Welcome to September. The spiritual end of summer, if not the meteorological or calendrical one. That also mean its the beginning of fall, and while we sadly get very little of it in my hometown these days, it remains my favorite season, nonetheless.
Okay, so last time we spoke I got pretty vulnerable about my fears concerning the then upcoming Narratess Indie Book Sale. So, how did it go? Were my fears justified?
Well, both yes and no. My sales for all three days combined were anemic, and that would be putting it very politely, so my first real chance at exposing my book to a large number of new eyeballs was met with a deafening yawn, which was exactly the reaction I wanted least.
That said, it wasn’t zero and I am grateful for that. So, to the handful of people who took a chance on my debut novel this month, you have my sincere and heartfelt thanks and I hope that my story is an interesting experience for you.
Staying focused on the positive, the sale did generate my first sales in the UK and Germany, so now I can say my book has a presence on three different continents (waves at Australia and my first international reader.) That’s pretty neat.
And while I did not get the desired results from joining the Narratess sale, there were things about it I did appreciate (as well as some criticisms) that I think will help me plan future marketing attempts.
In terms of the things I liked about it, the sheer volume and variety of titles being offered was amazing and truly shows the breadth and depth of what is being offered by independent & self-published writers and storytellers whose stories would never have had a chance to earn their creators money, let alone even be seen just 15 years ago due to the nature of traditional publishing. That in itself is a win for everyone, regardless of sales generated.
The other thing I really appreciated was how the sale website was set up, displaying the titles being offered in the sale randomly with each refresh, meaning that new books were always being shown each time the page was loaded. It made it feel like a thumb wasn’t being put on the scale, which is very much appreciate by those who work in niche genres and styles. It also had a filter search, making it easy to find books in your preferred taste in genres.
That said, the website did have some issues in regard to the filters, which seemed to treat everything as an AND, and never as an OR, meaning that unless you absolutely wanted a book that was both A AND B, it would not show books that were A OR B, which can be frustrating.
And while the website was built to show all sorts of books with no deference given to any specific titles, the author community participating was very much not of the same mindset and most social media posts promoting the sale and making recommendations seemed to keep pushing the same dozen or so titles. By the end of the weekend, it felt less like “Here’s a great sale with over 300+ unique titles to check out!” and more “Hey! Here’s your chance to grab these dozen books on the cheap and if you have a spare buck or two after that, maybe grab on these other books, or whatever.”
Finally, there were the bundles. I’m not opposed to bundles. I think they are both effective tools to promote multiple artists/projects and great for consumers who may have such limited disposable income that taking a chance on unknown piece of art is legitimately hard to do financially. My problem is running both a sale and bundles within the sale. Basically, the bundles got a ton of promotion before and during the sale and if your book wasn’t in a bundle (and there can be many reasons why you might not wish to participate), then you were relegated to “Oh and maybe buy these other books if you have any money left.”
That said, there is no sour grapes here and I will not begrudge anyone else any success they had last weekend, whether they were in a bundle or they had wrote one of the more popular titles being offered. Their success was earned and deserved and did not come at my expense. I can be both disappointed in my own lack of success and happy that others found some of their own.
This experience has not soured me on group promotions. I do plan to participate in another in October, though that one is much more genre focused and while my book isn’t a textbook example of the genre in question, it shares enough characteristics to be in the same neighborhood if not on main street. I’ll have more here about that when the time draws closer.
The other thing this experience has not done is deterred me from writing my next book. Indeed, the lack of interest in my book during the sale has only added fuel to a fire that had been smoldering for most of the summer. Taking a month off has also given that fire some much needed oxygen and it’s once more burning brightly to the point where I’m writing 4-5 sticky notes a day at work, so that I remember to type them up when I get home in the evening. I’m back to work, starting the first draft of what I’m pretty damn sure will be my next release. Some writers need coffee and scented candles to find the mood and energy to write. I apparently need video games and spite. I can accept that about myself.
Anyway, I’m not ready to drop any details about the before-mentioned next book, but I do feel I’ll be talking about it in more depth sooner rather than later, so stay tuned to this space for that.
Before I go, I wanted to take a quick moment to give both a hearty congratulations and much deserve plug for my awesomely amazing and amazingly awesome spouse who releasing their 12th book today! The Strangers’ Sanctuary is an authentic and beautiful story and I am incredibly proud to have been part of its creation as both an alpha and beta reader, but as also as a general cheerleader and sounding board as they worked on it. I honestly cannot recommend this book highly enough because any praise I give it would feel inadequate. This is a book that will make you feel… all sorts of things, but you will feel something, that I promise you. It’s an experience and its one I think worth exploring for everyone.
Okay, that’s it for me for now. If you have it where you are, then enjoy your fall. Take a walk, wear a sweater, enjoy some foliage, sit by a campfire, drink some cider, & perhaps even read a book or two.
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