First, and most important of all:
I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the numerous messages of support for myself and my family in what is a very difficult time! In all honesty, your response has overwhelmed me and all of us. I didn’t post looking for such a reaction, but to inform you all as to why my posting might be rather unpredictable, but I do genuinely THANK YOU ALL! I’m unable to bring any fresh news on the situation, unfortunately, and, as is the way with medical matters, it may be some considerable time before we learn more. In many respects, the uncertainties, coupled with guesses, cause the greatest stress.
Changes to a book
My novella, The Sigil of Ahriman, is currently being rereleased, with some minor revisions to the content, including the correction of a few typographical errors that managed to slip through. If you are unable to download it from Amazon, please try again in a day or two. The novella is also being processed for release in other formats than the current Kindle and paperback versions, so that it’s available to all. More information on that will follow in due course.
The Truth About Book Marketing
I was looking at all the avenues I, and most others, pursue in seeking to achieve effective marketing. i thought long and hard at what I was finding, and a certain truth that seems to have become somewhat elusive in the quest to be read, and maybe even to make a little money. Given the efforts I’ve made for months now, the conclusion was rather disheartening.
In case you’re wondering, I was provoked into these considerations by an apparently unrelated matter. That, however, caused me to identify with one part of it, sending my (alleged) mind into new paths of pondering.
We’ve all said similar things. Get your book a good, attractive cover – covers sell books. Utilise every possible avenue you can find in the mind-boggling array of paths offered by the internet. Social networks. Blogs. Facebook Fan pages. Create you the brand! Thrust the fruits of your writer’s labours before everybody you can reach. Surely, such things, coupled with special events like blog tours, competitions and general giveaways, must see you ascend to the heady heights of success! You are just a matter of a few mouse clicks away from having a bestseller on your hands. But wait! If that was al true, we’d all be enjoying such notoriety. Why aren’t we?
The answer’s simple. You can devote vast amounts of time and effort to every online marketing principle you ever encounter. It may even result in some very minor success. Ultimately, however, the most effective tool for selling books lies not in such things. The best advertising is good old word of mouth. Of course, that means you have to write something that somebody not only enjoys reading, you need for them to tell others about it! It has a strange effect that other means lack. There’s this peculiar facet of word of mouth – trust. You can have hundreds of superb reviews but potential readers are cannier than might be thought by some. They realize that some lists of reviews, and excerpts of reviews, are only part of it. They know that reviews may be deliberately left out because they’re unfavourable. Excerpts which appear to show how much the reviewer enjoyed a book may actually prove no such thing – because they are the ‘gentle’ parts taken in isolation and out of context from generally less than 5 star reviews! It’s the simple fact that we, as authors, are expected to cheat by glossing over the feedback we dislike. So, while a great cover and enticing blurb might initiate some mild interest, and a welter of positive reviews may hint at worthiness, the potential reader will still give all of this far less credence than the excited assurances of a friend or family member they trust! Just as the low opinion of the same can torpedo all that beautiful, carefully presented advertising!
Maybe I’m being too negative, given current circumstances, but I do actually think that this has some considerable, thought-provoking, validity.
~ Steve
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