One month ago, on January 20th, I released the first novella in my new series, entitled Raising Hell, a Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter Novella. I thought I had a pretty good product on my hands and felt like it would do fairly well. I didn't expect it to revitalize my career and jump off to the extreme success that it has. I wanted to share my path to success here with nuts and bolts information in hopes that it might be helpful, since I too often finding myself playing the role of "Simon" instead of "Paula" to people's dreams lately. I want to encourage people, and to show you that with not very much money, you can create a solid product and find success.
Let's start with the facts - I have a bit of a following. My Bubba stories have found success, and my Black Knight Chronicles books do fairly well for a small press guy. But the tactics that I use can work for anyone, regardless of whether or not you have released 30+ titles or if this is your first.
Step 1 - Pre-orders - I put Raising Hell up for pre-order a month before it was to release, and started planning for release day and promoting release day hard. I added the title and release date into my personal email sig, because if my friends won't buy my stuff, why should a stranger? I have a Facebook author page, and a personal page, and a Twitter account. I posted the cover and release to all of them. Almost daily as the book was preparing for launch, and daily since the book has launched.
Yes, I post a blurb about the book on Twitter and Facebook every single day. I also post about other new releases every day, as well as posting about releases by friends of mine, other stuff I see around the web and I engage and comment on other people's Twitter and Facebook feeds. I stay very active on these particular streams of social media because these are the ones I enjoy and understand. I don't use others because I don't really like Tumblr, Pinterest, G+ or whatever else. I use Hootsuite to plan my posts for the week. It takes about an hour each weekend to schedule close to 100 Twitter and FB posts for the upcoming week. Then when I'm working my day job, I bounce over to FB or Twitter now and then to find things to share, like and comment on. Social media must be a conversation, not just a billboard.
On my Twitter and FB feed, I asked for bloggers or reviewers who were interested in a review copy, and sent them out. If you haven't released much and don't have book bloggers and reviewers who will respond to that kind of request, you'll have to go out and find some folks to review your stuff. Early reviews are very key, as they not only let information about your launch go wider than just your personal channels, it's someone impartial saying your book rocks.
I also asked other writers to post my press release and cover image, or to let me guest post on their blog. I have developed a network of writers who are in my genre and are either my friends or owe me favors. These people are my tribe. We cross-promote each other's stuff and are happy to do it. I've spent several years building this network by going to conventions and meeting people face to face, by editing anthologies for pennies and giving people a chance to be published, by going to local writers' groups and giving advice and lending a hand. If you think you can sit at home and be J.D. Salinger and make money in this business, please stop reading now and go stare out the window waiting for the money truck to pull up to your door. Build your tribe. Help other people. Let them help you. Find a group of writers who are at the same level of success you are and grow together in this business. Create your own Algonquin Round Table. It's worth the effort.
I spent money on my cover. I didn't spend much. Victorian Lieske, who I met virtually on here, is a brilliant cover artist as well as a talented writer. I bought one of her premades the week before Christmas. Because it was Christmas, she gave me a discount. I think the cover looks amazing, and it's gotten compliments from all over.
I spent money on proofreading. I didn't spend money on developmental editing, or story editing. I'm well into my second million words written professionally. I know how to tell a story in novella form. I also know what my shortcomings are, and commas are them. I think commas are like garlic, and should be sprinkled liberally through everything. I also know that not everyone loves garlic as much as I do. So I hired Skald & Raven for my proofreading. They were super-fast, and very affordable.
I read the first chapter on my podcast, and I guested on a couple other podcasts to promote the book. This also came out of Facebook and Twitter friends, which came out of convention appearances and getting out there meeting people. Since the book has launched I mention it on my podcast almost weekly, and I have pushed it in two newsletters to my mailing list.
Oh yeah, some stats -
Newsletter - 266 subscribers
Twitter - 1,393 followers
FB author page - 937 likes
FB personal page - 2,070 friends
Podcast - Averages 200-300 downloads per episode
Blog - Averages 1,100 page views per month
So I'm out there, but nothing crazy. My numbers are decent, and they're all real numbers, no purchased lists or anything like that. So I think my social media presence is decent, but nothing to write home about.
So that's what I did. Here's what happened. Here are the numbers for January 19 - February 20 (AM)
Free Downloads - 0 other than review copies and copies sent to my patrons on Patreon, I didn't give away nothing. Buy it, be a patron, or join KU
KU/KOLL - 370
Sales - 736
Pre-Orders - 163
Total revenue - $1,702.91 - this assumes that February's KU/KOLL rate will be identical to January's. Evidence shows that is unlikely to be true, but that's the number I have, so we'll consider this an estimate.
Total Expense - Approximately $100, including some stock photos I purchased in an aborted attempt to do the cover myself. That covers stock images I bought and didn't use, Vicki's awesome cover, and Proofreading from S&R.
Net (approximate) - $1,600.00 in 30 days. On a novella. In a new series.
I also released several other titles in the last 30 days, short stories in my Bubba the Monster Hunter series, and I included the first chapter of Raising Hell in those releases as well. This certainly didn't hurt, but most of what put eyes on this product was promotion of this product. So that's what I did, and the results I saw. I hope you find this helpful. I'll pop in to answer questions if you have them over the next day or two.
