hello MN writers... I need your input...
massive post, but...
I'm writing a book and, while I've decided not to bother with 'traditional' publishing, primarily as I don't think I'd be 'good' or 'cool' enough to 'fit' anyone's lists, but also because I have a series and I want to publish the whole thing and not be told... 'oh, the market didn't like book 3 so we're not running book 4', which can happen, even to the best of the best,
BUT...
I have no clue what to do when it comes to 'marketing' or 'promoting' my 'self published' novel once I click 'publish'. I have no money, none, not even pennies, and I can't even find the paltry amounts I'd need to, say, pay fees to submit to book reviewer type platforms, or pay for targeted adverts and website, or swanky book covers, or any of the 'things' I feel that I should have as a professional, well-put-together-writer AS WELL AS write the best book(s) I can.
Of course, I know about 'genre specific novellas' and the avid KDP readers who snap up, say, 'gothic romance', or 'Christian Redemption' stories and 'trauma tales' and suchlike, and I'm aware a lot of authors who play the market like this often don't need to bother paying to self-promote their stuff as it kinda promotes itself, but I'm not writing 'those kind of books' over here. I'm spawning a whole kingdom of urban dystopic thrillers coming in at around 100-150k words each.
The book(s), I'm almost done with. I love the characters, the stories, the plots, the grand conclusions. I know what I'm writing is a bit... niche, maybe, and I know most of the people who could read it won't like it, maybe won't understand it, and I'm digging myself a hole, maybe, self-publishing, but I don't want to spend time trying to get an agent, then editing my stuff to fit somebody else's commercial brief, then maybe getting published, then maybe selling one novel, seeing what happens, having to wait years to get a series published, etc, etc, especially when these agents/publishers don't really seem to do much for new writers these days, advances are poor, contracts and legalities need to scrutinized, etc. Self-publishing seems like the thing to do, for me, but what do I do I to... urgh, I feel a bit seedy just saying it... what do I do to promote my work?
Of course, I could 'try' to use 'Word Of Mouth' sales, encourage my Mom and my best friend/the folks at the gym/the store to read it and tell their friends about it, sure, but I haven't left the house for six months. I have no Facebook friends. None. Not one. I don't have a social media presence. I have a phone, somewhere. There are no contacts in my list. I am not exaggerating when I state that there is nobody in my life who would even read my book, never mind leave me a glowing review on Amazon afterwards, and I'm wondering...
What do I do next? Of course I'm not going to give up: I will publish this year, but... what else can I do? Is there a tried and tested trajectory for somebody like me, and if so, can you post me a link to the step-by-step, 'easy-read' version of the factsheets?
Thanks
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writer wants advice from writers
4 replies
albonio · 04/06/2019 00:18
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