Authors Electric

For indie authors – and for increasing numbers of authors who aren't indie – writing a book is just part of our job description. Without a publisher ( and frequently even with a publisher these days ) we have to market what we write, and straight away we run into one of the major problems that beset indies. Most writers are not PR experts or marketing gurus. The two things require completely different skill sets. Some fortunate people have both; but what do you do if, like me, the very thought of marketing makes you come out in hives? This is a problem I've been wrestling with ever since I stepped into the self-publishing ring. I can’t claim to have come up with any particularly brilliant answers yet. However, I've gradually arrived at the following practices, which I like to think of as a form of invisible marketing. (However, a disclaimer: I am by no means a marketing authority. Everything in this post could well be rubbish. It’s a list of things I've learn...

Ali Bacon's debut novel Well does it? Until recently I hadn’t even considered it.  When A Kettle of Fish was published in late 2012, I already had a healthy online presence. Using my ‘platform’ to sell my wares, I could also call in online favours to shout about my new e-book without spending a penny. But two years on, while reluctant to conjure up images of deceased equines, that’s pretty much what I feel I’m dealing with. Surely my online audience and real-time contacts have by now either bought it or decided against?  Yes, I think it’s time to find a new audience by doing some advertising. Will it pay? Maybe I should have consulted my blogging associates first, but having woken up one day with a sudden desire to go for it, here’s what I’ve done so far. The first thing I considered was a listing with one of the increasing number of e-book marketing services. With these your book is  emailed out to readers who have usually indicated a genre or set of genres th...

In last months blog post ( Retelling Tales - It's Been Done Before ) I hinted at my latest book. This month I'm pleased to announce my latest ebook featuring the rogue that is Brer Rabbit is now available for download from Amazon ( UK  -  USA ). The book contains eight retold tales all based on the original tales collected and retold by Joel Chandler Harris. You may be wondering why I'm telling you this. Well using my monthly slot was one of the ideas I had to help me market my new book. I also had other ideas and wanted to share them with you (so I wasn't just marketing at you). So here they are: One: I've placed a blatant plug on my personal Facebook page and my author Facebook page. Two: I've decided to give Wattpad a go. If you've not heard of it basically it's a library you upload your work on to and people can download and read for free.  Some people choose to place entire books on there, a chapter at a time. Some like myself upload p...