Adventures in Self-Publishing: Facebook Ads

Last week I got a coupon offering $50 worth of advertising on Facebook for only $7.95.  I was really busy, but I wanted to give it a try.

So I quickly made up an ad, targeted it, and set it to run until I used up $50 worth of credit.

Here's how it went:

Although they recommend that you link your ad to your Facebook page, I linked it to my Amazon.com sale page, since I really haven't got much of a presence on Facebook. 

So in a few minutes I made up an ad:

You'll notice the picture's tiny, and the headline and description have very few words. I actually used every character allowed in the title and description, so that gives you some idea how cryptic you have to be.  I later figured out that the experienced advertisers use the rectangular space where the picture goes more efficiently than I did.  But this is what I went with for my little experiment.

Next, targeting. One of the big advantages of advertising on Facebook (and this also applies to Goodreads ads) is how narrowly you can target your ad.

Say you're a hairdresser with a hip, young clientele, based in Portland, Oregon. You can have your ad only appear to women in your zip code, who are between the ages of 16 and 30, and who are interested in fashion. You can go that narrow in your targeting.

I looked at targeting to women in the US, UK, and Australia (since those are the countries where I've had sales), and then looked for women interested in romance novels.  Nope, that was too broad. That group was millions of people.  So I started typing in names of famous authors who write stories in some way similar to mine: Debbie Macomber, Sherryl Woods, Susan Mallery, JoAnn Ross, Kristin Hannah, Susan Wiggs. That narrowed it way down, to 160,760 people who could potentially be interested in my sweet, small-town romance.

(Interestingly, I couldn't find a keyword for Barbara Freethy, who is one of the most successful romance authors, has sold millions of Kindle books, and who writes romantic suspense a lot like I do.  Maybe she doesn't have a fan page set up on Facebook?  I didn't have time to look into it, but it was interesting that I couldn't find her quickly like I did the others.)

So, I've got $50 worth of credit. I've got an ad. I've got a target audience. I said go!

What happened?

In one day (one day, mind you): 9874 people saw the ad an average of 5 times each, for a total number of "impressions" (page views, basically) of 51,096.  Of those 9874 people, .139% clicked on the ad, for a total of 71 clicks.  I spent $49.97 to get those 71 clicks. (I really spent under $8, like I said, but it was $50 worth of advertising.) So if I paid full price, I would have spent about 70¢ for each time someone clicked through the ad to get to my amazon.com sale page.

I looked up what a normal Click Through Rate is for Facebook ads, and found that my ad results were at the top of the range ("optimal"), so I think the ad was surprisingly effective.

But was it worth it?  That's the part that's hard to tell.  Theoretically, if you earn over $2 per book (like I do), you would need to make 25 additional sales to justify spending $50.  That's the break-even point.

My sales go up and down daily, and they did go up that day, but not by much (certainly not 71 sales more, and I don't think even 25 sales).  But, my book was only available on the Kindle, so a lot of people who like romance novels, and liked the ad enough to click on it, might have said, Oh. It's on the Kindle and I don't have a Kindle. Never mind.  I think that's a common problem, since many people don't realize that if you're surfing the web, you probably already have all the technology you need to read a Kindle book.

One thing I did see was in the next few days I was getting a lot more people who bought this book also bought the following links that connected me to NYT bestselling authors. Not sure if that was related or not.

Would I have had a more dramatic "conversion rate" (meaning people who not only clicked on the ad but actually took the next step to buy the book) if I'd linked to a paperback version of the book instead?  I don't know.

Next month I'll release The Honeymoon Cottage in paperback.  Perhaps I'll try another ad at that time and see if I get a different result.

In the meantime, here's the link to a blog talking about all the various coupons for advertising on Facebook (WARNING: you must read all the fine print and follow the instructions exactly and make sure you qualify for a coupon before you buy it--the one I got was only for new advertisers and gave absolutely no refunds.).

My questions for you:

As a reader, have you ever clicked on an ad for a book?

If you're published, do you ever do paid advertising?

Happy writing, all.

Barb

http://www.BarbaraCoolLee.com

World-Building: It's Never Just One Thing

In my last post I promised I'd write about my Golden Heart^® finalist manuscript: THE LAZARUS GAMBIT. TLG is a finalist in the Novel with Strong Romantic Elements category, which, frankly, doesn't tell you anything at all about the story or genre, except that the romance portion is a (major) sub-plot.

In this post I'm going to start with the foundation of the book: genre and world-building. I promise to get to the actual, you know, story in my next post. THE LAZARUS GAMBIT is a STEAMPUNK novel set in New Amsterdam, an alternate version of Manhattan. Before I wrote a single sentence of the story, I spent a great deal of time world-building (though hopefully most of that world-building lurks below the surface in the book). My goal was to create a world which was "similar but different" from our own.

While I love the late Victorian/Edwardian era, I wanted the freedom to make the differences in my world from that era pronounced. I was struck by something I read on Wikipedia while researching Queen Victoria (about her suitors): "William IV, however, disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, and instead favoured the suit of Prince Alexander of the Netherlands, second son of the Prince of Orange." It turns out Victoria made the better choice; Prince Alexander died at the age of 29.

Just like that, I had my hook for the differences I wanted to make in my world. I went all the way back to William and Mary (1600s) and created new royal alliances and genealogical charts, removing the Hanoverian Georges from the line of British kings and creating a succession which culminated in Alexander, Prince of Orange-Nassau (of the Netherlands) becoming King Alexander I of Great Britain. And, Alexander I marries...Victoria of Hanover (in my world, Alexander dies at 52). I still get my Queen Victoria, but in my world, she's queen through marriage and her role, while important, is diminished.

Of course, once you make such a major change, it's like starting off knocking down a long line of dominoes. The face of Europe--scratch that--the entire world changed, as well. Different rulers, different alliances, different decisions. I ended up having to create an historical timeline of events, just to keep track of everything.

There's one event that plays a major role in the history of this world, and which forms the underpinnings of the plot of THE LAZARUS GAMBIT. In the 1700s, this Earth has a close encounter with a mysterious comet, which changes the Earth forever. At one point I wrote a prologue to TLG explaining the Comet. I ultimately discarded the prologue, but here's an excerpt from it, to give you an idea of the Comet's importance:

The comet appeared as a tiny speck of light among the northern stars. Over the course of months it grew bigger and brighter until it dominated the night, a cold fireball with a glowing tail stretching halfway across the sky. The superstitious called it a harbinger of doom and believed the end of the world was nigh. The rational-minded saw it for the rare astronomical event it was and marveled at its unearthly beauty. Scientists worked feverishly to accurately predict its path and privately wondered if the superstitious might not be right after all.

For six months the earth traveled through the comet’s tail. The sky blazed with an aurora from exotic gases streaming into the atmosphere, and cometary debris flamed across the sky in a nightly spectacle. At first only the occasional larger bit of rock survived the journey through the atmosphere, but over time the meteorites increased in size and frequency, often impacting with devastating results. The worst event occurred in mid-October in the early morning hours when hundreds of meteorites bombarded the northern hemisphere, leaving more than just death and destruction in their wake.

The meteorites contained Carolinium, a previously undiscovered element named in honor of Caroline Herschel, the astronomer who first discovered the comet. Carolinium combined with the aurora gases in a volatile reaction that charged particles lying dormant in the earth, creating a new substance. While scientists raced to investigate these new phenomena, the more romantic thinkers of the day named the new substance Aether. And since the charged particles tended to collect in narrow bands that criss-crossed the globe, they were dubbed Ley Lines. To the chagrin of the scientific community, those terms stuck.

Many believed aether had a dual nature: one part science and one part magic. Bizarre comet cults sprang up overnight around charismatic charlatans, attracting thousands of followers despite fierce condemnation from world and religious leaders. For weeks rioting by panic stricken citizens, inflamed by end-of-the-world rhetoric, swept through the capitals of the world. Only the inevitable and inexorable retreat of the comet allowed the world’s governments to promote calm and restore order and stability.

The vast majority of the Carolinium vaporized in the reaction that charged the ley lines and created aether. Approximately seven percent was out of reach, lost somewhere in the great plains of North America behind an impenetrable barrier, dubbed the Great Aetheric Curtain. The Curtain appeared without warning on the night of the first winter solstice after the meteorites fell, cutting off the middle of the continent from further European encroachment. The remainder of the Carolinium was scattered across the northern hemisphere.

This rare element was said to have amazing properties that scientists couldn’t measure in their laboratories or test tubes. Carolinium, true believers whispered, was beyond the ken of science; it belonged to those individuals who possessed an innate affinity for aether. For those few, Carolinium enhanced the ability to manipulate aether, making even the smallest of talents great. And the person who could control and manipulate aether, could control the world.

So, that's a tiny look behind the world-building curtain of THE LAZARUS GAMBIT. I tried to create a world which was rich in its own history, but familiar and recognizable at the same time. In addition, I wanted a world which I could possibly re-visit in a sequel (or prequel). I guess time will tell if I was successful!

Debbie
www.Deborah-Wright.com
Twitter: @DeborahBWright

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Rewiring my writing machine

Current Project: Untitled
Status:  Some character sheets complete a couple of pages into the ms.

Source: 30.media.tumblr.com via Chris on Pinterest

No, the picture has nothing to do with my current project. I thought the lines of electricity hitting the ground a bit more powerful than my rewiring but it was beautiful and powerful.


Along with Genene I am getting ready for the release of another novel. I am not quite so organized as she is. Hmm... I think I should copy her list. Or I could just keep referring to the blog. I am sidetracked from current project for a few more days while I am finishing galleys for Rebel Heart. It always amazes me that even after what must be the 100th time I've read this, I am still making changes. I'm going to cut this short because I have 25 more pages to read today and two more blogs to post.


Happy writing and blogging everyone.

PREPARATION

Current Project: My LEGACY SERIES
Status: Preparing for release of the second book in the series, LEGACY OF ANGELS

What do you do in preparation for a book launch? I seem to drive myself to the edge of crazy wondering if I'll get everything done. That's silly, because I know I will. And what doesn't get done won't even be noticeable to anyone but me. 

How does everyone else prepare for a book release? And if you're yet to be published, envision that day because your turn is coming!

Do you…

--Update your Web site

--Update your blog

--Make sure the blog posts for your virtual blog tour are finished

--Buy lots of chocolate to eat while you're worrying whether everything will go right

--Have a bottle of sparkling cider chilling to celebrate The Day

--Check the publisher's site, Amazon and other eRetailers to see if your book has been released early

--Sleep in and not worry about preparation

--Post a Facebook message every five minutes 

--Go out to dinner to celebrate

--Launch a new contest

What else? Please offer your suggestions!

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Adventures in Self-Publishing: Stories of the Heart

Back in 2009 I drove 700 miles to go clean out my parents' house while my dad was very ill. On the trip I got horribly sick with the swine flu (remember the swine flu?), and while lying in a hotel room with a fever and wallowing in self-pity (don't ever have the flu alone in a hotel if you can avoid it), I heard the then-breaking news of Jaycee Dugard, the woman who had been kidnapped as a child and held prisoner for 18 years before finally being freed. So I sat around, sick as a dog, watching dvds of vampire shows and pondering the amazing story of this courageous woman.


In the next 24 hours I wrote a story I called "Cat's Blood," a rather fevered stream-of-consciousness tale about a woman held prisoner by evil vampires.


I later tried to turn the story into something commercial--it won a couple of contests, I reworked it as a novel, but the spark went out of it. The story never sold to New York, coming along toward the end of the publishing industry's vampire craze, and at its heart being more a musing about the nature of forgiveness and free will than anything else. So I set it aside and let it go.


But the nature of this new publishing landscape has changed that.


While I'm working on revising my next two novels, I went ahead and published my old story in its original form, and it's now available on the Kindle.  Because it's not at all like my usual "brand" of sweet, heartwarming and G-rated cozies, I published it under the name Barb Lee (not exactly a pseudonym, but a bit different from my full real name).  It's a 99¢ short story in a glutted market so I'm not expecting to really make any money on it, but it's out there now, in the world.  I'm glad, since it was always something that I wrote from somewhere deep inside me, not a story written to be commercial or to impress anyone else.


Do you have any story like that?  Something you wrote because it mattered to you, because you had something you wanted to say? Something you never really thought about as part of a career plan, or publishing strategy, but something you just wrote because you're a writer, and writing is how you work out things in your mind and make sense of the world you live in?

I Have the Most Amazing News!

I have a new holiday—a new day of celebration. March 26th. Why? Because three weeks ago, on March 26th, I was given some pretty fantastic news. My manuscript, THE LAZARUS GAMBIT, is a Finalist in the 2012 Romance Writers of America^® Golden Heart^® Awards, in the category: Novel With Strong Romantic Elements. (unfortunately, no romantic elephants were spotted in the list of finalists*)

It's only been three weeks, but already it feels like a lifetime—in a good way. I've met an amazing group of women (online) in my fellow finalists, and we're continuing to get to know one another. Everyone seems genuinely thrilled, both to be finalists themselves and for all of the other finalists. They exemplify the kind of enthusiastic support for other writers I believe is the hallmark of RWA^® and my own Mid-Willamette Valley Chapter members. Winning would be icing on the cake, but I think we all feel as though the real prize is being named a finalist.

But beyond the award itself was the immediate boost I felt about my writing. I've worked hard to improve my craft and I'd hoped I told an engaging story which would connect with readers, but there was always that doubt in the back of my mind. You know that voice that whispers to writers? The one that tells you that you're wasting your time. That tells you that you're fooling yourself. Well, the validation I felt on the 26th was like getting a shot of adrenaline, and it hasn't worn off so far.

I'm going to the RWA Conference in Anaheim in July and I'm looking forward to all the hoopla surrounding the Awards. From what I understand from previous years' finalists, this ride is just beginning, and it's an E-Ticket all the way (appropriate, I think, seeing as the conference is being held across the street from Disneyland!).

I have a feeling that in years to come I'll view this as a watershed moment in my writing career. You know, before the 26th, I didn't realize just how huge finaling would be. It really is overwhelming and something I wish were possible for every writer to experience. Since that isn't the case, I'll do my best to share as much of it here as I'm able. And if you have any questions along the way, feel free to ask!

I just realized I made it to the end of this post without telling you anything about THE LAZARUS GAMBIT. I think I just flunked self-promotion! :-) Next post will be about the book — I promise.

Debbie
www.Deborah-Wright.com
Twitter: @DeborahBWright

*I sometimes get tongue-tied. Not too long ago, at a MWV-RWA meeting, I was describing what type of romance I write and I said that romance was always a strong sub-plot—you know, I write Steampunk and Urban Fantasy and Post-Apocalypse Adventures, all with Strong Romantic Elephants. O.o

... I've since named my elephants Beatrice and Frank, and they truly are romantic!

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Looking For Inspiration

Current Project: Rebel Heart
Status: last edits almost finished

Source: Uploaded by user via Ana on Pinterest

I was looking for inspiration for another blog post so I googled pinterst. I found this quote which seems to fit me today. I'm still not sure what I'm writing about but there will be a post. 


I am thoroughly enjoying Bard's blogs on self-publishing.  They are an inspiration. When I commented I forgot to input my feelings about her title, In Deep Water. Having read the excerpt following The Honeymoon Cottage, I really like the new title.


Where Rebel Heart is concerned it seems to keep growing. I know I should cut but I'm not sure what to cut. It has grown to approximately 132,800 words and 363 pages. I know I shouldn't worry too much about the length. But is this too long?


Any comments would be welcome here.


I have also changed it from a hot 'inuendo' romance to erotic. Not sure about this change either. Hoping to increase my followers and buyers of my books. 


Oh, where to go from here. I know! Stop rambling, Chris.

TEN REASONS I DON'T HAVE MY TAXES DONE…

Current Project: Doing my taxes
Status: not panicked yet!

(in no particular order)

-- The dogs ate the forms (and I have a lot of dogs :)

-- What do you mean it's April already?

-- Aliens took me for a ride in their space ship and erased the part of my memory related to taxes.

-- It was a sunny day and I didn't want to waste it inside.

-- It was raining and I didn't want to get depressed doing all that paperwork.

-- Math and I are not bosom buddies.

-- I thought the tax fairy might come by and do them for me. 

-- If hoped if I ignored them, the IRS would go away.

-- I've been really busy and figured the nice tax man would understand. :)

-- I've been writing in an alternate world where they don't have taxes!

Do you have a better excuse? Please share!

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Adventures in Self-Publishing: A Rose By Any Other Name...

One of the fun but frustrating things about self-publishing is the complete control one has over one's books.

Titles, for instance.  Most published authors will tell you that the working title they use for their manuscript is often not the title that ends up on the published book. By the time agents, editors, and marketing experts have given their input, the title may be changed to something "more commercial."

Not so when self-publishing.

I can call my book anything I want.  But is that a good thing?

My first self-published book is doing quite well, three weeks into the project.  Its title, "The Honeymoon Cottage," I think might be helping it a bit.  That wasn't the book's original title. The Pajaro Bay romantic suspense series books all had, at one time, titles that kind-of "fit" together: Off the Deep End, In Deep Water, Under the Boardwalk, Out of the Blue, Overboard, etc.  But when I was reworking Off the Deep End, I realized that the title The Honeymoon Cottage fit the story much better, and conveyed the atmosphere of the book.

Now I'm working on the next book in the series, In Deep Water. Hmm. This book was originally called Shady's Lady, because there's a dog in the book called Shady, and it seemed like a catchy title. But along the way the name In Deep Water came along and it has been called that ever since. So, do I stick with In Deep Water, do I change it back to Shady's Lady, or come up with something completely different? If I had a marketing team, I could ask them.  But I don't, so I'm trying to imagine what cover image and title would best convey the mood of the book.

How do you decide on titles? If you are self-publishing, or working with a small press, have you given thought to changing your title to be more "commercial"?  If you have worked with a larger publisher, have they changed your titles?

What titles have caught your eye recently? And how important is a title, anyway?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this perplexing topic.

Barb
The Honeymoon Cottage
http://www.BarbaraCoolLee.com

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Energized

Current Project:  Rebel Heart
Status: Revamping the story as well as the cover.

Source: digital-art-gallery.com via Chris on Pinterest

Unleash the power:


My words to remember. It might be the B12 injections or it might be the books I have been reading but I am energized and brimming with ideas. It has been so long since I have really wanted to write. I've always said, "I was tired." but the truth is, I didn't have a direction. Nor did I have ideas. There was nothing in my head that wanted to pop out on the pages. Until now.


Now as with Genene, my first priority is to write. I write first then I edit and then and only then do I blog. I'm trying to write ten pages a day. Wow, as I write this I have only written 5 1/2. Does this page count? Fraid not.


I have no words of wisdom just faith in my passion and I hope all of you will keep the faith.


I want to thank Barb for the wonderful suggestion of the kindle select program and the five free days of advertising. This seems to me to be cost affective, and not very much work. The blog tours I have gone on are far from painless. With anything there are no guarantees that something you put effort in will pay off. But the amazon select so far has been the best bet for me.


Also, Barb, I finished The Honeymoon Cottage on the way home from Eagle Crest on Wednesday. I really enjoyed the book. I plan on posting a short review on Amazon as soon as I find the time. Eek, I still have two blogs to write.


Thanks Barb. 

IS THIS PROMOTION OR IS THIS INSANITY?

Current Project: LEGACY SERIES
Status: Writing, editing, promoting :)
Posted by: Genie Gabriel

Blog tours, online parties, contests, free reads, and an occasional personal appearance. Welcome to my world of promoting my new LEGACY series!

First of all, I feel compelled to say I'm basically an introvert. I like to stay at home, dig in my yard, snuggle with my dogs, and play cards with my sons and grandkids. Ironically, I'm also the kind of person who will start conversations with strangers in supermarket lines and I love to respond to commenters online. 

So when I considered promotion for my series of books, I figured the more I could do online--without changing out of clothes that were covered in dog hair or garden dirt--the happier I would be. (A photo at left of some of my daffodils insist it's spring in spite of the cold weather!)

I collected lots of ideas on how to promote my books and picked the ones that seemed to fit my personality best. Well, I was kinda dragged into the world of blogging, but I'm getting the hang of it. I love giving away things but need to make sure I'm not spending way more money than I earn on books. I also discovered online parties, where fifty or more authors offer excerpts of their books and give away prizes.

And I do change out of my "grubby" clothes once in a while and venture into the world of real people. :)

Though I thought I had a "plan," the promotion blitz for the release of the first book of my series, PICTURE PERFECT LEGACY, still knocked my writing schedule out of whack. I got rather crabby from not writing before I regained my balance and moved writing back to the top of my priority list where it belonged. If I can't produce a good book, promotion isn't going to do be effective! 

Then came some great successes of authors offering free downloads of books. Too good to pass up, that was added to my promotion plan. My first trial of this will come in mid-April with one of my novellas. If that works well, my publisher and I are planning an online "Summer Concert Tour" with my first three novels that are linked to members of a rock band, offering them as free downloads at different times this summer. 

Also a new venture for me is welcoming guest authors to my LEGACY series blog . While I'm here today, Dr. Veronica Esagui is at my LEGACY blog talking about her series of VERONICA'S DIARIES. She has led a fascinating life, and I hope you stop by there to say hello to her. I'm also starting a new contest, and your name will be entered in the drawing twice on Thursdays when guest bloggers visit. 

In addition, Facebook and other social media are still on my list to catch up on. Video trailers are waiting for me to complete…

There are many possibilities for promotion and, for me as for probably most authors, all these possibilities have to be weighed against continuing writing deadlines and other commitments, as well as keeping myself healthy. I've seen a number of authors exhaust themselves when a book is released. With a new release every two months for the next sixteen months, I don't have time for exhaustion--despite the fact it's after 2:00 a.m., which means it's almost bed time for night owl me. :)

I still have moments of wondering what have I done? But with a "to do" database, I'm more productive than ever  and enjoying this new phase of my journey.

As an author, have you found a promotion plan that works for you? Do you have any tips you'd like to share? As a reader, are there promotion efforts that will help you decide to buy a book? 

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Adventures in Self-Publishing: The Giveaway

On Tuesday, March 13, I finally published The Honeymoon Cottage on Amazon Kindle, with a list price of $2.99 (the minimum for the KDP Select Program).  I planned to use one free promotion day that Friday, so didn't do any advertising or promotion during the week while it was listed at $2.99.

By the end of Thursday, I had sold a whopping 3 copies (thank you, mom and friends) and was ranked around 200,000 in sales overall on Amazon.  Basically the book was invisible.  It didn't show up anywhere unless someone searched specifically for my name or the book's title.

On Friday I posted on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter and email that the book was free for that day only.  I also took out two ads:  First, a listing on Kindle Nation Daily's Free books list ($29.99), and then two pay-per-click ads on Goodreads, one directing readers to my book's Goodreads page, and one sending them directly to the Amazon buy page.  I wanted to see which of these ads had better results.  Within a few hours I discovered the Goodreads ads were not generating any attention, so I cancelled them (so I wouldn't be charged anything).

The book was free from approximately one a.m. on Friday until midnight Friday night.  During that time I had the following results:

2841 people downloaded the book for free (2498 on amazon.com; 315 downloaded at amazon.uk, and 28 on amazon.de).

My book rose from the #200,000 range to a high of #1 Romance Series Free Bestseller, #8 Romantic Suspense Free Bestseller, and #121 overall in the Kindle store.

The part I was most interested in was what would happen once the book was no longer free.  Would it drop like a rock back to the invisibility of before, or would it get a bump from the increased visibility the free promotion gave me?

I quickly found out.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, the book is among the sea of novels listed at $2.99. But so far it's still...

#1 "Hot New Read" in Romance Series

#18 "Hot New Read" in Romantic Suspense

#9 Bestseller in Romance Series

hovering in the 3000-4000 range in overall Kindle sales

I also received my first review from someone who gave the book a try because it was free (a nice, detailed, 4-star review).  I'm really pleased with this because the review gives an accurate description of the type of book The Honeymoon Cottage is--sweet, gentler, with suspense but not breakneck pace or hot-n-sexy tone. Exactly the audience I'm going for, so it should help potential readers decide if it's the right book for them.

The other really important place of increased visibility is one I'd heard about but never paid much attention to:  the "people who bought this book also bought the following" area. This is a scrolling bar on the book's page that shows similar books to the one you're looking at.  The thing I found out is that free downloads count as "sales" for this list.  This is incredibly important. 

In other words, if those 2800 people who downloaded my book for free also bought or downloaded other books, my book will now show up on those books' pages (and vice versa; anyone looking at my book will now see a list of other books that people also bought/downloaded when they got mine). This means I have essentially a free ad for my book on 95 other books' pages (I counted 'em). Basically 95 more opportunities for my book to be discovered on Amazon.com.

So overall I think the experiment was a success. It is helping me "jump the divide" between just selling to people I know and reaching people who've never heard of me or my books but are looking for something to read.

My goal was to earn enough to cover the cost of the ads.  I far exceeded that goal. I'm actually making enough to start thinking about what I'm going to do with the money (new yacht? trip around the world? pay the plumbing bill from when the pipes broke this weekend?). At this point I'm selling enough to keep the book near the top of the "hot new reads" lists, which keeps it visible for people browsing those categories, and in turn drives more sales. I don't think that would have happened without the giveaway.

So where do I go from here?  I originally had the idea that I'd do another free day if the book dropped really far. At this point I'm thinking I'll just let it go without further promotion no matter how far it drops, and work on getting my next two Pajaro Bay books up within the next month. At that time I have to decide whether to do a free promo on the new ones, the first one, or all???  We'll see how this month goes.

I think once I have more books for sale, I can play more with the various promotion opportunities. In the meantime, I'm having a lot of fun on the journey (and the money's not bad either!).

Happy writing, everyone. :-)

Barb

The Honeymoon Cottage (A Pajaro Bay Romance)

http://www.BarbaraCoolLee.com

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Inspiration: Use it or Lose It?

Current Project: Edits for Rebel Heart
Status: in progress, revising quite a bit


Inspiration:

in·spi·ra·tion

   [in-spuh-rey-shuhn]  Show IPA

noun

1.

an inspiring or animating action or influence: I cannot writepoetry without inspiration.

2.

something inspired, as an idea.

3.

a result of inspired activity.

4.

a thing or person that inspires.

5.

Theology .

a.

a divine influence directly and immediately exertedupon the mind or soul.

b.

the divine quality of the writings or words of a personso influenced.

Source: bigcitybelle.blogspot.com via Chris on Pinterest

Where or how do you find inspiration for your novels has been one of the most asked questions on this blog tour for Safari Moon. So I will put the question out to all of you.

I know I find inspiration in so many ways. Just looking out my window when a family of deer walk across my front lawn to the countries I have visited. I find inspiration in books I read and pictures I see. Listening to the wind blow and howl during a storm provides wonderful sensory stimulus for a descriptions. Most authors, I think, are people watchers. Television can inspire as well as family and friends. 

One of the ideas for Safari Moon came from my parents who after they retired took bicycle trips all over the world and in the U.S. They visited countries such as Bali, New Zealand, Tasmania, Greece, and places in the U.S such as the Natchez Trace, New England and Alaska.

All though the bike tours were not the main theme, they did provide a major character with a career.

The castle above looks like a fairy tale to me. Or it could be part of my 12 dancing princess series. Did I forget books? Oh my, I still haven't used my book of haunted castles for a background in a novel. Maybe I can use it for my May Day novella. 

Where do you find inspiration?

THE OTHER SIDE OF PACING

Current Project: The LEGACY series
Status: Writing, editing, promoting
Posted by: Genie Gabriel

I really liked Meggan's post yesterday about enjoying the leisurely pace of her writing right now. I applaud her for being comfortable with where she is in her journey. 

Perhaps because I wasn't always comfortable with the pace of my writing, I did a lot of comparing with other writers. They could produce three or four publishable books every year. I was still working on my first book after several years. 

Even more frustrating for me was other writers "got it." They knew how to put together memorable characters who battled their way through internal and external conflict, while keeping the plot interesting and moving at a pace that kept readers turning pages. I was still struggling not to "head hop" from one point of view to another with every other paragraph. 

Fast forward, ahem, a few years  and now my biggest challenge is balancing writing and promoting without neglecting my family or my doggie herd. Sometimes I do a good job of balancing. Other times I drop a plate or two in my juggling act and need to pause to sweep up the pieces. That's OK too. 

Like Meggan, I've learned to be comfortable at the current point in my journey. Granted, I've had to put my "to do" list on a database to be productive enough to keep up. However, I've also learned how much I can do. That's very rewarding!

Where are you in your writing journey? Are you happy with the pace of your writing or planning to make some changes?

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Adventures in Self-Publishing: Pricing

Hi, all.

After exhaustive research, I've learned the truth about pricing your self-published novel: No one knows what works.

When you start researching the subject, you'll read all sorts of advice, from "you must price at 99¢ to sell" to "price your novel at $5.99 like a print paperback to show your work is worth more."

They can't both be right--or can they?

I think the point is that this is a new world. A lot of people are buying Kindles (and Nooks, and iPads, and iPhones, and etc., etc.), and are looking for reading material. 

So there's a huge potential market out there.

But I think there are several questions you can ask yourself to help figure out what *might* work for you:

1) Do you already have a name (or a "platform," as all the self-promotion experts call it)? If you're already a New York Times Bestselling Author, why are you reading this blog? Get your work out there and rake in the dough from your loyal fans who are aching to buy your older, out-of-print books, and any new material you can give them.

2) Assuming #1 doesn't apply to you, have you written one book or ten? If you have one book (and don't plan to have more for a while), your marketing strategy will likely be different from someone who has a lot of different books to work with. I think if you have multiple books to sell (and maybe some novellas and short stories to throw in the mix as well), then you can really do some marketing experiments to see what works. Try a giveaway of a short story or novella, and see if that drives sales to your other (connected) books. Or try giving away a whole book, maybe on just one platform (Amazon Prime Lending Library? Nook? Your blog? Smashwords?), and see if sales of that same book rise on other platforms. Have a Valentine's Day-themed story? Give it away on Valentine's Day, and then re-price it later and see if that jump-starts any sales. Try advertising different books in different places, or to different types of audiences. Play with the various options with your different books, and see what kind of response you get.

What I'm going to try with my first book (The Honeymoon Cottage) is the Kindle KDP Select program. For those who don't know, this is a controversial program by Amazon that offers several interesting incentives to authors-- but only if you agree to sell your work exclusively on Amazon.com for 90 days. There are a lot of different opinions on this program, and I've waffled on whether or not to participate. My decision finally came down to the opportunity it offers to jumpstart attention by strategically using free giveaway days. I think this feature works better for those with multiple releases, but it is a way for anyone to get a burst of attention for a new book, even if it's my first and only book for sale so far. The other thing that helps self-pubbed authors is that many of the big publishers don't participate in it, which helps indie authors get more attention within the program. The fact that it only commits me to the program for 90 days is another incentive to try it. After that time, I should have two more books ready to put up for sale, and can launch the group of books at all the online retailers at that time. So I'm thinking of this as a pre-launch sneak peek, and later will be a full launch of the series. We'll see what happens.

If you'd like more info on the pros and cons of the KDP Select program, here are a bunch of sources I used in my research:

http://wahoocorner.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-kdp-select-saved-my-book.html

http://wahoocorner.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-amazon-kdp-select-free-experience.html

http://jenniferblood.net/wp/2012/02/dont-join-kdp-select-yet/

http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/amazon-the-importance-of-popularity/

http://mlouisalocke.com/2011/10/24/categories-key-words-and-tags-oh-my-why-should-an-author-care/

http://www.derekhaines.ch/vandal/2012/02/the-kdp-select-experiment-one-month-later/

http://www.deannalynnsletten.com/2012/03/after-my-free-days-on-amazon.html

http://brianjjarrett.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/transparency-in-indie-publishing-feb-2012/

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/02/20/kindle-advertising-kdp-select/

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/02/29/kdp-select-gods-gift/

http://publishingperspectives.com/2012/01/is-kdp-select-salvation-or-damnation-for-indie-authors/

Yes, that's a lot to read (and these are only the tip of the iceberg). But it's important to understand the business if you want to take advantage of these opportunities. What I found interesting was the wide variety of experiences people had using the same publishing program. I think this is a variation on the old adage: there are three important things you need to do to create a bestseller. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.

My next blog, on Wednesday, March 21, will be on my beginner's attempts at promotion.

Happy writing, everyone!

Barb

Barb

http://www.BarbaraCoolLee.com

http://www.twitter.com/barbaracoollee

http://www.facebook.com/barbaracoollee

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7522550-barbara-cool-lee

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Essential Elements For a Successful Book

Current Project: Rebel Heart
Status: in edits


Fireworks in the making: EEEKKK....

Source: Uploaded by user via Chris on Pinterest

Blogs, blogs, and more blogs. Sometimes they are actually quite fun and sometimes they are a bit boring. I am currently getting ready for my second VBT with goddessfish. This makes 40 blogs for tours I have written since the first of December. There is sweat on my brow--well maybe my rapidly typing fingers.


One of the most asked questions in some form is:  what are the essential elements for a romance novel?


My first response to this is do really think I can answer this in less than 600 words? And in some cases this question pops up in an interview which means it needs to be answered in a short paragraph. Now I'm not saying this is a stupid question--not at all. The search for the answer has made me explore the idea. So, what are the most important elements?


Very briefly, I think the characters are at the top of my list. Have you ever read a book where you did not like the hero or the heroine? I have. And have I finished said book? Rarely. Characterization is my first step in my writing process. I know everything significant about each main character and the secondary characters who will play a role in the progression of the story. I know the characters flaws and their attributes. Everything...


How important is characterization to you?


Next on my list would be the major turning points as well as the black moment. From these elements I usually have a basic idea of the plot. And that is about as good as it gets for me. If I plot any more, it is a waste of time because my characters generally take over the books and send it in a different direction. I know I do extensive plotting but it is one scene at a time. And I don't plot the following scene until the one I am working on is written.


Where do you put major turning points and the black moment in your list of essential components?


Thirdly, (is that a word?), I believe point of view is extremely important. I dislike head hopping. It's annoying and confusing. I know that for some pov is difficult to understand but it is so important for maintaing tension. If one character doesn't know what the other is thinking, well... one can only imagine the consequences. 


POV-- where does this stand in your mind.


At this point I could still go on and on and elaborate in each paragraph but I will spare you and just ask for your opinions. I understand there are more components to a successful novel: sentence structure, grammar, themes, conflicts (internal, external, emotional) and the list goes on.


I think I should write a book. No, I don't think I would enjoy writing a book with this title. 


How about you. What do you think are the essential components.


In light of the concerns about pinterest, I will post one of my own photos today. Although I don't understand the uproar. It's a photo I took at Disney World a couple of years ago. 


And I would say...are there fireworks here?

IT'S TAKEN YEARS TO GET TO LAUNCH DAY!

Current Project: LEGACY series
Status: Launch day of the first book!
Posted by: Genie Gabriel

March 1, 2012. Launch day for my LEGACY series. Bet you knew this topic was coming. :)

I've been preparing for this day for years. Plotting, outlining, writing, being frustrated, welcoming aha moments, editing, designing covers--and so many other things that go into preparing books to present to readers. 

I was surprisingly calm on Wednesday, but find my tummy swirling and jumping with excitement today as promotion moves into full swing. 

When I first started writing seriously about twenty years ago, I didn't envision I'd be releasing a series of books, one every other month. It took me fourteen years of learning and revising and learning some more and revising again to sell my first book. 

How did other writers produce three or four books a year, when sometimes I thought I'd never learn to put together the basic pieces of one story. I got point of view sorted out and had a good plot going, then I learned there was motivation and pacing and building tension and conflict and…omigosh! There was even more?!?

Now I realize I'll always be learning. While I'm learning I'll be writing, because shaping words into a story is the best way to understand how the pieces flow together so readers don't see the mechanics. They will simply be swirled into the characters' lives and carried on their emotions and not want the adventure to end. 

Twenty years ago I was struggling to finish one book. Now I'm celebrating launch day of a series. One more step on a constantly evolving journey. Thank you for allowing me to share it with you.

Whether you're a writer or a reader or both, I hope you take the time to celebrate your accomplishments. I've realized how important it is that we acknowledge we are moving forward in a positive direction. If you just want to cherish your accomplishments in your heart, that's cool. However, if you want to share an accomplishment here, I'd love to hear it.