Below, I have listed what I've been doing as far as promoting and social networking. More and more books are being released every day. It's easy to disappear. I'm not a saleswoman. I could never sell books out of the trunk of my car. It's just not me. But I know that if I sit back and do nothing, I'll be invisible. I want people to read my stories, which means I have to get out there and be seen. They can't read my stories if they can't find them.
Write. I must keep writing every day. Readers can't read my books if I don't write them.
My goal is to try everything at least once. I don't have to do it all this month or even this year. But when it comes to promoting my book and getting my name out there, especially if it's FREE, I'm probably going to give it a try.
Be fearless. Put yourself out there. Get out of your comfort zone.
Blogs: Questions and answers are fun, fast and easy. I talked with
Trish Milburn in May. I answered questions on
Dave Wisehart's Blog Kindle Author in June, 2011. I have a post on
Joan Swan's Blog coming up on Monday, August 1st and
Anne-Mhairi Simpson's questions and answers will be up on Thursday, August 4th.
BlogTalkRadio: I talked with
Giovanni Gelati on July 28th on the G-Zone. Definitely out of my comfort zone but I had a blast and would do it again. In fact, I will be interviewed by John Rakestraw on November 6th, 2011, at
Unbridled Editor.
Twitter: I love all of the great information to be found on Twitter. I could spend hours over there, but I still limit myself to 30 minutes or under a day and I spend more time reading other people's tweets than posting my own. @theresaragan
Kindle Boards: Same thing. I love interacting with other writers and seeing what they're up to. I also like checking out Book Corner (Kindle Boards) to see what readers are talking about and reading.
Facebook: A great place to see what writers and friends are up to.
Paid for Advertising: The Romance Reviews,
Eye on Romance,
Kindle Nation (September).
Book Reviews: I took part in
Menage a Blog, a wonderful blog tour, run by the
Indie Book Collective. I met lots of fun people. It was a lot of work but worth every moment. My book was sent to reviewers who were interested in the genre of the book I was talking about that week. I ended up with 7 new reviews, but not all of them have been posted on Amazon and B&N, etc. Hopefully that will happen soon. And I'm hoping any readers who liked my book will post a review, too!
The BookRooster. Just this morning I paid $ to have BookRooster find people who read in the genre of the books I submitted to their review site. It takes months because they find readers who like getting free books. And in return, those people give honest reviews and post them to Amazon. I am doing that for
Taming Mad Max
and
Finding Kate Huntley
. I will keep you updated.
March, 2011 thru July, 2011 SALES
Return of the Rose
- Released March 2, 2011 $2.99
Medieval Time Travel Romance
March: 253
April: 879
May: 1,595
June: 1,460
July: 1,200*
TOTAL: 5,387
A Knight in Central Park
- Released March 18, 2011 $.99
Medieval Time Travel Romance
March: 265
April: 6,017
May: 4,282
June: 2,383
July: 1,100*
TOTAL: 14,047
Taming Mad Max - Released April 25, 2011 $2.99
Romantic Comedy
April: 30
May: 182
June: 264
July: 290
TOTAL: 766
Finding Kate Huntley - Released May 5, 2011 $2.99
Romantic Suspense
May: 184
June: 256
July: 300*
TOTAL: 740
Abducted
- Released May 29, 2011 $2.99
Romantic Suspense/Thriller
May: 24
June: 696
July: 1,600*
TOTAL: 2,320
Total Books sold for March thru July = 23,260*
*The July sales are estimated since today is July 30th and I will not know exact July sales until August 1st. I am selling between 130 and 180 books a day. I have not included Smashword sales, but those sales are improving every day.
If you have questions, tips for writers or readers, a book to promote, then go for it and leave a comment!
