Marketing Your Book

[mgilmour]

I've been involved in a number of threads here that discuss various ways to market books....all good healthy discussions. While I was sick this past week I decided to do something about trying to solve some of the problems that authors face in marketing.....and so I have just finished building SFFauthors.com.

So what does it solve?

1. There is a whole blogging area that allows authors to have their own website without the hassle of managing their own site. Any articles are automatically sent to any of your subscribers as well as being added to the activity stream so that you can hopefully get more readers.
   
2. If you already have a blog then you can just let me know and I can pick up the RSS feed so that hopefully you can get some more readers.
3. Every user can have their own custom URL that you can pass onto readers. Mine is sffauthors.com/mgilmour
4. It's a fully functional social media platform where you can upload photos and videos as well as post what's on your mind. You can also setup your own groups for readers of your books.
   
5. If you have an upcoming event then you can post it so that everyone knows about the event and hopefully will come and support it.
6. There's a LOT more to it than that and I'm building more and more....such as automatic links into Facebook and Twitter so authors don't have to run around all those different place and post things.

The goal is to draw in both readers and authors so that they can find each other. At some stage I would like to see if I can integrate my marketing tracking system into the website so that authors can know how much traffic comes from what activity. That's a little ways down the track though

It's been a lot of fun building the website and I would love any feedback. I should mention that there is no charge and I don't have any intentions of charging.

Cheers!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Looks amazing and so much work!

My questions - can I link my existing blog to it or do I have to blog through sffauthors. I like the tracking stuff on mine.

The facebook link would be important for me if it was to be a single platform.

Also, can I link my website to it? My domain jozebedee.com isn't one I'd want to lose.

And how do I register? Do I send links to you or list them when I register?

Remember I am a technical idiot who should not have access to such lovely things as blogs and websites and, you know, stuff.

 

[mgilmour]

Hi Jo,
All great questions and thank you for your encouragement!
Here are the answers....

Looks amazing and so much work!
My questions - can I link my existing blog to it or do I have to blog through sffauthors. I like the tracking stuff on mine.

Here is a link you can click on that explains what to do if you already have a blog....it's really easy!

The facebook link would be important for me if it was to be a single platform.

I hope to have this finished by Monday - it will integrate twitter, facebook, linkedin and other social networks.

Also, can I link my website to it? My domain jozebedee.com isn't one I'd want to lose.

This is really easy to do....all you need to do is point your domain name to your profile. You can do what's called a URL redirect at your registrar and this typically takes about 2 mins to implement. Let me know if you need a hand.

And how do I register? Do I send links to you or list them when I register?

The first thing to do is to sign-up on the website....this will automatically then provide you with your own area. Everything is then automated for sending out blogs etc. so there isn't much too it.

Remember I am a technical idiot who should not have access to such lovely things as blogs and websites and, you know, stuff.

I'm always happy to help you or anyone else out....

 

[Brian G Turner]

Also, can I link my website to it? My domain jozebedee.com isn't one I'd want to lose.

No offence to mgilmour, but I'd strongly recommend you keep your own domain pointing at your own standalone website, and simply submit a feed to the new site - use it as an additional resource, rather than as a replacement for own business website.

It just isn't professional to sign over all control of your online presence to any third party - and people who do can easily find it all ends in tears.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

No offence to mgilmour, but I'd strongly recommend you keep your own domain pointing at your own standalone website, and simply submit a feed to the new site - use it as an additional resource, rather than as a replacement for own business website.

It just isn't professional to sign over all control of your online presence to any third party - and people who do can easily find it all ends in tears.

Thanks, Brian. That's what I was checking, that I could retain the standalone. I wouldn't swop the domain name for something more generic.

And thanks, Michael. I'll get to looking at it all properly in the next day or two.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

This is really easy to do....all you need to do is point your domain name to your profile. You can do what's called a URL redirect at your registrar and this typically takes about 2 mins to implement.

Absolutely a seriously bad idea for people that already have hosting / website.

The rest of it might be useful to link both ways (an RSS feed from your own site to your subsite on mgilmour's then you never have to manually update mgilmour's) if it becomes popular.

Hosting is pretty cheap. My "unlimited" package is about x10 the cost of a domain name, but I have about 14 separate sites on it.

 

[tinkerdan]

Is that going to be strictly members only: I tried to go there and it came back with a page that says::

You are a spammer, hacker or an otherwise bad person.

I'm not sure I want to join that club.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

[I am] a spammer, hacker or an otherwise bad person.

I'm sorry to hear that. It works for me. Perhaps he has a incorrectly configured IP blocker. They are pointless because of IP trading between ISPs.

I don't like the front page though.

 

[tinkerdan]

That might be so:

I'm sorry to hear that. It works for me. Perhaps he has a incorrectly configured IP blocker. They are pointless because of IP trading between ISPs.

I don't like the front page though.

I just tried a proxy connection and that went through; but now half the buttons and stuff don't work.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

That proves it. Very silly. I only ever used IP blocking for persistent single IPs with same identity signing up spam. Now I can't be bothered so turned off my forums except for existing members (not even visible anyone else) and no comments on any of my blogs.

Social Media? Yeah, I heard of it.

 

[mgilmour]

No offence to mgilmour, but I'd strongly recommend you keep your own domain pointing at your own standalone website, and simply submit a feed to the new site - use it as an additional resource, rather than as a replacement for own business website.

It just isn't professional to sign over all control of your online presence to any third party - and people who do can easily find it all ends in tears.

I completely agree with you Brian. That part of the service was more for people that did not have the expertise to develop their own website.

 

[mgilmour]

Absolutely a seriously bad idea for people that already have hosting / website.

The rest of it might be useful to link both ways (an RSS feed from your own site to your subsite on mgilmour's then you never have to manually update mgilmour's) if it becomes popular.

Hosting is pretty cheap. My "unlimited" package is about x10 the cost of a domain name, but I have about 14 separate sites on it.

Ray....that part of the service is not for people with their own website or for people that have the expertise to setup their own site. It's more of a turnkey solution for those authors that need something but don't know what to do. It's not a cost issue for most people....it's more of an expertise problem.

 

[mgilmour]

Is that going to be strictly members only: I tried to go there and it came back with a page that says::

You are a spammer, hacker or an otherwise bad person.

I'm not sure I want to join that club.

Yes, this is my firewall. The reason why this would happen is if the firewall determined that there was a sustained attack. I put this in place with all of my sites as there are a LOT of people trying to crack sites out there. It looks like this was a false positive and so I've now released the constraints. Let me know if you experience any problems and feel free to have another go.

 

[mgilmour]

I'm sorry to hear that. It works for me. Perhaps he has a incorrectly configured IP blocker. They are pointless because of IP trading between ISPs.

I don't like the front page though.

Hi Ray,
Many thanks for your feedback.....what don't you like about the frontpage? Since the website has just been released any feedback is valuable.

 

[thaddeus6th]

On marketing: I cocked this up a bit in several exciting ways with various self-published works. So, here's what I got wrong, so you don't:
I didn't market pre-release. Send ARCs (advanced review copies) to various sources. Note that many will not be interested (check and follow guidelines, if they have them) and most that aren't interested won't reply.

Use a drip approach (as suggested by some fellow called Gary Compton). Don't slam everything all at once on the interweb. For my next self-published release, I plan to slowly reveal the map, the cover, see if I can get reviews and interviews, and have a week 1 discount to try and get early buyers. In the past, I really didn't do this.

Put it up on Goodreads, maybe with a competition for a freebie attached [I gather some author or other called Jo Zebedee has done this].

I also plan on cross-promoting and putting the first chapter of another book in the back. The blurb and tags are an opportunity not just to sell Book X, but to link it to Book Y and Z. This is particularly true if the books are stand-alone but related to others in the same world (think Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold and Red Country).

If it's a series, whether loose (Honor Harrington) or tight (A Song of Ice and Fire), mark it as such. Amazon fires off reminder e-mails to people who buy book 1 when book 2 is out. And don't forget to add it, as I did, to your own author library, so that when someone clicks your name they go to your author page and can admire the other lovely things you've written.

Except to check reviews [from which useful stuff can be learnt], stay off the splash page (the main page on Amazon for a given book). Visiting without buying damages the sales ranking. I don't think it's severe, but if you're a compulsive lunatic [and not a stable, balanced man like me] then this could shove it down the order. (Hat tip to Jo Michaels for this bit of info).

 

[mgilmour]

Right now authors are like little islands with their own readership. The goal of SFFauthors.com is to take the first steps towards linking all of the islands together so that we can all benefit from effectively sharing potential readers. The problem for readers is that in many cases it's very hard for them to discover new authors. It's also really hard for authors to generate traffic and ultimately sales in an economic manner. I do not believe that I have the solution.....what I'm trying to do is work away at it. This is why considered feedback is so important for SFFauthors.com.

Feel free to sign-up and check out what you can do....it's pretty extensive.
BTW - here's an example of what a bloggers page would look like at SFFauthors.com/mgilmour.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

If it gets off the ground with quality authors it will indeed be good. Ambitious plan, but you have done a quite good job.

I can't give a full analysis as to my "snap" opinion about the front page being poor (it's too "busy"), but it needs to be more a shop window, more an summary of what the site is about rather than looking like a blog. It's not easy!
Only block unwanted IPs from a separate sign up page for new authors. Your site needs to be secure from a malicious user on ANY IP anyway.

 

[mgilmour]

If it gets off the ground with quality authors it will indeed be good. Ambitious plan, but you have done a quite good job.

I can't give a full analysis as to my "snap" opinion about the front page being poor (it's too "busy"), but it needs to be more a shop window, more an summary of what the site is about rather than looking like a blog. It's not easy!
Only block unwanted IPs from a separate sign up page for new authors. Your site needs to be secure from a malicious user on ANY IP anyway.

Thanks for that Ray.
It's designed to be more like facebook for writers combined with a blogging platform. It's very early days yet but it's good to see that the person who reviewed both my book and Jo's has signed up (no, I don't know them). I think that the more authors want to share what they are doing the better.....and yes, it's very ambitious. If you have an RSS feed (or something similar) on your own blog then you will only gain readers....which is a good thing!
I've released some of the restrictions around the IP address blocking so there should be a lot less problems now.....the challenges of launching a new website!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Nice one about the hits, Thad - I didn't know that. I use Novelrank to keep an eye on things, but have a tendency to go in and check for reviews, I'll hold off on that and only look every so often now.

About Goodreads - when I put up the promo (about a week ago) I had 18 people waiting to read Abendau's Heir, most of whom were already known to me. I've offered a signed paperback (well, Gary has, actually ), so cost wise the promo is low. At the moment, 120 people have added me to their to-read list and 200 people have entered the draw*. Only about seven of those additions are known to me in any capacity. I have another four days to run.

Now, obviously, so far there have been few sales from it - people are waiting to see if they win - but each of those 120 people's add on has been seen by their friends. And the book is on their page for the next time they wonder what to read next. Also, having a quick scan at a couple and what's on their bookcases, they're a good match, by and large - so it's hitting the right target audience. And, again, it's about shouting out that you have a book and hitting it across as many readers' eyes as possible.


You can only do a giveaway with a actual-copy book, not an e-book, so that's one downside maybe for the spers? But I've found the payback from it to be way in extent of what I expected.


*I'd hoped for 2-300 as an absolute best outcome, based on what I was seeing in terms of demand for other books. That seems good for a debut. For the bigger authors, 2-3000 can enter the draw!

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I wanna win your comp, Jo!