, but that's about all I'm willing to pay for getting exposure.
Now, as for FB group posts. I've talked about this before. But I'd like to add some additional insights that might help you. For one thing, ads with photos instead of just links seem to do better. Not sure why - I mean, the link puts a damn picture in the post anyway - but from my experience, photos do better than just links. :shrug: I posted a couple of my latest marketing photos yesterday at The Writing Spectacle. Here are a couple others from my sale in December:
Another thing I've noticed is that my posts get more traction if I include hashtags. (A fact I forgot until yesterday's marketing posts.) Yeah, it didn't make sense to me either. Hashtags on FB? I thought hashtags were only for Twitter, but I guess they're everywhere now.
When you're making an ad for FB, I think there are a few key points you need to have in there. Chiefly, title, price, and links, but also put something in there that will attract attention - quote a review, drop a short teaser from the book, put a really short blurb. Make sure that if your books are in the KU program, you say that. Sure, the reader will find that out if they click the link, but they have to want to click the link to find out. Why make more work for them?
Here's the post that went out to the various FB groups yesterday:
"SLEEPING UGLY is on sale now thru Sunday*. 99c/99p. (Always free with Kindle Unlimited.)
"Snarky, funny, scary, enthralling -- this story isn't your childhood fairy tale! " - Amazon Review
Get your copy today. #paranormal #mystery #fun #ebooks #snarky #curses
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GM24Q48
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GM24Q48"
I try to change them up a little every day so I'm not boring the shit out of people with my daily ads. And, as I've said before, don't post to any FB group more than once a day. I print out my list of FB groups for each sale now, and make notes as to date and time of each post, so I don't piss off the group moderators. So far, so good. You do not want to get kicked off any of your go-to groups or you'll lose that forever.
Now, sales from these posts aren't wild. I see maybe a sale or two a day, when I do it right (photo, grabby stuff, hashtags). But it's certainly better than a sharp stick in the butt, if you catch my drift.
As always, your mileage may vary. And lord knows, I am not the Queen's High Expert on any of this. Still, I hope this helps. May your experiences with this stuff exceed mine.
Any questions? Any comments? Anything you're doing that might help someone else with this stuff?
*Another note. The sale is actually through Tuesday. But I brainfarted in a major way and all of my posts went live with Sunday in them. Every single freakin' one. Which goes to show that no matter how hard you try, there is always a chance you will fuck something up. No real harm done - except I look like I'm wearing a big, red nose and floppy clown feet to anyone who clicked the link and saw that the Kindle Countdown Deal did not end on Sunday. Chalk it up to live and learn. At least I spelled everything right.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Facebook Groups for Marketing & Finding Books
Okay, so I may have done this before. I don't remember. But here's a list of the Facebook Groups I've found and joined that you can use for marketing or just to find interesting books to read:
Amazon Kindle Goodreads - all genres
Indie Authors International - all genres
eBook World** - all genres
Amazon Kindle Goodreads - all genres
Indie Authors International - all genres
eBook World** - all genres
Self-Published Crime Fiction Writers - mystery, crime, thriller
Crime,Thriller, Mystery Readers' Café - mystery, crime, thriller
Kindle Unlimited - all genres in the Kindle Unlimited program
Thriller Mystery Suspense Book Club - mystery, crime, thriller
Thrillers Killers & Suspense - mystery, crime, thriller
Kindle/ Book Club - all genres
Mystery & Thriller Publicity Book Club - mystery, crime, thriller
Free Kindle Books - all genres as long as the book is free
The Apocalyptic Book Club - dystopian
Kindle Krazy! Authors Actively Seeking Readers - all genres
Band of Dystopian Authors and Fans* - dystopian
Dystopian Fantasy Bookworms* - dystopian
Ebook & Book Ads and Promotions - all genres
Indie Writer Books and Self Promotion - all genres
Book Reviews and Promotion - all genres
* special –
see requirements before posting.
** has to be
approved before they’ll let the ad post
Read the pinned posts before you join the group to make sure it's a group you really want to be in and then follow their guidelines before you post ads to them. Most of them don't want you to post more than once a day, which is only right. Otherwise, it's spammy and no one wants that.
I've had some minor successes here and there with these groups. Can't hurt, right?
Oh, and be prepared for your newsfeed to blow up with book ads and recommendations. If you're like me, they'll be both annoying and exciting. I mean, 'gah, so many book posts' and 'hey, previously unheard of books to read!'
Good luck.
Friday, June 22, 2018
Brief Marketing Update 1
I'm doing some test marketing right now. This post is as much about me keeping it straight as information for you guys if you're interested in marketing data. Bear with me.
So yesterday, I had a $10 ad go out for AD. I sold 5 books and earned just under $4.
This morning, I posted sales links for AD to various FB groups* for free and, within an hour, sold 2 books.
Today, two more ads go out at $6 each. One for AD and one for NC. :fingers crossed:
The reason the title of this post says '1' is that I'm going to try to post an update later if sales change. If you don't see an update, there was no change.
* The FB groups posted to were: Amazon Kindle Goodreads, Indie Authors International, eBook World, Self Published Crime Fiction Writers, and Crime, Thriller and Mystery Readers' Cafe. Since the books I sold were in the UK, I'm going to assume the Indie Authors International group gained me those sales, but I could be wrong.
Friday, June 8, 2018
Events and Fears
This morning I read another excellent post over at Elizabeth Spann Craig's blog - 3 Things You're Probably Not Doing on Goodreads That You Should. And I hung my head in shame. They're really not hard things to do and as into Goodreads as I am, I probably should've already been doing them.
To that end, I created an event for my upcoming sale on the Dennis Haggarty Mysteries. If you got an invite, great. If you didn't, you can click the link and join along. It's my first 'event', so don't be surprised if I did something wrong.
Now, as for invites. I sat here for the longest time, trapped in a fearful place and wondering whether I should send invites at all. I really don't want to irritate people. Really. Don't. So much so that I am loathe to send invites to anybody for anything.
And that is really stupid on my part.
People follow me on Goodreads and Facebook because they WANT TO KNOW what's going on with me and/or my books. So it stands to reason that receiving an invite from me would not be irritating. Right?
So, I bit the bullet and invited like 200 people. Pretty much everyone I'm friends with (with the exception of one super bestselling author and one gal I know did not have a fond appreciation for AD.) If you got an invite, feel free to share it around.
If you don't follow me on Goodreads, please do. I'll try to be more active on there. And I'll try not to be such a putz when it comes to inviting you to things. Hell, I haven't even invited my friends on FB to like my Pages. Derp. Maybe I'll suck it up and do that over the weekend. Baby steps.
To that end, I created an event for my upcoming sale on the Dennis Haggarty Mysteries. If you got an invite, great. If you didn't, you can click the link and join along. It's my first 'event', so don't be surprised if I did something wrong.
Now, as for invites. I sat here for the longest time, trapped in a fearful place and wondering whether I should send invites at all. I really don't want to irritate people. Really. Don't. So much so that I am loathe to send invites to anybody for anything.
And that is really stupid on my part.
People follow me on Goodreads and Facebook because they WANT TO KNOW what's going on with me and/or my books. So it stands to reason that receiving an invite from me would not be irritating. Right?
So, I bit the bullet and invited like 200 people. Pretty much everyone I'm friends with (with the exception of one super bestselling author and one gal I know did not have a fond appreciation for AD.) If you got an invite, feel free to share it around.
If you don't follow me on Goodreads, please do. I'll try to be more active on there. And I'll try not to be such a putz when it comes to inviting you to things. Hell, I haven't even invited my friends on FB to like my Pages. Derp. Maybe I'll suck it up and do that over the weekend. Baby steps.
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Facebook Marketing
On Monday, I said I might do a post about the various Facebook groups I use to market my on-sale books.
In no particular order, here are the groups - some are public and some you have to belong to (which means sending a request to the group owners before you post, so no big deal)...
Amazon Kindle Goodreads - "This group is for people who own Amazon Kindle and want to share their recommendations for books they recent read and liked, or chat about their favorite authors etc."
Indie Authors International - "READERS and WRITERS and ARTISTS from EVERYWHERE, across borders, without barriers. EVERYONE WELCOME."
eBook World - "This is the group where authors and publishers can share their kindle books.. For promoting kindle books or for reviews exchanging."
Self-Published Crime Fiction Writers - "Welcome to my group.
I hope I have chosen my first guests well, and that you all enjoy the Crime-Fiction genre.
Here is a place to post any books that you would recommend to your friends of other group members.
If you are an author, you are welcome to join the group and post your Crime Fiction novels here. Please don't spam and please stick to the genre."
Free Kindle Books UK - "...We constantly search our website for good free books and post any that we find in this group. ..."
Free Kindle Books - "Sharing *free* Kindle (Amazon sites only) books as and when we find them. Get in quick as sometimes the books are only free for 24 hours before they return to paid. ..."
Kindle Unlimited - "Kindle Unlimited is a place for author's to share their kindle books and ebooks and a place for Kindle Unlimited subscribers to find great reads. ..."
I'm sure there are more. Scads, probably. But these are the ones I belong to. There have been varying results, but they're all free so it's not costing me anything but time to post to them, and you never know when someone will see your post and buy.
As for other marketing with Facebook, I have paid for ads. Several times. And I never see a sale directly from any of my paid marketing efforts. There might be residual stuff from having my book splashed on FB, but nothing I can connect directly - i.e. post ad, see uptick in sales or page reads. I haven't done one of these paid ads in a while. It's hard to justify them when I don't see results, ya know what I mean?
I know some of you aren't on Facebook at all. I understand. It's a drain. Sometimes it sucks the energy right out of me. It's definitely a timesuck. But, like I said, I do see sales without having to shell out any of my tightly squeezed cash.
Twitter? I try to avoid it. Talk about energy-sucking. Bleh. But I do have my FB author page feeding Twitter. Sometimes I even go there and post, but only during sales. Sometimes I see sales I can directly relate to a Twitter post. Mostly, though, it's just for the exposure.
And that's it in a nutshell. Any questions?
In no particular order, here are the groups - some are public and some you have to belong to (which means sending a request to the group owners before you post, so no big deal)...
Amazon Kindle Goodreads - "This group is for people who own Amazon Kindle and want to share their recommendations for books they recent read and liked, or chat about their favorite authors etc."
Indie Authors International - "READERS and WRITERS and ARTISTS from EVERYWHERE, across borders, without barriers. EVERYONE WELCOME."
eBook World - "This is the group where authors and publishers can share their kindle books.. For promoting kindle books or for reviews exchanging."
Self-Published Crime Fiction Writers - "Welcome to my group.
I hope I have chosen my first guests well, and that you all enjoy the Crime-Fiction genre.
Here is a place to post any books that you would recommend to your friends of other group members.
If you are an author, you are welcome to join the group and post your Crime Fiction novels here. Please don't spam and please stick to the genre."
Free Kindle Books UK - "...We constantly search our website for good free books and post any that we find in this group. ..."
Free Kindle Books - "Sharing *free* Kindle (Amazon sites only) books as and when we find them. Get in quick as sometimes the books are only free for 24 hours before they return to paid. ..."
Kindle Unlimited - "Kindle Unlimited is a place for author's to share their kindle books and ebooks and a place for Kindle Unlimited subscribers to find great reads. ..."
I'm sure there are more. Scads, probably. But these are the ones I belong to. There have been varying results, but they're all free so it's not costing me anything but time to post to them, and you never know when someone will see your post and buy.
As for other marketing with Facebook, I have paid for ads. Several times. And I never see a sale directly from any of my paid marketing efforts. There might be residual stuff from having my book splashed on FB, but nothing I can connect directly - i.e. post ad, see uptick in sales or page reads. I haven't done one of these paid ads in a while. It's hard to justify them when I don't see results, ya know what I mean?
I know some of you aren't on Facebook at all. I understand. It's a drain. Sometimes it sucks the energy right out of me. It's definitely a timesuck. But, like I said, I do see sales without having to shell out any of my tightly squeezed cash.
Twitter? I try to avoid it. Talk about energy-sucking. Bleh. But I do have my FB author page feeding Twitter. Sometimes I even go there and post, but only during sales. Sometimes I see sales I can directly relate to a Twitter post. Mostly, though, it's just for the exposure.
And that's it in a nutshell. Any questions?
Monday, March 21, 2016
Twitterpated
Scrolling through my Twitter feed this morning, I noticed someone saying that no matter how interesting a person sounds, they won't 'follow back' if the person isn't engaging with their followers. I took that to mean doing things like having conversations in tweet form.
Ummmmm...
Yah....
Totally not good at that. Hell, I'm not good at starting conversations with the people I follow on Twitter, let alone engaging in witty repartee. Sometimes, with friends, I can achieve something like that. Banter. Chat. Whatever.
I can do that in person. Sometimes. Occasionally, 'hey, can I help you reach that?' at the Walmart (because I'm tall and they aren't, or they're old and I'm not) turns into fifteen minutes of conversation. Yes, I can turn an offer of aid into a conversation if I encounter the right person.
I can do that via email.
I haven't yet found a way to do that on Twitter. I'm wordy, for one. Trying to encapsulate everything I want to say in a 140 character blurb is exhausting. And I detest longer tweets that are broken into segments (pt 1 of 3? Do they have a program for that?) because I have a tough enough time following a tweet thread without having to piece together a sentence from disconnected parts.
I do enjoy chat. Facebook chat. Gmail chat. The problem with that is when someone wants to chat and damned if I don't have something else I have to do right when they want to chat. I'd chat all day, if I could. Heh, that's pretty much how I managed to bomb my last year of college - too much time chatting on the mainframe.
Another part of the problem with all the socialization stuff is that I don't want to be a bother. Or sound stupid. Or be weird. If I don't know you that well, I'm less inclined to take the risk of coming off like a total freak. If I know you well, you already know how much of a freak I can be, and you're either okay with that or not. LOL
Anyway, I guess whoever that was on Twitter won't be following me back. And I'm okay with that. I am who I am. If you're out there and want to engage with me, I'll engage right back, but don't expect me to start the ball rolling.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be sitting over here against the wall, watching the world go by.
Ummmmm...
Yah....
Totally not good at that. Hell, I'm not good at starting conversations with the people I follow on Twitter, let alone engaging in witty repartee. Sometimes, with friends, I can achieve something like that. Banter. Chat. Whatever.
I can do that in person. Sometimes. Occasionally, 'hey, can I help you reach that?' at the Walmart (because I'm tall and they aren't, or they're old and I'm not) turns into fifteen minutes of conversation. Yes, I can turn an offer of aid into a conversation if I encounter the right person.
I can do that via email.
I haven't yet found a way to do that on Twitter. I'm wordy, for one. Trying to encapsulate everything I want to say in a 140 character blurb is exhausting. And I detest longer tweets that are broken into segments (pt 1 of 3? Do they have a program for that?) because I have a tough enough time following a tweet thread without having to piece together a sentence from disconnected parts.
I do enjoy chat. Facebook chat. Gmail chat. The problem with that is when someone wants to chat and damned if I don't have something else I have to do right when they want to chat. I'd chat all day, if I could. Heh, that's pretty much how I managed to bomb my last year of college - too much time chatting on the mainframe.
Another part of the problem with all the socialization stuff is that I don't want to be a bother. Or sound stupid. Or be weird. If I don't know you that well, I'm less inclined to take the risk of coming off like a total freak. If I know you well, you already know how much of a freak I can be, and you're either okay with that or not. LOL
Anyway, I guess whoever that was on Twitter won't be following me back. And I'm okay with that. I am who I am. If you're out there and want to engage with me, I'll engage right back, but don't expect me to start the ball rolling.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be sitting over here against the wall, watching the world go by.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Once Upon a Djinn - The Facebook Page
So, I mentioned on Monday that I have a new page for my Once Upon a Djinn series. It's totally new and I have two followers at the moment. :waves:
My vision for this page is to use it to interact with fans of the series, provide some fun links to things related to the series, use it to announce new stuff and upcoming stuff, etc.
There will be antiques posts - because, if you haven't read the first genie book yet, the main character owns Mayweather Antiquities - an antiques business and auction house. She sells the things her genie friends and no longer want or need, and she uses the fundage to keep her real business of genie rescue and rehabilitation up and running. (Wishing up money upsets the global financial balance, don't ya know.)
There will be posts about things supernatural - including, I hope, links to paranormal book releases, reviews, etc.
I plan to share links about people who may or may not BE genies or OWN genies - you know, the extremely lucky, the weirdly successful, and the strangely beautiful and.or ageless. (I think Dick Clark was a genie... is a genie... who couldn't keep up the human act any longer as Dick Clark. His appearance and name are probably altered now and he's working in some other occupation.)
If you have any ideas about what might be cool there, let me know. If you have any suggestions for genie sightings or interesting antiques that might be appropriate for a Mayweather Auction, shoot me an email at be.sanderson.writer at gmail.com. Or Facebook message me. (Talk to me first, though. I won't open links from total strangers because, well, viruses.)
If you are not on FB, that's okay. You can still read the page. You'll still see all the news and posts. You can still interact with me about it. You just can't interact with me THERE. No biggie. And don't worry. News and updates about my genie books will still be posted here and in my newsletter.
I want this to be fun. I'll try to remember to post there often, so you don't get bored. I hope you'll stop by.
My vision for this page is to use it to interact with fans of the series, provide some fun links to things related to the series, use it to announce new stuff and upcoming stuff, etc.
There will be antiques posts - because, if you haven't read the first genie book yet, the main character owns Mayweather Antiquities - an antiques business and auction house. She sells the things her genie friends and no longer want or need, and she uses the fundage to keep her real business of genie rescue and rehabilitation up and running. (Wishing up money upsets the global financial balance, don't ya know.)
There will be posts about things supernatural - including, I hope, links to paranormal book releases, reviews, etc.
I plan to share links about people who may or may not BE genies or OWN genies - you know, the extremely lucky, the weirdly successful, and the strangely beautiful and.or ageless. (I think Dick Clark was a genie... is a genie... who couldn't keep up the human act any longer as Dick Clark. His appearance and name are probably altered now and he's working in some other occupation.)
If you have any ideas about what might be cool there, let me know. If you have any suggestions for genie sightings or interesting antiques that might be appropriate for a Mayweather Auction, shoot me an email at be.sanderson.writer at gmail.com. Or Facebook message me. (Talk to me first, though. I won't open links from total strangers because, well, viruses.)
If you are not on FB, that's okay. You can still read the page. You'll still see all the news and posts. You can still interact with me about it. You just can't interact with me THERE. No biggie. And don't worry. News and updates about my genie books will still be posted here and in my newsletter.
I want this to be fun. I'll try to remember to post there often, so you don't get bored. I hope you'll stop by.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)