Welcome to my notes! I've never been very good at keeping up a diary or a journal before, but I am going to try to post something new every Sunday for readers to keep informed since there is so much time between my book releases.
It is difficult to be a self-publishing author. There are a lot of things that need to be covered by a team of people yet, here I am, doing it all by myself! Writing the books and getting them out there to you could be just as interesting of a story as the books themselves are in some cases. Toss that all in with the fact that I also have a full-time job and you've really got a NYT Best-Seller on your hands!
Take this week for example. I was doing research online after work to figure out how to get sales up. On Kindle I have been lucky if I can get 10 books sold in a month! So, I posted around to some forums, got a few ads out on Facebook, and did some reading of what other self-published authors have been doing to get their books noticed. Sales went up a little, and yeah I do believe that every little bit counts but "making it" as a writer is going to take a lot more than just a little. In doing research, though, I found that there are lots of other platforms I didn't know about where I could publish the eBook version. I mean, of course there is the Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook, but there are even more that have larger audiences because they encompass a wide range of file types for people to use. Therefore, once my Kindle "KDP Select" contract is up in June I am going to make my way over there and get some books out on various platforms.
My biggest problem is reviews. I have none! Lots of people have read my first book, mostly teenagers which is great because that's my targeted audience so it shows I did a good job writing to them, but nobody will leave any reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or even just on Facebook. So, if you've read my book and liked it, didn't like it, whatever the case may be, could you review it for me? It doesn't need to be long, just a line or two would suffice.
The best form of advertising, of course, is word of mouth. SO... pass it on please!
I want to give a big thanks to my friends over at Spintronix Color Guard. They purchased a bunch of copies to sell and give away at their upcoming Weekend Color Guard and Leadership Camp, so I signed them. I haven't gotten any book signings set up yet, so if you were hoping for a signed copy, that's where you can get one. The camp is in April for any students who do color guard or want to do color guard. I recommend it, and not just because they are helping me promote my book! There are some super great instructors there and they make camp really fun for the kids.
Link to my book: Amazon has the best price on both the paperback and the Kindle version is really cheap so I highly recommend you purchase it from them.
Link to the Spintronix Weekend Camp: http://www.facebook.com/
Have a great week!
J.M. Hope
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