Tag: indie

Giveaways: The Experience

With so many giveaways happening in the Self-Publishing community, I would like to share with you my experience with Giveaways.

sweepstakesWhy I Invested in a Giveaway

I believe it is important for any artist to give back in some way. So the motivation  behind this contest was just that. I love being able to share a part of myself with others. When I do good for others there is a feeling of excitement that no monetary value can match. I love helping people, teaching people, and learning from people. I started this contest because I believe it is important not just to write books, but to give back as well. For me, not being able to give back robs me of the  joy that comes with being a part of this community.

Doubt

I wasn’t sure if this was something I wanted to do at first. To start, there are tons of Self-Published books out there that people are offering for free. This was a huge red flag for me. I did not want to throw my book in with the sea of freebies. It made me feel desperate. That my books were no good and this is why I’m giving them away. That’s because I don’t like to over do things and I do believe there is such a thing as overdoing things if not done strategically. There can either be too little or too much. Why? Because no one wants to be reminded of a product every time they see you. Imagine someone telling you about their new this and new that every time they saw you. This frightened me away from the Giveaway and thus I reasoned that maybe this isn’t such a good idea. Part of my mind completely tuned out my true desire for the giveaway and tried to cloud me with doubt. However, eventually I ignored it and set up my giveaway.

The Risks

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Also with the doubt, before I decided to go for it, was the risks involved in Giveaways. Keep in mind that running a giveaway is a short term project. By short term I mean you run the risk of short term success in relation to gaining new supporters. People will support you just so they can get the free prize and be on their way. They may also unfollow your social networks after the contest has ended and you’ll notice your numbers go down which will completely suck but it is part of the downside to a giveaway. This is also the risk of Book Reviews just to slightly change the subject. No one really talks about it, but there’s a positive and negative side to everything. The downside to Book Reviews is that giving books away for free in exchange for an honest review does not mean people will be honest and give you your review. Some people may feel bad that they didn’t like the book and you’ll never hear from them again. Hopefully no one has to go through that but we have to keep in mind that not everyone is as honest as they say they are.

Anywho, back to Giveaways. Even with the risks involved, if done strategically, you can possibly have some people drawn to you who actually want to stick around (please stick around people!)

The Process

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Immediately, I wanted my giveaway to be different. I did not want to use Raffle-copter, Goodreads, and I did not want to use Amazon. To me these platforms are already being used to the max. Another Amazon Giveaway?  It didn’t sound so exciting. Why? Well, everyone’s doing it! So I popped open my laptop and began to search. As a person I like to stand out if I can help it. I like to be different. If the world view is one way, then you better believe I’m on a whole other planet and I like it that way. If the world is normal then call me crazy! If I’m part of something ordinary then I want to make it extraordinary  and so I wanted to promote this in the most unique way possible. Whatever I do, even if its not that big of a deal to most, I want there to be some kind of excitement behind it. Why? Because its worth it. YOUR worth it. And so I wanted to find something that would add a unique touch to my contest. And yes, I wanted it to be a contest. I did not want everyone to win. Perhaps it was still the voice of doubt creeping or maybe it was just common sense. A giveaway where everyone wins? It sounded boring. I wanted there to be a competition instead and not the one where everyone gets the prize.  I also wanted their to be ranks! Levels. Progression. 1st Prize winner. 2nd Prize winner…. yes, now we’re getting somewhere.

That is when I found Promo Simple. Though I was not in the position to buy any of their more advanced features (which would have been way cooler) the free option was the best option for me. It is simple to set up and still maintains that professional look and feel.

Requirements

062112_kissNo, I’m not calling you stupid. Yall know better than that!

But, you do need to keep your giveaway very very simple.

This is a big one that so many people miss. When setting up a giveaway, it is best to keep it as simple as possible. If you require people to like your Facebook page to enter or follow you on Twitter it will lessen the chance of them entering. If you ask for their date of birth, phone number, marriage status, age, address…you get the point…too much. However, there is a way to be strategic. Instead of asking for too much information, I simply asked for an email address. That’s it. All I need is your email address. If you win, I can email you for those personal details, such as your home address so I can ship your prize. To increase social media interaction and newsletter sign-ups, I offered my social media as an option in return for more votes (you always need an incentive). In this way people can choose to support my social media in exchange for extra entries for their try for the grand prize. In this way no one is forced to do anything and people actually want to support you. Why? Because they are simply not forced to. This also increases your chances of getting follows that will stick around because they didn’t HAVE to follow you to enter, they did it because they wanted to. Like I said, while I promote a lot and I think its important, I also think there is a strategic (obviously this is the word of the day people) way that it is to be done. Typically, when you push too hard people pull away but if you tread lightly (and consistently), people are curious and more inclined to inquire. Consistency and Strategy is the name of the promo game. At least in my experience. (I never said I was an expert so stop looking at me like that).

Prizes

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I was doubtful on whether or not to give away my books.

Not because I’ll be doing it for free and feel like I’m losing out on some money but because of the people who may not have heard of me. Realistically, no one is going to want books from an author they’ve never heard of before (unless of course its a debut book that has been well promoted that people are just dying to get their hands on). Not even if they are free. I noticed right away that the thing about freebies is that there must still be strategy. There’s a saying that people like free stuff, this is true. I like free stuff! But its just not about free stuff, it is also about the value. If you offered me a free box of clothing that’s ripped with holes in it I’m not going to take it. So you see, I thought, well free does not necessarily mean that its any good. Most people in fact are more inclined toward the price tag because they know they get good value. For this reason, its not always a good idea to give away books for free just because its free which is why I seldom do so. In fact, this is my first time giving away my books for free. I think the free game is when you have become so well established as an author that your fan base has grown and the demand for the book is huge. For this reason, I knew I did not want to just give my books away for free alone. Though there is some demand, its not like I’m JK Rowling or something (if I hear that name again…) so I knew there had to be an added bonus at stake. Something everyone would want. Something I would want. Something that would make me enter a contest like my own.

That is when I threw in the Amazon Gift card. Though this was not an Amazon Giveaway (where I am giving my book away through Amazon), adding the Amazon Gift-card added a great value to the books I was also offering freely. I could have easily given away an eCard but I was thinking again, about value. Plus I’m a hands on type of person so I thought about what I would want. Would I want to win an eGift card. Yes. Would I want to win a hard-copy Gift-card in the mail that looks like a debit card and comes with a cute special box? Yes! So there you have it, I went with the hard-copy. If it would make me feel special, then it will make my readers feel special too.

With the books, I decided to do the same thing. Instead of give away eBooks, I decided to up the stakes by giving away paperbacks, signed by me with my special author seal.

Time Limit

Businessmen and Clock

Timing is everything! So this was a big one for me. For anyone planning a contest I would highly suggest you take the time to strategically decide just how long you want your contest to be. If the contest is too short (one day) it won’t give everyone a chance to see it and participate. But if the contest is too long (one month), the initial excitement will wear off and people won’t be as interested. One month could possibly work if organized well for someone with a large enough fan base and demand. Otherwise, people will get bored. The human attention span is only 20 minutes or so, after which we start to look for something else better to do so you have to keep that in mind.

A good time frame for a giveaway is 2 weeks in my opinion and it is what I went for. And it was perfect.

On launch day of my contest the excitement was huge. Lots of people participated and my social media’s blew up (well, not up but increased a little. Maybe like blew middle lol). My Facebook post got about 12 shares and Twitter was buzzing. Over the next couple of days the excitement dwindled a little, but people were still excited and the entries were still coming in. I would look and see 18 entries and then return to see 32. That was an amazing boost to my Giveaway confidence.

By the second and final week however, though the entries continued to come in it was nothing like the first week and as the contest came to a close, the numbers remained stagnant a few days. That is until the final finish.

Final Finish

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I thought it would be a good idea not to promote the contest too much. What I mean is, promote it on Launch day and a few days after that and then leave it alone a week. I’m working on my patience so this was huge for me and also important to the contest itself. By leaving it alone and talking about other things and focusing on other things you give people a chance to see it. So by doing this the numbers increased beyond what I thought. Then I came back the second week just to remind everyone that we were in the final week. Then I left it alone. Leaving it alone was key. At least for me. By giving people a chance to see it, they did. This may not work for everyone but it did for me. I waited until the final moment, the last day, to announce it again. This gives those stragglers time to come on in. There will always be those last minute decisions. The Final Finish is for them, the late birds. And as the final hours dwindle, this is when your contest will really take off. Those launch entries and last minute entries are the most exciting as everyone is rushing to be the first to enter and rushing to the finish line. I announce my three winners next week. I’m so excited to see who will win and who takes first place.

Marketing is Farming, Not Hunting

Very informative post. I love the Farming analogy. Most excellent article.

Chris's avatarChris Fox Writes

Writing a novel is an immense undertaking, and before you finish it you think it’s the most daunting thing you’ll ever do. Then you DO finish it, and suddenly you need to figure out how to get people to read it.

Before long you realize you need to learn this strange sorcery called marketing, so you start asking around, reading blog posts, and digesting anything else you think will help. Then you start posting ‘look I wrote a book’ to Facebook, Twitter, and anywhere else you think people might see it.

People throw rotten tomatoes, and you quickly retreat back into your introvert shell. You realize that all the Facebook groups you joined are full of other people like you who are also yelling BUY MY BOOK as loudly as possible.

The method described above is the hunting approach. Your prey are readers, and you are stalking them through the…

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Self-Published Authors With Thin Skin

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You won’t make it. And no, I’m not saying that I have made it. It’s just that, well, if you have paper thin skin just stop right now. Do not pass go and do not collection $200.

I have a lot to work on as an Author but the only reason I know this is because of what others have told me, what I have learned about this field, and what I have accepted as flaws that must be pruned and tuned to become strengths. I noticed, while reading an article about negative reviews, that there is not enough attention paid to the dark side of self-publishing. That is, the negative feedback (and reviews) you get from those who (wait for it) thought your book sucked.

You are entering a world that is a lot different from other businesses. You can’t pick up a book and drink it or rub it into your skin. It’s not a collection of diamonds or a tasty meal that will satisfy your flesh. No, the book business is a lot different than selling soap. Books require more than money, but people must be willing to invest their time into a read and that’s only if they actually enjoy reading. Even if they enjoy reading, books require lots of attention. It’s not a disgusting vegetable drink you can gulp down quickly and complain about later. No, if a book is tasteless it will be promptly put down, rejected, and possibly never tended to again. There’s just way too much to do in a day.

As a Self-Publisher, you must prepare yourself for this rejection. It will hurt initially because let’s face it, your a genius. But, not everyone will see it this way and usually when you think something is brilliant chances are it’s not so in the eyes of others. It’s an interesting thing, the work I don’t think much about is what gets the most attention. The poems I write just because I felt like writing, where I was nonchalant in the process for lack of a better word, are the poems people love the most. It may have something to do with humility: the humble will be exalted and the exalted humbled. (As a rule of thumb, the greater you become, the more humility you should have) Work we think the world of may not be as we intended. I didn’t intend on writing a book when I wrote the first chapter to Stella, nor did I intend for Book #2 to do better than Book #1! That’s just the business. It surprises you like that. And you know what? I love it.

Add onto this the stigma (though significantly fading, so much so that I feel funny writing this) of Self-Publishing and Indie Authors in general. I’ve read some Traditionally Published books that sucked but the reality is that as a Self-Published Author you have to have a much thicker coating of skin. If you can’t take constructive criticism in your everyday life and you have plans to publish a book, you may want to get started on that. Taking criticism that is. I know I have talent as a writer but I am not naive. I know that not everyone is going to enjoy my work or see the message and I don’t expect them too. Truth is, I’m not trying to save the world and neither should you. I’m just trying to reach the remnant of the world that wants to be saved. For this reason, I expect some people to dislike my work. (The bible also says something about when everyone thinks well of you, careful, for so they did the false prophets. You don’t have to believe in the bible to consider the message in that).

I also know that not every review will be a positive one. This is actually not a bad thing, it’s a good thing. Its a good thing because without knowledge of your flaws you can’t improve. For instance: A reviewer once told me to watch my POV (point of view) when I’m writing. In my mind, I write as if a camera is floating the room. I see the book playing out in my mind like a movie and I move wherever the camera takes me. If I feel like speaking from the perspective of the roof that I’ll do. It didn’t occur to me that this surveillance comes across as very confusing to the reader. When I received this tip, I became more cautious of this and began to write so that it is clear to both myself and my readers. What I would do without that tip! Now, I make sure to keep the “camera” nice and steady. No more moving from the first person to the third person because it looks good in my head.

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If you plan to Self-Publish a book you must first examine your heart. If there’s thin skin there you may want to trade it in for some course material. If you desire to become an author you have to have a certain endurance for negative attention, it comes along with the territory. I have people speak badly about me all the time and I’m not even talking about my writing! People are generally not very fond of me because while I strive to be gentle and display the same respect to all persons, I’m not going to give you deception. I have to tell you the truth or I would not be the person I am today. I would be a liar.

Be thick skinned about whatever criticism that takes place in your life whether that’s in regard to your books or whatever. Understand that everything you encounter in life is to mold and shape you into the individual you were meant to be from the very foundations of the world. It hurts, yes, but its all for the greater good. I am thankful, personally, for growing up the way I did. For knowing struggle and pain and deception and humiliation because what it has done for me is to allow me to bear the burden of whatever negative vibes come my way. Don’t like me? Great, stand in line with the rest of the people waiting for me to care. That’s not being arrogant that’s just being real. In the book publishing industry, pinch your skin first and make sure its thick enough.

(There’s a lyric to Maxwell’s song “Lifetime” I think is very interesting. As the song opens he says, “I was reborn when I was broken”. You gotta be broken down to be built up. Something to think about.)

8 Tips to Market a Book

Great tips on Marketing your book! This is need to know info.

Steven Capps's avatarBard & Books

Hi there fellow Bloggers, I have had a crazy weekend due to my military obligations so I was unable to get this post up yesterday. I hope you forgive the delay, and I hope you enjoy this week’s A Bit of Business. 

8 Tips to Market a Book

Marketing requires its own type of mind but can be fun once you get the hang of it. One of the best parts of being a Financial Representative was closing on a sale. There were certain tips that can make the sale more likely.  A new writer must struggle through the sea of other authors just to get a chance at earning a reader.

Know your Audience

Understand the type of people that your work would appeal to. Plugging your new novel on your personal Facebook feed might earn a few readers from family and friends but many of the people who would…

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Why Not Write a Series?

Excellent advice! I’m so excited about planning the release of Book #3 in my Stella series and revamping my novel from back when I didn’t know what I was doing! I love confirmations. Nice to know I’m on the right track. 😉

jorobinson176's avatarLit World Interviews

Series is the new black. It seems like everyone is writing them these days. Having a published series of books is a great way to keep readers interest for long enough to have them remember your name, actively seek you out, sign up for your newsletter, or ask to be advised by Amazon when you publish a new book. I’ll be publishing the second and third books in my series at the same time either late December or early January. In retrospect I think that publishing the first book on its own was a mistake, which is why I haven’t tried to sell it so far. The time for readers to buy books in a series is directly after reading one of them, so it’s better to publish three at the same time to begin with. My book one will really only get properly launched with two and three, so…

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re: Book Reviews For Beyond The Colored Line: A Short Story

 

Last week was Launch Week for my new book, Beyond The Colored Line. This week, I am seeking the assistance of people who are willing to volunteer their time to provide me with some reviews.

 

 

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I will send you a Free paperback copy in exchange for an honest review. Please email me (ahouseofpoetry@gmail.com) if you are interested in helping and I will give you further information. I will say that this is not a novel; it is a short story so it will not take up too much of your time.

(I also Review Books so if there are any authors who are also book reviewers, I’d be willing to swap books. You do a book review for me and I will do one for you. Team work makes the dream work so let’s make it happen. Self-Publishers rock.)

Thanks a lot for the consideration. I am traveling this week so I will respond to all inquiries by next week. Thank you all for your patience.

– Yecheilyah

Self-Publishing: The Workflow

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You are not just a writer. You are not just an author. You do not have the privilege of having an agent or big publishing company to stand behind you. You cannot write a book, sit back and then watch things happen because you are not just a writer anymore. You are a publisher. You are a Self-Publisher. You publish your own books. This means you must stop being a writer. You are much more than that. Now that you publish your own books, you must now think like a publisher. You must organize and plan and live as a publisher. You must become a publisher.

“Self-publishing has gained a great deal of popularity over the past few years. Amazon has made it easy to publish our own work through Create Space and Kindle Select. Unfortunately, the fact it is easy to self-publish has resulted in a proliferation of poorly edited novels as well as novels that need a great deal of help with content and structure. Until these issues are addressed, self-publishing will continue to have an unnecessary stigma attached to it. Many authors just entering the arena of self-publishing have no idea where to start – how to find an editor, a cover artist, and formatters.”

– Editor Glenda Poulter of Rainbow Tales Literary Services

I like this quote because the tone is not bashing toward Self-Publishers, at least not to me, it’s just real talk. It’s hard language, but it’s true:  While I don’t think Traditional Publishers or advocates of Traditional Publishing should stigmatize Self-Publishers because of it, I do understand that because it’s pretty much free or extremely cost effective to Self-Publish, it has in many ways brought down the quality of work in some authors who feel that’s all they have to do. Self-Publishing alone does not automatically degrade the quality of work but  rather, the quality of work put in by the author can in fact degrade the business of a Self-Publisher.

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In certain situations it can benefit us to look closely at how to better use the components of everything we have to achieve a desired effect.  While certain things in our lives require a foundational stance (like morals and values no one should allow another to alter) other things, like Self-Publishing and Traditional Publishing, can both be understood in a way that is helpful to both. It’s a good idea for Traditional Publishers to understand all that goes into establishing oneself as a Self-Publisher, that it is not easy, and that it does add value to the market by having all of these books now available that would have probably never made it had not some undiscovered genius never taken the chance. It’s also a good idea for Self-Publishers to take some ideas from the Traditional Publishing method to help to increase the professionalism of their work as Publishers. Traditional Publishing exist and  Indie Authors should use this as a resource.

For example: You may not have to worry about pleasing a publisher since you are the publisher, but you do want to create a good experience for your readers. After all, this is how you are going to make money. (Side Note: Speaking of making money, there are people out there making money off of your work. There are those writing Self-Publishing Help Books who have probably never Self-Published a book in their life. There are people conducting seminars, creating products, and overall profiting hand over fist because more and more of you are Self-Publishing. They’re making money off of your workflow. Why shouldn’t you? Just a thought, but I digress).

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A few years ago, I took a brief class on Career Empowerment and received one of the most valuable pieces of advice I could have ever used over the course of my career. It actually saved me from dying of boredom in that class:

“There really is no such thing as not working for someone. Everybody works for someone. A beauty salon owner depends on customers to come in to pay the rent on the building {mortgage or taxes}. She must pay for the electricity, the repairs etc. Everything about her business depends on customers coming in to get their hair done.”

I found this piece of information profound because I had never thought about it in this way.  When someone studies for an exam, they are not studying for themselves in the sense that they pick up a book and instantly understand what is being said. They first need to be taught by an instructor, they then take notes, and then they study those notes without having to be told, thus, they study on their own. The same applies to writing.  Sure, I can be my own boss and set my own hours, but there really is no such thing as an Entrepreneur in the sense that we make money all on our own.We do not make money on our own. What we do on our own that makes us Entrepreneurs is that we put in work. A Wal-Mart employee ultimately works for the owner, but as the owner, we work for ourselves. We put forth the work necessary to convince the public that our product is important enough to invest in. As a result, we get to set the terms and conditions necessary for the company to grow. That’s what we do. We put in work. We build.

Desk2Destiny-Self-Publishing-TheBookCompany-services

As I mentioned in a previous article: “4 Common Sense ways it will benefit you to Self-Publish”, Indie Authors actually put in more work than those who choose to publish traditionally. The reason is pretty much attributed to common sense: They must do everything themselves. For this reason, there are many Indie Authors who may not start off as educated about the book making process. They can be great writers, but they may not understand that the publishing industry is a little different than other businesses: there is a lot to learn. Without the power of a publisher behind us, indie authors are forced to become much more than just writers. We have to become business men and women. We need to have great communications and marketing skills and we have to be relentless in our quest to get our books seen. Indie authors have to do it all. There is no outside help. Sure we can hire an editor, but that comes at our own expense. We have to develop, or at least hire someone to develop, a quality cover; another expense that a traditional publisher would normally cover. Indie authors have to treat every day like a business day. They need both pre-publishing and post publishing plans, goals, and quality material that never wavers. All of this requires a lot of work and investment financially in order to be successful.

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While success can be defined differently to each person, every Indie Author, or Self-Publisher has the opportunity to produce quality material, but they also have an opportunity to become much more than writers if they are willing to learn something from both the Self-Publishing AND the traditional publishing process. Self-Publishers are publishers after all, and if we continue to put forth both the time and monetary investment necessary to be successful, we can quickly tear down the negative connotations associated with this industry.

And it all starts with that workflow. So let’s keep it moving. It’ll eventually pay off. Hard work always does.

Yecheilyah Ysrayl is the YA, Historical Fiction author of The Stella Trilogy. She is currently working on her next book series “The Nora White Story” about a young black woman writer who dreams of taking part in The Harlem Renaissance movement and her parents struggle to accept their traumatic past in the Jim Crow south. “Renaissance: The Nora White Story (Book One)” is due for release spring, 2017. For updates on this project, sneak peek of chapters and the pending book cover release for this project, be sure to follow this blog and to subscribe to Yecheilyah’s email list HERE.