#10
Paid promotions – will make or break your chances of
hitting the lists. It’s the area I consider that is the most important to
benefit the collection. There are a huge number of places willing to take your
money but they need to be set up in such a way as to keep the traction high on
the final week. If you have someone who knows the owners of these promotional
places and can set up your anthology before it’s even released on pre-order,
then you have a shot at the number of sales it will take you to make it big.
You cannot wait until you have the live links for the different venues (unless
you put the book out on pre-order months in advance and then you may jeopardize
the reader making the decision for not wanting to wait so long. Once she/he
says no to it once, it’s easier for them to do so again.) This is where ‘who’
the authors are comes into play. Well-known names have a lot of fans willing to
wait to get a hold of their next book – of course that’s only if it’s brand
new.)
(Original post on June 18, 2015)
collection (and for that matter – any single book you want to push to the lists
too.) It has to be started a couple of months before the release day and
whoever is in charge of setting up these promotions needs to be on top of them.
pre-order, and to tell the truth, I’m not sure if all the venues are allowing
that now – they didn’t at one time but things may have changed recently – then
the person organizing this marketing campaign will have to write to these
venues and ask to reserve certain days on the first week of the book’s release.
Without live links, filling in the regular submission forms can be impossible.
owners of these advertising sites and I write to each one of them with a
request to give us a spot on the day I’ve set up on my chart. They will do so
knowing the links will have to be sent on later. These folks are wonderful and
try to be as helpful as possible. After all, it’s their business and they like
knowing they will be advertising a new collection that has the potential to hit
one of the lists… or God willing….both.
that the authors are mostly New York Times or USA Today Best-sellers and that
we will have our street teams and beta readers posting reviews on the day the
book is released. They know that the book will be popular, a great deal at
99cents for a bundle and since our covers are always done professionally, they
have no problem agreeing to my request.
link (usually my author page) so they will get payment at that time. It
actually makes me feel better knowing I’ve done the submission since I then have
the paperwork to fall back on in case of a problem. And, it’s one more job I
don’t have to follow up on. As you can imagine, this procedure can be a bit
mind-blowing, trying to keep everything organized. I admit to using colors on
my spreadsheet so I know exactly which ones I’ve written to and if they’ve
reserved the spot and who has or hasn’t been paid, etc.
well in advance because they’re filled up for months. I try and have these sites
promote the book on the first few days after it’s released to keep the numbers
up after the pre-order sales boost.
lesser ones. An example of day one would look like this:
FB Triple play) with Book Gorilla
IQ also – needs to be on Day 1 as he won’t promo something that’s been
advertised within 90 days
Deals Daily
need to book them well ahead.
who don’t have the best reach. They costs less and aren’t a guaranteed result.
But, the more places that send out your book, the better chance you have of
getting those sales. Also, these cheaper venues are the ones I book just a few
weeks before the release and can be done once the links are available. That
makes them a lot less hassle.
unless the book has a certain number of reviews… which of course is impossible
if the book hasn’t yet been released. Most will waive that rule if you write
and explain. Still others have a place on their forms where you can show that’s
it’s a new release. If they still won’t take you, it’s their loss.
Another thing I’ve noticed is just how much the costs have gone up from one collection to another – we’re talking a matter of months. Since I’ve always kept track of what each promotion costs, it shows up pretty darn fast when I copy the last spreadsheet to use again. It’s a bit scary…!!
and can boggle your mind. Sharing it with another might work best but then you’ll have to split the budgeted money so it goes to two places. As long as whoever’s in charge is methodical and follows through, it works just fine.
spreadsheet with all the links, etc to anyone who leaves a comment with their
e-mail address. All I ask is for you to add your name to my newsletter list
(see right side panel). Just so you know – I’m so dang busy, my newsletters
only go out when I have such good news, I can’t help but share.
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