
Originally Posted by
msknight
OK ... (settles back with cup of tea)
So far, I've got a small handful of reviews, done a few interviews, but nothing really going anywhere. Given that the best stats I can find suggest that there's one new novel being published every minute, just in the UK and US alone (and that's data which is a few years old) I'm up against some competition.
So far, the reviewers I've approached have been moderately non-plussed. I did my research, checked their reviewing terms, read a few of their posts to see whether my material was in their ball park, but not much in terms of return. But those that have reviewed have been positive (4 or 5 stars)
I've chatted with some book sellers and uncovered a historical world of politics in the realm of book selling. Basically, I had to find a local branch, dropped off copies of the books out so far and said, "If you like what you read, there's my number!"
I'm playing my part in the community, reading and reviewing books as well, so I'm not always on the take, and I seem to have won a few friends and a little respect as a person worth knowing/chatting with.
Done some giveaways, but the come back in terms of reviews has been slim.
Now ... I've been treated badly by some journalists and particularly been on the receiving end of bad TV editing which has made me shy of this (although there is one journalist who I respect and keep very roughly up to date; on very rare occasion; I don't like being a pest)
I did the rounds of agents with the film script, and I'm done with that for now.
However, I'm thinking of some things like blog tours, etc. BUT, many bloggers seem to bemoan the lack of feedback from their audience; and some are building their subscriber numbers by offering freebies (follow and re-tweet) and I'm stood here, scratching my head as to how effective they are.
I also don't flood my twitter feed; if I did that saying, "Buy my book!" all I'd do is lose audience.
So I know I'm going to have to save money and take a chance on some marketing ... but the question is ... what?
I'm also thinking to finish the next book and bury my head for another month, to see if the last batch of blue touch papers set off any small bangs anywhere.
There are a small bunch of competitions/awards that the publisher has to put me forward for (one of the bonuses of having a publisher) but I know they're working on software changes; so nothing much is going to happen there for a few weeks.
Any ideas on things I haven't thought of please?