Essays, and Novels
© 2005 Jeremy M. Hoover http://jhooverwebcopy.com/bookmarketing.htm
Recently, someone rated my "Online Book Marketing"
article a 2 out of 5. That person apparently didn't
like the article. My guess is that he or she was
turned off by the marketing angle. Writers write;
they don't sell. Some writers even view the concept
of selling or marketing their work as somehow
inherently wrong.
That's fine. But unless you get a lucky break from a
huge publishing house you will probably not go far
with book sales unless you are willing to roll up your
sleeves and do some serious marketing.
There are many ways you can market your writing and
build a readership online. But you should also start
thinking about your writing differently. For example,
instead of trying to write and sell one book of short
stories or one novel, why not break it into separate
small books (each one a short story or two) or sell
your novel as a serialized version—a new chapter or
two every month? (Eventually you can sell this
material in a physical book.)
The logic of my suggestion is this: Suppose you have a newsletter group of 7000 readers who love your writing. Each month you write a new short story set (including four stories), group of poems, or collection of essays that you sell as a PDF ebook.
You publicize this to your newsletter group, including
a free sample with your newsletter, and sell the set
for $4 as an instant download.
Now, suppose only 10% of your readership buys your new
ebook each month. 700 readers x $4 = $2800 each
month! And don't forget—you are constantly adding new
readers to your group.
The secret to success here is to build a readership
group through a free e-newsletter, and sell your
writing to that group (your fan base) month after
month. This is how you grow a strong, solid
readership that will buy your books when you publish
them in physical form, because they have bought your
books when you sold them in digital form. And you
made a decent living in the meantime.
Jeremy M. Hoover helps you market your books online.
Contact him at jeremyhoover AT gmail.com or at his
website, http://jhooverwebcopy.com/bookmarketing.htm .
