I Must Be Missing Something
So, the title of this post isn't all that surprising. I'm certain there are a lot of things that I'm missing, but I'm speaking of marketing tactics in particular. I was at Capricon last weekend, a local science fiction/fantasy and writing/gaming convention. I love it. It was a great Con. There was a wonderfully positive vibe this year. I also got to sit next to Timothy Zahn on a Star Wars panel for an hour and a half and completely geek out. So, that was good.
There was a panel on marketing your book. Unfortunately, I was moderating a panel on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at 200 years old at the same time. So, I send my husband to the marketing panel armed with a pen and paper. He can back with a ton of scribbled notes. One of those notes, one of those things that everyone mentioned was BookBub. Now, I've heard of BookBub. I get emails from them all the time. I don't know why it never dawned on me to look at them from an author's perspective instead of a reader. Duh. Like I said, there are some things I miss.
So, I logged on, got my books vetted and added and set up my first ad. I've then stalked my "click" rate and my Amazon book rank. In two days I've only gotten about 12 clicks. And that book rank? Yeah, hasn't budged. Maybe I didn't think big enough. Maybe I didn't pony up enough cash for the ad. I'd actually like to eventually make some money on my books. I listened all weekend to other authors, some of whom were self-published, many of them without as many books as I have out, talking about how they were making hundreds of dollars a month. Or how they had hundreds of downloads or over 50 reviews. It's frustrating. I'm struggling to make a quarter a month in royalties. I'm struggling to see any downloads. I'm struggling to get the people who are related to me by blood and marriage to leave me a one or two sentence review.
I'll just keep writing. Keep trying. Keep shouting into that abyss of marketing trying to get my voice heard. They're good books. At least that's what the few people I know who have read them tell me. It's just so hard to get your name out there. I'll also go back and research everything I know about this BookBub service. Like I said, there must be something I'm missing.
There was a panel on marketing your book. Unfortunately, I was moderating a panel on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at 200 years old at the same time. So, I send my husband to the marketing panel armed with a pen and paper. He can back with a ton of scribbled notes. One of those notes, one of those things that everyone mentioned was BookBub. Now, I've heard of BookBub. I get emails from them all the time. I don't know why it never dawned on me to look at them from an author's perspective instead of a reader. Duh. Like I said, there are some things I miss.
So, I logged on, got my books vetted and added and set up my first ad. I've then stalked my "click" rate and my Amazon book rank. In two days I've only gotten about 12 clicks. And that book rank? Yeah, hasn't budged. Maybe I didn't think big enough. Maybe I didn't pony up enough cash for the ad. I'd actually like to eventually make some money on my books. I listened all weekend to other authors, some of whom were self-published, many of them without as many books as I have out, talking about how they were making hundreds of dollars a month. Or how they had hundreds of downloads or over 50 reviews. It's frustrating. I'm struggling to make a quarter a month in royalties. I'm struggling to see any downloads. I'm struggling to get the people who are related to me by blood and marriage to leave me a one or two sentence review.
I'll just keep writing. Keep trying. Keep shouting into that abyss of marketing trying to get my voice heard. They're good books. At least that's what the few people I know who have read them tell me. It's just so hard to get your name out there. I'll also go back and research everything I know about this BookBub service. Like I said, there must be something I'm missing.
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