What's Your Biggest Challenge with Your Book?

[Bill Frank]

I'd be interested to learn what authors/publishers on this network think their biggest challenges are with their book. I wonder if there's any common, pervasive challenge we all face.

[Cliff Ball]

I think the biggest challenge for me(other than trying not to get discouraged) is wondering if I'm selling anything and if my promoting is working at all. I've taken out an ad campaign on Facebook, have gotten lots of hits on my website, but less than 20% of them have clicked on the links to where my novella is being sold on either Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com. Getting people I know who have actually read my novella to post a review is also difficult, but I am sort of new at this.

[albertasequeira]

Hi Cliff,
I know where you're coming from with questions on if your ads, or website, are helping sell your product. I've spend over $1,000 on ads with not much on profits from royalties. People want something when they buy your item.

I just added a sale for buying my book on my site...a $2 savings with no s/h. That's the best that I can do for now. I've only sold 5 books BEFORE the ad. So, now I sit and see it it works.

As for tracking where the sales come from, seemed almost impossible. My husband gave me a suggestion that I'm going to use with my next ad. Mention the discount from your website and have them use a code for the order. This way you will see that the sale came from the ad. I hope it works.

Most authors get very discouraged with not knowing if it's working. Small royalties show it isn't. I'm not informed on what else to do. Any suggestions out there?
Alberta

[albertasequeira]

Hi Eahoue,

PublishAmerica hasn't promoted my book at all. Maybe some do. I think the author has to do 90% of it. The important thing is to get noticed and be heard "a lot." Do the radio shows, talks, etc. ...anything. I've done it all and still struggling to get attention.

Alberta

[L. Diane Wolfe]

Purchased air time looks more like an advertisement, though.
Start gathering information on local tv & radio stations - the producers, the hosts, etc. - and then when you are ready, send them your pitch. It has to be something that will benefit their listeners/viewers or ties in to a current event or news item. You cannot pitch "I am an author and here is my book"

And you can hire a PR person or agency, but be prepared for the cost - $2-4000 a month, usually for a six month period.

Traditional publishers do some promotions, but mostly for their best seller items. Almost all authors must do promotions themselves. (And subsidy/vanity presses do none!)

[L. Diane Wolfe]

Actually 20% is a very high number! The average is much, much lower.
Ads simply do not work for books, especially by unknown authors. The most cost-effective and successful promotional path contains press releases, reviews, and articles, and most of those can be had for next to no money spent.
Have you visited Dan Poynter's website? It is loaded with tips & resources for authors! "1001 Ways to Market Your Book" is also a must read. I teach seminars on how to promote a book and there are SO many options outside of ads!

[albertasequeira]

Thanks for the tips. I get Dan's newsletters. It helps.
Alberta

[Mary Ellen Courville]

The pervasive challenge, I believe, would have to be the dichotomy of being both a strong writer and publicist. Writing involves a deep internal relationship with ideas, characters and words. It's a rather solitary pursuit. Publicity on the other hand, is a highly extroverted domain. PR is all about spreading the word about your writing. The deep introverted writer-side of me struggles with putting on my extroverted shoes and promoting what I wrote.

To complicate things further, both sides require an ever-improving degree of technical know how. Dividing one's writerly self into parts is hard enough, but figuring out which part deserves the bit of time you have carved out for honing your skill is a real brain burner. At that point, I follow an idea down a rabbit trail, hop on a blog and spend half an hour being unproductive but finding community support.

Along with those pervasive challenges writers share, the supports are there as well. For now, I'm going to quit writing about my writing and write. How's that for a challenge? At least when I get stuck, I'll know where to go again for encouragement.

[Miriam]

MY biggest challenge is trying to identify a secure ebook software so that I can publish an ebook version?
Any tips?

[Reagan Rothe]

Always and forever... selling the books! You might have the greatest story ever told, but getting someone to read it is a different story in itself!

www.blackrosewriting.com

[cpickett]

Hi Miriam,
Here is what I've learned about ebook security from several info product marketing pros (several of whom have no print products at all)- don't worry about it. It might sound odd at first, but consider these thoughts:

1. If you have a print book, people can pass it around and share at will with friends, family etc.
2. Libraries buy one copy but thousands read it
3. Not all readers participate in either of those two scenarios and only want their own copy

Based on the above, an ebook is no different. If someone wants to pass it along, hopefully it will introduce your work to someone who doesn't know you. Remember, there are few better forms of publicity than word of mouth or personal recommendation.

Next, just about anyone who sells something whether it be widgets or books, has to struggle to get traffic to their site or people to the bookstore along with persuading a purchase.

If your ebook becomes so popular that it is zinging uncontrollably around the Net, you'll need to be busy writing and releasing a follow up as quickly as possible to all of these new fans-what a problem to have!

Lastly, ebooks need to have links to your site, blog etc. (can be at the end or throughout, especially in non-fiction). At least some readers will click and stay and you'll increase your readership once again.

No matter what, make sure you're ready to capture visitor info by offering something to sign up for like a newsletter or fan club once they reach your site.

Hope that helps.

[Tanya Yeritsidou]

We are a small press Greek publishing house, made mainly from a team of authors (both non fiction and fiction) but we are very determined. Our books all have some feature that makes them unique- either in terms of scientific research and method or in terms of originality. That is not our own opinion, by the way, but the feedback of those benefitting or enjoying our books.

Trying to cover all the angles, we have tried to ensure the books are refreshing, direly necessary to their intended demographics when it comes to non fiction and with attractive covers.

(I am attaching our fantasy fiction book cover just to demonstrate- and get more feedback on it)

Our biggest challenge? To make the books known enough to sell. We are outsiders in a very closed system here in Greece, so it is very tough for us to make ourselves known and fully available. We also are now striving to make ourselves more known over the Internet.

We would appreciate any pointers and help on that! Thank you!

(here is our site as well as the official site for the fantasy book trilogy: http://www.mindpower.gr http://www.theartofveiling.gr

[cpickett]

Hi Tanya,
I think you're headed in the right direction. If you can't do much locally, but you have Internet access, you are almost unlimited in what you can do.

Couple of suggestions on some strategies:

1. John, the host of this network, is launching what you need. You'll probably have to wait for the DVD, like I do, but it sounds like there's going to be information that is different than what everyone else is putting out there.

2. In the meantime, it can't hurt to do some of the current stuff, to introduce yourself to readers, if you haven't already through a blog, maybe one or two of sites like Facebook, My Space.

3. Whether you use current strategies, or whatever John will be telling us, you'll need to know where your audience hangs out so that you can approach them. If nothing else, start working on that so that when you learn a good way to reach out you'll know where to implement it.