Marketing and Promotion Blues

Like most writers, I don’t like the marketing and promotion side of writing. These days we don’t just sit down and write a book, send it off, and hope a publisher likes it. Especially not if you are an Indie author.

Back when I first started writing novels 30 plus years ago that was the process. Write, edit, send a synopsis and first three chapters to agents and editors and then write the next book while you waited sometimes over a year to hear back. If you did get the nod from an editor or agent then it was revisions and after 18 months to 2 years your book was published.

I was lucky to get picked up by a new small publisher who not only helped with editing but taught me a lot about publishing my book. When I had that down, and with a nudge from other author friends, I took the plunge into being an Indie author. And while being with the small press I had to do all my own marketing and promotion, I didn’t do near enough.

Now, fast forward, I have 55 books, half that are western romance and half that are murder mystery. My heart has always been in writing murder mystery and I feel as if the romance books were what I used as my stepping stones to getting to the genre I love to read and write.

With my murder mystery series, I have been promoting the heck out of them and learning new things as I add more print books and now audiobooks into the mix.

Just when I think I’ve figured out Amazon ads or Facebook ads, or using other promotional third parties, I find out that I messed up with this or with that. I had a promotion scheduled and I thought I’d changed the price of the audio box set. Well, I didn’t so there went the money I paid for the promotion down the drain and the graphics I made to promote the sale will have to be used later when the price finally is changed on all audiobook channels. With this headache, I can see why so many indie authors with audiobooks are selling them direct. It is something that keeps swirling around in my head and I’m thinking strongly about doing it so I can send people to my direct store to purchase audiobooks that I want to put on sale and to get audiobooks for a fairer price all the time.

I have my print books on a direct store and it would only take adding a link to the audiobooks to make it happen. Well, after I upload them to Bookfunnel. That would be another 2-3 hours a day for a week to get them all uploaded. That will cut into my writing time. I have scheduled to write three more books this year. If I don’t get to putting words in the document instead of uploading audiobooks to different vendors and now Bookfunnel, I’d have this book half way written instead of just starting. But once I get them all uploaded I will only have to upload each new book.

“Sigh” Just as I need more energy to do more promoting and marketing, I’m, finding my creative and productive energy doesn’t last as long as it used to.

I have also decided today, after realizing how many more audiobooks I need to upload to Kobo and Bookfunnel that I will from here forward, sit down at the computer with only my book document open and get my word count written before I do promotion or upload audiobooks. It will be the only way I’ll get my book goal accomplished this year.

But it is all worth it when I hear from readers how much they enjoy my books and I receive word that a book is a finalist in a contest. After contemplation I thought I’d put Damning Firefly in the wrong category, I guess not!