CREATING SOMETHING FOR FREE
- Penny C. Sansevieri
I talk a lot about “owning the shelf,”
meaning publishing a lot of books. But what if you just have one book that
you’re trying to market? Making that one book free all the time does not make
sense. Instead, consider this: at a recent conference I was at I spoke to an
author who wrote a science fiction book about three years ago. It did poorly,
he admitted, and he wondered if there was anything he could do. Since the book
was long (400 pages) I suggested that he cut the book into segments, design new
covers and have the books released in a series as an eBook on Amazon. Many
romance authors already do this, but few authors that I’ve spoken with have
ever done this to invigorate an older book or to create more books on your
shelf. By chunking up a longer book, you create more interest by drawing
readers into your book via a series. In some cases you may feel there isn’t a
natural breaking point for the book, but I would argue there is. Consider
bringing in a seasoned content editor to help you decide. The point being, you
may be sitting on a lot of tools already. Turning one book into a series is a
great way to drive more attention, more readers, and more sales. And, if you do
that, you can have one book that’s always free.
The importance of free is often misunderstood
and underestimated. We live in a society of readers being inundated with
options and new books. Last estimate there were 3,500 books published every day
in the US, but this number does not include books that go straight to digital
since those aren’t often counted (many authors publish directly through KDP
without an ISBN number which is normally how these are tracked). Needless to
say, the competition is great. Sometimes standing out means reaching your tribe
one reader at a time, and while this might sound tedious, it does in fact work.
I spoke to some authors at Romance
Writers who were big-name, bestselling authors who told me that they were
worried because their sales were dropping and what should they do? Many of them
started writing in an age where they could easily own the market. There wasn’t
a ton of competition and a single post on social media could sell a hundred
books. Sadly, those days are gone. If you’re reading this thinking: this is me,
my sales are dropping! Take heart. You can turn this around. Restart your
thinking and pretend that today is the first day of your writing career.
Starting with a fresh look is often the best way to kick any marketing campaign
into a better, and often higher, gear.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder
of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally
recognized book marketing and media relations expert and an Adjunct Professor
with NYU. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has
developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. She is the
author of fourteen books, including How to Sell Books by the Truckload. AME is
the first marketing and publicity firm to use Internet promotion to its full
impact through online promotion and their signature program called: The Virtual
Author Tour™ To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, you
can visit her web site at http://www.amarketingexpert.com.
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Copyright
ã 2015 Penny C. Sansevieri
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