Well, I've published again and learnt a huge amount... and NO it's not easy!
BUT Lyrical Literature; a whistle-stop tour of the classics is selling every day!
Here's a quick bullet point list of what you have to do to get regular sales traffic to your Amazon page...
Write a brilliant book, spend hours editing and employ a diligent editor (we all miss stuff in our own work) so this is ESSENTIAL. (NB you will also need to write multiple books if you are going to sell via self-publishing).
Get a very good cover designer who understands how to capture the essence of your book in a captivating design.
Learn how to upload to Amazon. You need to be adept at PDF, Jpeg, Jill, ePub files etc, etc, it's not easy but you have to google, learn, try, fail, try again. Sorry but you have to!
Set up a website (I did it on my own to save cost).
Blog to get followers and subscribers then create an email list.
Set up social media accounts and learn to hashtag efffectively. Post regularly.
Share your work at writer groups and live readings.
Sign up to marketing companies and do free eBook offers to get downloads. This puts you higher in Amazon rankings and gets the book READ. Again learn, fail, try again...
Learn how to do Meta ads and Facebook ads. Run in conjunction with dates of promos for your book genre. AGAIN, learn, try, fail, read, google, try again!
Apply for stalls at markets and fairs. Talk about the book, get a SumUp card machine and sell direct.
Contact stockists. (They don't like Amazon printed books so publish both with Amazon and an alternative print on demand publisher for stockists and author copies).
Follow up every submission. You will have to follow up nearly all of them as people are busy and don't generally reply to your first pitch!!!
Work out margins so that you are making at least a pound a copy through stockists. They will want up to a 60% margin and you may need to change the cover artwork to change your barcodes for stockist copies. Get your marketing head on and do some maths. Your creative writer brain is redundant right now!!!
Join book clubs to make contacts. Network relentlessly. Read at poetry recitals and share feedback. Give gratuitous help constantly!!!
Meet other authors and ask for advice. Share yours.
Spend hours learning how to do this stuff yourself because otherwise it will be too expensive and you need to be able to understand KDP on Amazon so that you can update your manuscripts, change pricing to run offers and run ad campaigns and promotions.
I have done all of the above but I am still learning. I am going to do a marketing degree online specific to book marketing next year too! - Oh, as well as writing the sequel to my novel...
It's bloody hard but there's no other way I'm afraid (unless you're Prince Harry of course) ... I am still hopeful that my novel may get picked up by an agent but there are no guarantees so you have to be prepared to do all the above and MORE!
Basically, you've got to love writing more than anything. No new clothes, hobbies, meals out, social life, relationships, basically nothing. Good job I do!
It's not for the faint hearted but where there's a will and all that!
I am doing the Brill Christmas market this weekend and then the Dragon School Fair so perhaps I'll see some of you there! I am also performing at Catweazle Club in Oxford tonight!
Busy!
Final thought... I am perfectly well non medicated and have been for years... One day I'd love an agent to read my memoir/self-help book.... I do not believe I ever had bipolar disorder and if I did then I have overcome it. Basically, I had a tonne of trauma from shit relationships that didn't serve me and people who let me down ... (See rest of blog to find out how I overcame it all).
Moral? DIY!!!! Drop all crutches and walk out of illness!
BELIEVE!
TR
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