Craobh: A New Druids Series, Volume Two
I’m up to 38,000 words!
Tag: Writing Page 6 of 9
Very Slow Start to Sales
Sales of my debut novel have been much slower than I expected. I won’t bore you with specifics but suffice it to say that my most pessimistic expectations weren’t even close to reality. My previous post outlined the hardships of marketing and I won’t elaborate more on that and bore you. I will say that at the moment I don’t know whether to laugh, or bang my head against the wall.
Some people have read the novel and reached out to me to say well done – and I thank you. It is the resounding silence that is getting to me though. I had hoped to receive some feedback both positive and negative for nothing truly improves your writing than having someone informing you what you may have down fundamentally wrong in your plot, storyline, characters, etc.
I’ll admit that Duilleog is likely a bit different than most books you’ve read. For one, it is in two distinct parts. The first part is all about Will Arbor and the second part is all about the stuff that occurs behind the scenes. Duilleog is in the “first person” point of view of Will. Meaning he can’t possibly know what is happening elsewhere. So, I didn’t want to shuffle between first person and third person and intentionally split it up. This, I suspect, is the ‘out of the box’ part that one of my kind reviewers on Amazon mentioned (“Out of the Box But Original and Entertaining“). Typically a book should alternate between the protagonist and the antagonists. Or, like in A Song of Ice and Fire (aka Game of Thrones), switch from character to character. These methods give you a little bit of each story thread and pushes the story along. I didn’t do that. Amplification: I consciously didn’t do that. And I may be paying the price for it now.
No matter. I am happy with my story – I truly am. And I am happy that it sets up the next two books. So bear with me readers and know that I won’t disappoint. For those that read the book: please email me at donalddallan@gmail.com and let me know what you liked and didn’t like. I spent over 18 months writing that book – please spend 5 minutes writing me a note! I won’t bite and I certainly won’t be negative or react poorly. You have my word.
Also, please provide reviews on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Goodreads. Good or bad, it doesn’t matter. Reviews are what pushes books into the limelight.
As always,
Ciao!
So Much Work To Do
Getting the word out and marketing your book is hard. This is not a whine. I am merely underlining and highlighting the grief of being an author for you so you have a better understanding. There is so much I simply did not know about writing. I actually thought: I’ll write this, stick it up, and the book will sell hundreds of copies without me having to do a thing. Not true as it turns out. Insult to injury: I have now learned your first book is usually a dud and that it takes a couple of books before you start generating buzz and interest. That’s a jagged pill to swallow.
My euphoria of publishing my first novel lasted about two weeks. Hmm. Maybe three. It was really awesome and I loved it and I rolled in it like a pig in the mud. But nothing that joyous can last forever. Except: my box of trade paperbacks showed up and seeing a box full of books with your name on it rocks pretty hardcore. Anyway: The harsh reality I am getting at is making people notice my book amongst the 4,500 books that appear on Amazon daily is a difficult thing to manage. It is a full-time job just browsing support social media sites. There is so much “help” and “advice” out there you feel like you are drowning. Wheat and the chaff and all that stuff. I am feeling like that pig in the mud but now wondering how I got so dirty.
So: I have to start focusing on my next novel Craobh and trying to set aside all the marketing effort on the first. FYI: I spend hours every day reading and finding ways to spread the word socially about Duilleog.
I’ve pretty much run out of any new ideas and so Duilleog will sit on Amazon and hopefully a miracle will happen (which if you know me you know that I can’t possibly believe that will happen – ).
So back to blogging and writing and all that other stuff. Craobh is slowly being written. I am currently introducing a new character called Nadine the Herbalist. She’s important to Will Arbor. I really like her. I really do.
One last thing, my family is moving back to Ottawa in only three weeks. I knew it would happen fast but seriously?
Ciao!
Marketing your book is a daunting task. I’ve reached out to a few sources, new and old, for advice and some of it is exactly what you would expect and some is not what I expected. So I have only just self-published my first novel so it’s not like I have a ton of experience here, but I will share what I have learned so far.
Facebook: I think it is a must that you create an author page. So many people use FB that you can’t have a reason not to. I simply copy and paste my blog posts here into my FB and carry on. Simple enough to do.
Twitter: I have a twitter account and it is important as a social media tool. Create one using your author handle and start hashtagging.
Kobo, Smashwords and Amazon Kindle: All of these sites will create an author page for you. It’s important to make sure you maintain the same message and reach out to your readers. It only takes a few minutes and your readers are hopefully going to be your fans. So take the time to get this right.
Goodreads: You can link your book to your account. This will allow you to access some aspects of Goodreads that will promote your book so this is a must. Goodreads has a HUGE following and ties into peoples’ Amazon accounts. Remember that!
Facebook Ads: I have not heard anything good about this. I spent some money here and have yet to see any correlation with sales. I hate FB ads and so probably everyone else is either ignoring the ads or they are suppressing them (Adblock). Looks like money wasted to me. From comments from other authors this seems to be the case for them as well.
Writing Groups: I joined the Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers in America (FSFWA) and they seem like pretty decent folks. They have offered quick and meaningful advice and I think I truly like these people. I need to find more like this.
Kindle Ads: FSFWA warned me against using Kindle Ads…so I am staying away from it.
BooksGoSocial: This is a FB group and a website. They will push your book on all social sites repeatedly. This gets the word out and gets people flocking to your book sales site. Mine kicks off any day now and I have my fingers crossed.
thekindlebookreview.net: These folks will give you honest reviews on your Kindle publication. This is important because reviews = sales. I am still waiting on my reviews and it is nail biting.
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