[ccruz]

Hi all!
I'm releasing my YA debut novella, Champion, on March 4th. It's available for prerelease on Amazon. It's edited and has a nice cover. It'll cost 2.99.
My question is, what should I be doing until the release date? I have contacted several YA blogs to see if anyone wants to feature my book or write a review. Only two have gotten back to me with a no. Should I do a paid promo somewhere? Since this is my debut novel, I don't have a fan base. How do I get the word out about the release?
Here's the link in case anyone's interested in checking it out:
http://www.amazon.com/Champion-Light-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00TCKE9PG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424737050&sr=8-1&keywords=champion+claudette

 

[yo]

I don't have any answers for you since I haven't released my first yet, but good luck!

 

[cinisajoy]

Write another book.  Ignore your book until you have something else for your readers.

 

[Guest]

Write another book. Ignore your book until you have something else for your readers.

I'd second this.

In the recent threads here, most who have done promos have more than a book out, or their first book has been out for a few weeks/months and they do a countdown thingie on the Zon (I think it's because you can only do the countdown thing after 30 days or something). I can't recall a recent (or any) thread about pre-release promotion. The bloggers and twitters on site might have some ideas. But I got nada.

Good luck!

 

[Carol (was Dara)]

Set up a mailing list and work on growing it, so you can send an announcement to everybody when your book goes live (some people won't buy on preorder) and so you can announce when the sequel (write one!) is released.  All your efforts are best directed at writing the next book and trying to get reviews for this one, so you can start advertising it once you have the sequel(s) out. But if you want to do additional promo, I suggest choosing something you enjoy, like Facebook, setting up a page, and building a following there. With everything you do, try and drive signups to your mailing list and try to get people to review. That's laying the groundwork for the future, when you'll have more titles to work with and more options.

 

[Elizabeth Ann West]

Next time you contact, offer to do a guest blog post. Take a moment to look at the blog and see what they do, and come up with something you can offer that will fit their readership. When you ask a blogger to feature your book you are asking them to do work. Most bloggers do NOT make very much on affiliates. But, if you will write them a piece about how wonderful YA is to you, or "Hey I'm Claudette Cruz and here are my Top 5 YA titles that I love to read again and again!" and then your new book is announced at the bottom.

I worked as a book blogger for years. Every author always wants us to feature them, but the queries we always answered were the ones who offered to help us too. There's no shortage of books to feature, but there IS a shortage of authors who genuinely want to do you help me I help you.

Another way to get noticed as a "nice author" is to take 5 minutes a day and share or comment on the FB pages or blogs of these blogs. That also goes a super long way to building a relaitonship. Do it right, and you can build a list of bloggers that will give you VIP treatment everytime you release with a feature.

 

[Guest]

1- Good Luck!
2- Claudette Cruz is mentioned as editor not writer on the product page.
3- Please immediately start on another book. No reason to worry about this book, while in the meantime you can write another one.
4- What I learned is if you want to make money writing you need a backlist. You need more than one book. Don't think of making a living on one book now, think of making a living on thirty books in 3 years.

 

[ccruz]

Guys, thanks for the good luck. I can feel it enveloping my release!
Elizabeth, offering to do a guest post is solid advice. I will try that. I'll also follow these blogs on Facebook and make a point of interacting with them.
I was hoping not to have to dive into a second book, since this one left me exhausted (I'm not a natural writer), but I suppose I have to hold my breath and dive right into a second book. I'm not one who's looking for a career in writing. I was hoping it would bring in a few extra bucks. But I feel like I have to recoup the $175 investment I made on this first book. So I'll gladly follow the advice, get an author page and a mailing list set up. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer me.

 

[ccruz]

Simone, a giveaway is a great idea! I'll be sure to do one once I've gotten some Createspace copies.

 

[JGC]

Hi ccruz, I recommend studying this thread about amazon keywords http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,205816.msg2920352.html#msg2920352

Good luck!

 

[ccruz]

JGC, thanks for the advice! I'm currently listed in 9 categories, so I must be doing some of the keyword thing right.

 

[Crystal_]

With one book and no marketing budget, I wouldn't expect a ton in the way of sales. You should certainly keep hitting up book bloggers if you don't mind the rejection. One yes for every 10 noes is a pretty good rate.

I recommend not checking your sales at all until you have a few books out (ideally in a series). It can be distressing to see a bunch of zeros in a row, especially when you feel like you worked hard and did everything right (and you keep reading about authors who make beaucoup bucks on their debuts).

 

[Cherise]

You should be writing the sequel. 

 

[ccruz]

I'll definitely stop checking sales. What you said is exactly true. I keep reading about how many pre-orders this or that person has sold and I feel like crying. So I'll put thoughts of this book aside for now and focus on writing the second. I should start writing the second in the series next week. I gave myself a two-week break to focus on editing some manuscripts sent my way, but now that I'm done with the real work, it's time to go play on Word.

 

[Marilyn Peake]

It should get easier for you after your book is published and, as others have said, once you've published additional books, especially if they're part of a series. I remember how hard it was to get started. But if you keep at it, you'll eventually find fans and reviewers who like your work enough to read your future books. I did a Goodreads Giveaway and that worked out very well for me in finding readers who enjoyed the book I was giving away. That's probably due to Goodreads members signing up to receive the type of book they're interested in reading.

 

[CJAnderson]

Claudette,

Have you setup an author page at Amazon? I can't seem to find it

 

[ccruz]

That Goodreads giveaway sounds more and more enticing. I need to get my cover artist to work on the Createspace cover. It's already paid for, but Ronnell is notorious for disappearing for a while. I already email him about it and don't want to nag.
I don't have an author page… Maybe I should work on setting one up, and also setting up a Facebook page. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

 

[A Woman's Place Is In The Rebellion]

I recommend doing a Goodreads giveaway and a Library Things giveaway.

This. You should get reviews out of it and reviews help.