Well, you have uploaded your book to either Amazon or Smashwords, or you found an Agent, who convinced you to sell your rights to a publisher, that does nothing more for you than list your book on their website. You have sold less than 300 books to family, friends, employees, strangers, and are starting to look at your dog funny...you have stage fright, the thought of talking at the public library, trotting out those same family, friends, employees, and strangers is enough to make you break out in a cold sweat!
So, what do you do now!?!? You just write the books, damn it! They are great, everyone tells you that...well...they won't leave reviews, and Amazon disqualified any review that REMOTELY looked like it was from family! The reality of book writing is that writing your book is only the start of the process. Because there are so many things that you will have to do now to get the next tier of readers out there to know that your book exists! Right now, you need to think about where your book is in relation to all the other books in the world right now.
Your book is stuck at the top of Mount Everest...buried under 10 feet of snow, on a zip drive...encased in a block of ice...in a hidden crevasse...guarded by the Abominable Snowman.
You want your book to be number one on the New York Time's Bestseller List, with its very lucrative film rights already paid for and sitting in your new Swiss Bank Account, which already has the proceeds from the advance for books 2-5 from a major publishing house languishing, earning enough interest that you are shaking the dice at the craps table in Monte Carlo as I speak this entry into my blog! Tell me that isn't your wish? It seems to be the wish of every modern day author, to be a household name so well known, that your coined phrase, "Nanos" is as well known as "Hogwarts"!
Well, let me tell you up front, you can only get off Mt. Everest with either the Supernatural intervention from Almighty God, and/or you have a LOT of work ahead of you!
Let me tell you up front, there is no crystal ball, magic formula or plug and play device that will allow you to leapfrog your way off Mt. Everest back to New York City! But there are several steps you can take to build your foundation to get your books to where you want them to be. YOU have to prepare for being big BEFORE you become big. You are going to have to put in some work, or have some money to pay someone to put in the work for you to get some buzz started about your books!
Lesson Number 1: If you are going to pay money to leapfrog, set a firm, non negotiable budget and limit, based on clearly spelled out results. Only work with money that you don't mind not being able to recoup, because there will e missteps! There are many, many outfits online that will tell you they will Tweet for you, and Post for you, and they have the ear of this Publisher, or that media outlet. But it is up to you to sort through the claims, and see what they deliver! Testimonials mean nothing if they don't become your testimony also! Just remember that if you pay soeone to get you out there, you make sure they get you out there! Stay on top of it 100 percent of the time!
Lesson Number 2: You WILL have to establish an online presence. There is simply no way around it! You can read books on your computer, your phone, your E-Reader, your tablet, etc. These are not replacements for having a good, chunky book in your hand, mind you, but technology that can do a search in 10 seconds and download a book in another 10, you can't pass up the necessity of your online presence. Think before you start of integration, and get into the habit of setting aside a minimum of an hour a day updating all of your resources. Stick with things that work, and decide how much time you will give others to show a result, then drop it like its hot if its not working for you!
Lesson Number 3: To establish your online presence, you need to make one title choice to make it easy for people to find you. If it'sSURE no one else is using your name already on a website, or any other social media, do a google search, and narrow down your choices! I made a mistake with this, and it has taken a while for me to rework Google to place my name and picture first when you type in my name now. Also, go to EVERY single one of the "We can find anyone" sites and make them remove your information! You want to be the one who is in control of where your information comes up, when you put in your name. The fewer choices that come up, the better the chance that people can find your books. Mine the web and get anything that does not point back to your books removed. If you have to add your middle name or middle initial to your name to make it stand out, DO it! But start now, rather than later.
your name, make
Lesson Number 4: Get on Facebook and Twitter, under your overall name decision. If you are already on Facebook, then you need a fan or business page. Then lean on those same family, friends, employees and assorted strangers to like that page, at least 40 of them, so you can get some analytics. When you get on Twitter, sign up for Unfollow, and start to mine Twitter for people who are interested in what you are writing. Add a minimum of 30 new people per day. And follow them back, mine their lists also!
Lesson Number 5: You need to list yourself as an Author on Linkedin, and follow some boards for Authors, and Writers in your Genre. Post your books there, and reach out to other authors. You have to establish relationships, you can learn a lot from total strangers, remember, total strangers are going to be reading your books, repeat strangers become avid readers, and friends one day, maybe!
Lesson Number 6: You need to get on Pinterest! Set up boards about your likes and dislikes, and set up a Board that just has posts about your books and writing! Add pictures of your interests, and talk, talk, TALK to your fans and readers! It is an excellent way to flesh out your books and your characters.
Lesson Number 7: Once you get enough information online, you need a Website. There is no way around it. So, you did a search on your name, and have added all the ways to reach you and get your books online, so now it is time to tell Google how to find you! Google SEO is the next blog post, so I will talk to you next time! Get busy, get your online presence started, it is well worth the time you put in on it!
Anything you can do to get the word out about your writing, you need to just take the time and do it. Don't be intimidated by the fact that they are foreign sites, and may be in different languages, you can sort through them even so, as there is a lot of continuity in how the pages are set up. Felicia recommended keeping up the Amazon US Page as some are in foreign languages, but when I pulled up the German (de) site, it asked if I wanted to translate the site, which I quickly decided to do. I would recommend keeping your descriptions and bio brief, as translations can become kind of sketchy when they are exact word translations, as that may not be how a particular phrase is turned in a foreign language. Don't get 'lost in translation'. I know that whenever I have visited foreign countries, they have always appreciated I made the effort to learn how to communicate with others in their own language. You might also use an online Google translator to make sure our words are just right.
