I did an experiment this week.
I launched a new book (first in a new series) with total radio silence.
I didn't tell anyone.
And you know what happened? NOTHING!
No sales, no reads, and straight down the charts it fell.
Now, usually when I put a new book out I can expect a few hundred sales in the first day or two (from my mailing list), which kicks in my also-boughts, which tickle the amazon algo's. Then I announce it to the wider world (twitter/facebook) and a few ads start running to keep numbers up.
This time I think I might have put it on my facebook page.... Yes, I did. But no boosted post.
And it occurred to me that this is exactly how a new author would start. With an announcement on facebook and no list to get them going.
So, how do they get visible? I guess you need to spend some money and give away a ton of free copies so you can build up your list. And then, maybe next time it will be better?
I launched a new book (first in a new series) with total radio silence.
I didn't tell anyone.
And you know what happened? NOTHING!
No sales, no reads, and straight down the charts it fell.
Now, usually when I put a new book out I can expect a few hundred sales in the first day or two (from my mailing list), which kicks in my also-boughts, which tickle the amazon algo's. Then I announce it to the wider world (twitter/facebook) and a few ads start running to keep numbers up.
This time I think I might have put it on my facebook page.... Yes, I did. But no boosted post.
And it occurred to me that this is exactly how a new author would start. With an announcement on facebook and no list to get them going.
So, how do they get visible? I guess you need to spend some money and give away a ton of free copies so you can build up your list. And then, maybe next time it will be better?