After breaking contract with a prominent NY literary agency nearly four years ago to pursue the ebook/indie publishing revolution I can now confidently say I know what it takes to sell books. This revelation comes after spending thousands of dollars on every marketing and promotional tool, sponsorship, and gimmick available. I can say that although some of these applications yielded modest sales, nothing compares to the secret I’m about to reveal. So here it is the miracle way to sell more books. Ready? Drum roll please.
Word-of-mouth!
Yep, it’s a simple as that.
“Oh, come on,” you say; and like in the Geico ad, “Everybody knows that. But how do you get word-of-mouth for your book?” Therein lies the hard part. There is no instant solution for getting your book noticed, if it were easy then everyone who ever wrote a story would sell millions of copies. The way to get people interested in your book is to engage in forums and topics on books and writing. I can’t tell you the exact number of books I’ve sold because I’ve engaged someone online, but it far outweighs the amount sold by spending money on promotions.
What I’ve discovered is a whole internet universe of potential readers and a whole lot of writers willing to help each other out. For example, through forums I’ve met an exemplary group of writers who have started the group Enovel Authors at Work. For the zero cost of participating in cross-promotion, they have put me and many of my books up on their website http://enovelauthorsatwork.com/neil-d-ostroff/ I’ve already noticed an increase in sales.
My point is it takes community to start the buzz on your book. You can’t be a lone island in a sea of titles. Helping each other out will reap many rewards. The internet is like an infinite spider web; tapping just a small portion can cause the whole structure to vibrate. Working together with writers and readers to garner exposure. This does work! Don’t waste money on paid advertising/promotion, there are just too many books out there to choose. Let a human being spread the word for you.
To learn more about my books and myself, please check out my blog: ALWAYS WRITING.
http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com
