Insights about the book industry from author Gary Michael Vasey

Go out and Google ‘promote my novel’ and you will find any number of articles that purport to be helpful. While some undoubtedly are, the vast majority of these articles add very little beyond the obvious.  If I have read once about the importance of social media and platform, I must have read it a million times!

I started promoting The Last Observer almost the moment that RoundFire Books and I signed a contract. I created a Facebook page and I joined all kinds of groups on Facebook to share my posts with. I posted about the book, about the characters, the story, articles about quantum physics and magic indeed, just about anything and everything I could think of. One or two relatives tell me that they politely turned off my feed!

I also blog and have done since 2005. I have several blogs and soon, they too were put to good use in a similar way. Readers were introduced to Zeltan, Stanley and The Lord of the Elements along with a whole bunch of stories and blog posts about Reality, magic, physics and anything else that supported the plot and storyline of the book. Friends and family, we are told, are important. I made sure that friends and family knew about the book and hopefully garnered their interest and good will.

Next, I set about obtaining some up front endorsements from fellow authors. I found most of those that I approached busy but amenable. Anthony Peake, author of Is There Life after Death?  and many other popular books  kindly wrote a foreword.  Herbie Brennan, New York Times best-selling author of Whisperers: The Secret History of the Spirit World, initially said he was too busy but then surprised me by telling me he had read the book and couldn’t put it down and so he was providing an endorsement after all. Several others also kindly obliged. I began teeing others up for reviews later when the book finally appeared and within a few weeks of publication, it already had over 15 reviews.

I reached out to all the bookstores in and around Prague. It’s a bit difficult doing book signings and so on when you live overseas but I did get a couple of bookstores to take some copies. I then had 1000 business cards printed all showing the book cover on one side and my photo and details on the other. I hand them out routinely and include them in any of my books when I mail them out or give them away.

I researched and got listed on all kinds of book websites including Goodreads.com where I also set up a giveaway. I even paid a small sum for some advertising on a couple of sites and on Facebook. I sent emails to all my linkedin connections too letting them know about the book. I did internet radio interviews, a magazine did a full page spread about me…. I could go on and on and on.

There isn’t a day goes by when I don’t do some sort of marketing. Everyday I post, talk about the book to friends and colleagues.  I use Facebook, Google+, Linkedin, Twitter and all kinds of other outlets.  Other promotional things that I have done;

2. Press announcements
   
3. Interviews
   
4. Guest blog articles
   
5. Swapping reviews
   
6. Give ways and competitions

And what was the result of all of this?

Well, according to the stats on the publishers website, my book has yet to break 200 copies sold in any format. I have over 500 Facebook friends, well over 1000 Linkedin connections, almost 200 followers on Twitter. Only a small proportion of Family and Friends bought the book. Some are still to buy it they tell me.

What have I learned from this?

Promoting a book is hard work… very hard work. While to me, the book (actually books) are important, they are not to anyone else. Even if one friend extolls the book’s virtues, very few others seem to pick up on that. I think, you need a couple of things to be successful with books as follows;

2. An established platform – you need to be already known as a writer or for something else. This is a ready -made audience and a small proportion will purchase your book. It takes years to grow this kind of following.
   
3. A stroke of luck – what if one of my friends had a platform of their own and liked the book so much they promoted it to their platform? This is simply luck.
   
4. A budget – I don’t think you can market a book without a budget for advertising and promotion. At the end of the day you have to speculate to accumulate.

I guess it could simply be that my book is a load of crap but its not my first book – I have 12 out in fact – and enough people seem to have enjoyed it to convince me its not that that stops it from selling. With each book, I bring a few more followers and a few more sales. I never give up marketing and promoting.

No, at the end of the day, it is that I simply cannot get the book in front of a large enough audience in one go. It’s not found in airport bookstores – its not found in any bookstores! Books are items of convenience to some extent. People pick them up, look at the cover, read the back and make a decision. If they don’t know the book is there they won’t buy it.

The question for us all is in an era when there are so many books and buying and printing technologies are changing so fast, how do we get in front of an audience?

 

Website - http://www.garymvasey.com

Facebook - G Michael Vasey

Twitter - @GMVasey

Check out my best selling novel - The Last Observer or take a look at The Last Observer book trailer (PS -  its scary!).

Explore my Amazon authors page

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