AztecLady Speaks: Thinking About Promotion—What Type Is Truly Effective?
Friday, April 18, 2008Posted in: Azteclady Speaks, Contests, promotional advert
After writing the contest series, I have been thinking about whether they are a form of promotion that really works or not—for the author.
In this case, I’m wondering what promotional efforts will gain the writer a new reader. More specifically, to newbie or mid-list authors—not the bigger names, who already have name recognition and a larger promo budget from their publishers.
From reading these posts at Emily Veinglory’s ERECSITE, I have come to see that many mid-list and newer authors wonder how to use their promotion dollars most effectively. What works best? Is it swag? Magnets, postcards, bookmarks, pens, etc. Or is it free content online—book giveaways, excerpts, free short stories? Or is it time spent interacting with readers and potential readers—which is time away from writing, which in turn is money—blogging, chatting, guest blogging, booksignings, etc.?
I know that contests and giveaways work for me—if I get a free book by an author with whose work I’m unfamiliar, I get to try it for ‘free’ (aside from the commitment to write a review). In several cases, that has translated into a new fan for the author and a vocal pimp for their work (you know who you are).
Even when I don’t end up with a free book, by participating in the contest or giveaway, I have been drawn into interacting with the author and her fans, reading more reviews, excerpts, short stories, what have you. Sooner or later I will likely be trying at least one of her books—and again, if I like it, that author has gained a new reader and vocal pimp.
However, I am only one reader, and my experiences and reactions may well be at one end of the curve. Which brings me to the question…
What promotional efforts work for you, the reader? What makes you try a new-to-you author?
I would like to get as many responses as possible, in order to compile a *cough* über-scientifically-controlled *cough* chart tracking the different successful methods of promotion. (Chart or something, I’m not very good with graphics—no need to cackle, Karen, really.) For those lurkers who are shy and don’t want to post, you can reach me at azteclady1 @ gmail dot com (no spaces).
Who knows, it may even help some authors decide where to direct their promotional efforts.
What?
You don’t think I’m all altruistic like that? {K: Nope}
I am too.
*grumble*
Okay, okay! I am just very opinionated, {K: Ya don’t say? *g*} and want some anecdotal proof that I’m right and contests rock.
Happy now?
{K: Geez, she’s grumpy today, I totally blame Giselle Bundchen.}
sallahdog
April 18
1:30 pm
well, I doubt I am the ‘typical’ reader, but usually what gets me to try a new author is an interesting blurb on the back of the book, or a review that peaked my interest. I often try new books by amazon recomends(but that system isn’t perfect)….
I actually use reader websites like Dear author and even karen(though she reviews so rarely anymore)to find a new author.
I don’t go to a lot of author websites, so I rarely know about a giveaway and I am not sure that I would enter anyway. I always figure if I want a book, I can afford it, and since I don’t review books, to let someone who either needs the book, or reviews them to get the chance over me…
Darragha
April 18
1:59 pm
Hi Sallahdog, I’m Darragha. Nice to meet you. I’m an author; you’re a reader. Goodness…it’s a match made in heaven. My back cover blurbs are at your disposal. Thank all the gods you can afford books. You must not have a car (jibe at the price of fuel).
IMHO, word of mouth is the best advertising.
sallahdog
April 18
2:14 pm
hey darragha, in point of fact I have read one of your books…after a really funny review by bam…see, that word of mouth stuff really works..(I just put the gas on the credit card and hope it doesnt break under the pressure each month)..
Bonnie Dee
April 18
2:35 pm
Promotion, schlomotion. I’m sick of thinking about it. Mike, owner of Liquid Silver Books, has often told the authors–and I’ve heard it other places too–that the best way to sell books is to write more books. So that’s the route I’ve been going. I still try to get some blog exposure, stop at the Yahoo groups occasionally, advertise at The Romance Studio and even hold a rare contest, but I’m done beating myself up over what to do.
All that being said, I’d still like to hear what readers think. I’m guessing it’s cover, followed by blurb and excerpt, that sells above all other factors.
Darragha
April 18
2:35 pm
Shall I prepare a set speech for you to share with your friends? I printed out one for all of mine…for when telemarketers phone. “Wow! That sounds great. But let me tell YOU about something! I have a (friend/daughter/wife/other) who is a romance novelist. You know, the spicy stuff. Do you (or your mother/sister, whatever) read romance novels? Great! Have a pen? Write this down…www.darraghafoster.com. Wow, thanks!”
Puppet Truth
April 18
3:12 pm
I have seen contests do nothing for an author. A friend of mine does promo goodie bags on her website and any time she does a loop chat. Apparently that works really well for her as an author.
I personally like book signings. I usually find out about an author through friends or doing reviews, and if given the chance, I try to make it out to an authors book signing. 9 times out of 10 I go to the signing and meet the author and their attitude towards their readers endears me to them even more. And that one time I meet them and they are snots, well thats one less book I’m buying and reading and reviewing.
And I think the special goodies are cool too. In the past two years I have received some really cool author items, some from RT and some from signings or meet and greets. I have received the plastic coin purses, packs of playing cards, bath salts, custom body sprays, pens, saplings (yes i got plants with authors names on the casing)and book covers. Granted they are expensive, but stuff like that has guaranteed I remember the author.
Dorothy Mantooth
April 18
3:30 pm
Mike from LSB is right, IMO. Contests and giveaways are nice as a reward for readers, and you might gain a few new readers from it, but in general I don’t think any of that stuff works. Writing the best book you can is what seems to work.
I’ve seen too many people who join Yahoo groups just hoping to win a prize, then leave when they don’t; too many people who enter contests with ten different email adresses; and above all too many authors who spend hundreds on promo and ended up with royalty checks that wouldn’t cover lunch for one at McDonald’s to believe anything else, sadly.
Kim
April 18
3:54 pm
I like author websites. Let me rephrase that. I like neat, tidy and UP TO DATE author websites. I want to see a site that is easy to navigate, a booklist, what’s coming next, and excerpts. For a new to me author, I need a example of the writing to push me to buy now button. A sample chapter is best please, not just 1 paragraph. And please, no music on your website, kthanx.
I also love book trailers.
Anyway…my 2 cents.
Katrina Strauss
April 18
4:24 pm
I’ve seen too many people who join Yahoo groups just hoping to win a prize, then leave when they don’t; too many people who enter contests with ten different email adresses;
And there’s a running list of the contest junkies that privately makes the rounds. Between word of mouth from fellow authors, and handy Google search on email addies, yes, we eventually figure out who the contest junkies are, and we know that none of them ever buy our books.
Katrina Strauss
April 18
4:24 pm
I’ve seen too many people who join Yahoo groups just hoping to win a prize, then leave when they don’t; too many people who enter contests with ten different email adresses;
And there’s a running list of the contest junkies that privately makes the rounds. Between word of mouth from fellow authors, and handy Google search on email addies, yes, we eventually figure out who the contest junkies are, and we know that none of them ever buy our books.
Katrina Strauss
April 18
4:25 pm
And sorry for the double post…looks like I flubbed on the “edit option”…*grumbles and goes for caffeine*
Dorothy Mantooth
April 18
4:44 pm
See, now, how do I get that list? Because I’ve gotten warnings about individuals before, but never a big list. Obviously nobody here can give it to me as I am incognito, as it were, but maybe it’s not being circulated well enough? Or maybe I am just far too obscure. Sigh.
But the point is–and thanks Katrina–I haven’t noticed any of that stuff really adding to book sales. I know I and several others have done really cool “answer a question from the book”-type contests and nobody enters those at all, it seems.
So much of this recommended promo seems to be just promoing myself to other authors. Perhaps I’m unsupportive but I don’t usually read other authors’ promo posts or emails and I don’t send them under the assumption they won’t really read mine.
Katrina Strauss
April 18
5:28 pm
Dorothy,
I keep a running mental list myself, but I do know of one author who actually keeps a physical list on her harddrive with names and e-mail addresses. I mean, when three different authors mention that the same person won prizes from them within the same week, and then you look them up on Google and see 5 different “congratulations to XXX for winning my contest!”, it’s not too hard to figure out! *laugh*
And yeah, as I’ve previously stated in one of the Erecsite blogposts that was listed, I now treat promo more as reward to my existing readership. I don’t even attract the contest junkies anymore (maybe because they figured out I was onto them) and I’ve decided contests are for the birds!
So yes, I’ll be watching any reader comments at this thread with great interest! What gets your attention, peeps? What makes an e-pubbed author stand out in what is admittedly a glutted market right now?
Bonnie Dee
April 18
5:45 pm
“I like neat, tidy and UP TO DATE author websites.”
Well, there you go. That’s something I can do. I think my site layout is easy to navigate (designed by the wonderful April Martinez) and I make changes all the time.
“I like book trailers”
Good, because I’ve discovered I enjoy making them. Just designed my first one for an upcoming release and posted it on the front page of my site. Now THAT’S the kind of promo I don’t mind doing ’cause it’s a fun, creative project. Why couldn’t all promo be as much fun?
sallahdog
April 18
6:33 pm
I would say this about promo, it is obvious to people when your heart isn’t in the type of promo that you do. So do things you enjoy or find works for you. Its the same way with genres of romance. There is always the “hot” new line, but if you don’t truly enjoy it, your book isn’t going to resonate with readers. It happened with historicals, it happened with chick lit and its happening with paranormal. Write what you love.. From the point of view of “only a reader” it shows.
Candice Gilmer
April 18
6:41 pm
I’m going to be really interested in seeing what the opinions are in what seems to work as a promotion.
I have a couple of books coming out soon, and one of the things I’ve been looking into is advertising, trying to figure out when and where my dollar will give me the best bang.
As a reader, I’m more apt to pick up a book that I recognize the cover — even if I’ve only seen the cover on a website somewhere. The visual images stick in my mind, making a connection when I see them later. I’ve bought a LOT of books because of that.
Kim
April 18
6:52 pm
oops. Another thing about excerpts. If your excerpt includes the first meeting of the hero and heroine, it grabs me everytime. Everytime I tell you! It drags my mouse to the buy button because I immediately need to know more. *sigh* I am easy, I know, and so does my Mastercard.
Ann Bruce
April 18
7:42 pm
As a reader, I find new books and new authors through personal review blogs (Amazon reviews never had much credence with me). I don’t need the author to bribe me with prizes and such because I live in Canada and I feel bad about making them pay so much postage to get stuff to me–which is why I like to give away electronic gift certificates for my own contests.
And sometimes just being nice works, too. I emailed an author because I wanted to a buy a copy of an OOP title from her (I’m not into used books). She was super nice and sent me the title I wanted and 5 other titles she thought I’d enjoy…for FREE. To this day, she’s on my auto-buy list, even though she’s moved away from romance.
Kay Webb Harrison
April 18
7:43 pm
I subscribe to Romantic Times and use their “reviews” to obtain info about new books that have stories and characters that interest me. I also find books that I want to buy in excerpts printed in the back of books that I read. Sometimes back blurbs on bookstore books will attract me enough to purchase the book. I visit reader sites–DA, SBs, AAR–and reader blogs regularly and author sites occasionally.
So, info about the story and excerpts are what influence me most to try a book, especially by a new author or one previously unknown to me.
Kay
Amy
April 18
8:07 pm
generally blog reviews, contests, interviews with the author, etc.
Swag…magnets, etc.–just feels like more clutter to me. But if I’m finding all my bloggy friends talking up the same book I will absolutely want to read it.
Karen Scott
April 18
9:47 pm
Excerpts and freebie writing are the best promo material an author can give me. Everything else is just fluff.
If I visit a website, and the author has plenty of examples of her work, I’m in heaven, and if I like their writing I’ll buy. Simple as that.
Jody W.
April 18
9:52 pm
As an online-savvy reader, I favor excerpts, free short stories, nice websites and funny blogs, clever book vids, reviews (word of mouth), well-behaved (as opposed to ABB) online personas, and a lack of typos and grammatical errors. Sometimes I need to see several of these qualities before I plunk down my money; sometimes one sterling example is sufficient.
Most readers of the romance genre aren’t online all the time like most of us, though. They are exposed to minimal promo and in my experience choose books based on covers, back cover copy and familiarity with the author. Maybe flipping through some pages, too. Online savvy readers are not the norm for traditionally published markets but are the norm for online/small press/ebook markets. Such markets require different promotional strategies.
That being said, as an online/small press/ebook author, I haven’t found any promo that works for me yet, despite much experimentation, though I try to concentrate on the qualities I, as a reader, look for in a book or author.
Jennifer McKenzie
April 18
10:22 pm
I would say this about promo, it is obvious to people when your heart isn’t in the type of promo that you do. So do things you enjoy or find works for you.
I think this is true. I don’t know if what I do works for me, but I the promo I do I make sure I enjoy it.
I didn’t used to believe the part about writing being the best promotion. After all, if no one bought any of my stuff, how would they KNOW I was something they wanted to read? My first sales were so low and I thought “How can I attract readers to my writing.”
Now, over time, I’ve seen that writing more is the best promotion. Every time I release another book, my name is out there and my sales have gotten better.
A backlist is priceless in my opinion.
Does any author have a tough time separating the reader part of them and the author part of them? I can’t even tell why I buy a book now. LOL.
I love to do book trailers and chats and blogging. Those are the things I do the most.
katiebabs
April 18
11:33 pm
When I think of promotion, I think of interviews and of course an excerpt or two from a book.
Also reviews are the best PR too 🙂
SHayne
April 19
2:39 am
I’ve always tooted having free stories and lengthier excerpts on your website. I think it’s my most effective self-promo.
That and building up the back list.
Throwmearope
April 19
3:47 am
Being a classy person (or a clever person, I’m a sucker for both) on line is the best way to get this reader to glom on your backlist. I’ve gotten a couple of freebies, but I agree with Sallahdog, I think I should just buy stuff for myself.
Excerpts are good. From March 1 to May 1, the first day of the month I am at Evanovich.com to read the first chapter and a half of the new Plum book.
Hate trailers, though. The heros and heroines seldom look the way I picture them.
Shannon C.
April 19
4:48 am
For me, it’s all about the excerpts and the examples of your writing. Contests don’t mean a whole lot to me personally, but then I’m blind so unless you’re going to send me an e-copy of your book for review if I enter, they’re pretty much useless. And I thought that the author-and-reader yahoo groups would be a useful promo option when I first started reading ebooks, but they’re not, really. Mostly on author chat days there just ended up being a lot of emails in my inbox that I couldn’t read, mostly from the authors talking to each other and trying hard to drum up interest.
o, yeah, I’m all about the excerpts and the blog comments as I’ve discovered several new favorite authors recently because they post things I like on blogs and their freebie stuff has grabbed me.
MB (Leah)
April 19
3:16 pm
For me, it’s the cover and the excerpts, when I go cruising on publisher’s sites like Samhain, which attract me or not.
Another main way for me is that I find many authors just by reading their comments on the many message boards, like this one. If I like how they conduct or express themselves then I will usually buy a book of theirs, or at least go to their site and check them out further.
I live somewhere where there aren’t any book signings or reader/author conferences and don’t get a chance to meet anyone. So message boards are the next best thing in getting to know what an author is about.
Reader’s blogs and reviews will get me to buy a book, especially if it’s a blogger whose taste is like mine.
I rarely go to author’s websites. And if I do, it’s only because I want to find out what other books they have written, or where I can get a book that I want specifically. So that doesn’t really do it for me.
I don’t do contests and could care less about freebie gifts as an incentive to get turned onto an author.
And I’m going to agree with Bonnie Dee, keep writing and get stuff out there. If there is nothing to read for a while, I’m gonna forget about you.
kirsten saell
April 19
10:08 pm
It’s nice to hear so many people chiming in that contests and give-aways aren’t so important, that it’s the excerpt, blurb and reviews that tend to grab them. Those are the things that grab me–as well as getting to know authors online through places like this, the Smart Bitches, Dear Author, etc. I recently bought an Amelia Elias book simply because the need to at least try something by a woman who makes such insightful and lucid comments and then signs her name “Amelia Fuckheady-bitchipants E”, was too much to resist.
I’m relieved to hear contests don’t matter to a lot of readers, since in every aspect of life other than writing, I’m a disorganized mess. If the bank didn’t just take the mortgage out with direct debit, my house would be repoed in about three months. Doing draws and mailing prizes to winners is simply beyond my ability to keep on top of things. I live in the middle of nowhere–just getting to a Walmart is a three hour drive–so no book-signings or conventions for me, either. I’m pretty much stuck with letting my work speak for itself. Now if only it would stop being such a potty-mouth…
Gracie
May 13
6:08 am
I love this thread and am finding it very informative, especially the part about contests and giveaways, and a number of people who just join yahoogroups in order to win a prize then leave after the even/chat is over. I noticed when I closed my newsletter contest to just subscribers only the entries went down significantly.
Chats seem to work for me and I enjoy doing them. Sometimes I’ll even get private feedback from a lurker who has bought my books in the past or was prompted to buy my books because of the chat. It’s a great feeling when that happens and to know my efforts aren’t all for naught.
But I think the best promo for me are excerpts, reviews, free stories and, above all, writing more books, which is hard to do when I’m spending my time promoting (that nasty Catch-22 thing).
Thanks to everyone who has posted so far with your advice and opinions. I’ve found them very enlightening 😉
Sandi
June 7
3:30 am
Give me a synopsis, and a fat, juicy excerpt from the middle of the book. I also consult book reviews by other readers at places like Amazon. I need some details in my reviews to decide whether I will enjoy the story. Even if it’s an author that I generally like, if I don’t like the particular synopsis, I probably won’t read the book. I never enter contests.