Saturday, March 3, 2012

On selling your eBook


It may be a hard fact to accept, but it’s true, if you are an indie writer, you’re also a book sales person.  That may not sit well with you; it didn’t sit well with me either.  I thought if I wrote a good book, got a good cover, and formatted it professionally, the job was done.  I could go on to the next book and the next and the next and live happily ever after.
I’ll bet you know what happened – in case you don’t know, nothing happened.  Oh, I’ve sold a few copies; so few, that for the first six months I knew the name of everyone who bought a copy. So I bought and read John Locke’s book, M.R. Mathias’ book, Michael Hicks' book, and a number of other successful indie author’s books.  I love all those books, and I continue to refer to them, but in truth, they are history books, and history will not serve you well in an industry that is as volatile as ours.
Regarding internet marketing, you must understand, your potential readers can only be reached through the internet – social media, blogging, and email.  I know, you have good success doing signings at Mary Jo’s Tanning Salon and Book Store, but that won’t move you up in the Amazon rankings.  Neither will getting every member of The Buffalo Lodge to buy your book.
So who can help?  I’ve found an answer, though I’ll be the first to admit that I’m sure it’s not THE ANSWER.  There are no absolutes in internet marketing beyond the fact that there are no absolutes.  However, there is a way to success – get on the leading edge and stay there.  We have to learn to sell on the internet, and the people who know how are social media marketing pros.
If you’ve looked in that arena for help, I’ll bet you found a lot of people writing blogs that only another expert can understand.  Me too.   There are some notable exceptions, and I’m going to share one with you now – Lilach Bullock, is readable, knowledgeable, and on the cutting edge of her field.  She is also accessible, and she cares.   I was sold on her when I read, “If you build it, they won’t necessarily come.”  It would have been nice to have known that a year ago, but maybe someone told me, and I just wasn’t ready to listen.
Before you get immersed in Lilach you should know she will talk about some things that will have no meaning to you unless you’re from England or Europe – things like marmite – or she’ll say things like “Let’s crack on,” which, BTW, has nothing to do with drugs.  But, the things she will tell you are internet marketing cutting edge, and they will be understandable.  They will also be based on her first-hand knowledge.  When you visit her site, sign up, you’ll get a free eBook called 5 Crazy Ways To Get Buyers To Your Website – imagine a free diamond and all you have to do is sign up – in addition you’ll receive an email notification of all of her updates and new posts.
With Lilach’s help, I’m going to make all of my books bestsellers – as I do that, I’ll share my experience with you.  Before you leave, sign up and I’ll send you, via email, a new short-story every month and tag on my latest marketing discovery.
In the meantime, take a look at my books – they are all mainstream fiction – no vampires, zombies, or werewolves, but I will admit there is a bit of time travel in one, and some esoteric experiences in another… and I’ll admit that I went to school with a few zombies, one vampire, and two werewolves.

7 comments:

  1. I can't wait to see your success, Bert! Looking forward to seeing a great guy take that amazing ride!

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    1. Mary Kathryn, You'll see it --- from right beside me. Have a wonderful weekend. Bert

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  2. Bert! Thanks for the tip. I'll sign up for her website right away. You've never steered me wrong yet! Also, I love all that English stuff - actually with a passion. Hugs, my friend. We'll make it eventually!

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    1. Yes we will - all of us together. You'll love Lilach - be sure and follow her on twitter - that's where she'll get right back to you if you have any questions. She inspired me to finally bite the bullet and get into the Wordpress learning curve - so many curves so little time - have a great weekend my friend.

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  3. Oh, this is so helpful, Bert! I'm going to check her out right away. Thank you! Wishing you and all of us great success...

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  4. Thanks, Bert, for the advice, I'll look into it right away. Ah, the life of an emerging Best-Selling NYT Author is really, really hard and it's a long way to Tiperary/NYT Best Seller Stardom, ha ha!

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    1. Just tried to subscribe to her book "5 Ways etc" and got knocked off twice...Seems her site is so popular it's overloaded!

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