writer wants advice from writers

[albonio]

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

[Zilla1]

Similar to the PPs, I suppose who can try and make every aspect of your book the best you can (the content, title, blurb, cover and so on).

It sounds like you have time so try and plan a long term project for marketing based on what you have time to do and can learn. Do your research. If you can, create any or all of Facebook group, twitter presence, instagram, Amazon autho'rs page, wikipedia, blog and so on. Try and build an email list. Put fresh content on frequently. Try and learn from everything you do and improve it.

I'm not sure I agree when you say 'agents/publishers don't really seem to do much for new writers these days'. You might be thinking about advances for unpublished authors but in terms of the actual writing, you would need to compare the initial submission to the final book to look at the effects of development, copy and line editing and general feedback to judge whether the agent and publisher add value. I've seen books traditionally published that I consider poor but nothing like some of the badly written self published books that would have benefitted from editing.

Good luck.

[HundredMileStare]

20booksto50k... I've recommended it before but honestly thats a whole group of 30k people who are discussing the marketing aspects of self publishing.

The first thing I'll say is that it doesn't matter that your mum or Ted down the road won't read it. You actually don't want this at all, because a huge part of success will be getting those "also boughts" on your books page. You don't want them filled with kettles or dog leashes, you want them filled with the types of books your buyers are hungry for, so you can show up on their pages.

Secondly, don't think for a second that only gothic romance can do well. I know an author absolutely killing it in post-apoc and another one in thrillers. UF is huge for self-pub, as well as sci-fi (and of course romance.)

If I was you, the first thing I'd do is create a facebook, if only so you can join the group mentioned above and read the all-star document.

You need to make sure your cover and blurb are 100% on point. When you self-pub this is YOUR responsibility and will be the only difference in your book sinking or swimming.

Next, I'd go on a Zon hunt and I'd try to find books like yours. Look for self-pub authors. Take notes. How are their blurbs? What hints are they giving in them that you can follow too to help readers find you? Is there any common tropes that they are all hitting in their books that you completely miss? Consider if you could tweak your books to add this (I did this and it totally changed my book- I hated myself but I made lots of money so I can write more of the books I want in future). If they have reader groups on facebook, join them and contribute.

Release your first book. See how it does. Look into getting a bookbub. There is no point in dabbling with FB or AMS ads at this stage- you'll lose money.

Watch "The Perfect Year" videos on youtube, immensely helpful and aimed at self-pub.

Work out what went well with your launch and what you could do better. Lower the price of book 1 when you release book 2. Try to create interest on the reader groups you joined. Ask other established authors for favours, shoutouts, mentions in mailing lists. Set up a mailing list NOW. Right now.

I could go on all day in this post, but I need to get out of bed 😂 if you have any specific questions let me know, hopefully that's given you ideas on where to start.

[adayatthebeach]

Sorry wrong.....indieauthorproject.com........my husband writes book.

[adayatthebeach]

Something to look at.....indeauthorproject.com.