Writing Progress
Today I’m sitting here writing my blog on a gorgeous summer day. I’m not out fishing. In fact, I haven’t even purchased my fishing license for the year. This year has been a trial, with my wife’s health issues making it difficult to find time to write, let alone go fishing. Fortunately, she is getting stronger and more mobile, though not yet strong enough to be independent. I left her alone earlier this week while I went to the dentist. She said she would be fine, but she ran into a problem and screamed for help. Our friend who came over to clean our house got here, but the doors were locked. She called 911, before my wife eventually made it to the door. I think leaving her alone is not yet a good idea. She is strong enough to give me time to write, and I passed the 80,000-word mark on the sequel to Salvation and Doom. I am nearing the completion of my draft.
Marketing Scams
Always the sucker for marketing gimmicks, I sent the Amazon link for Lightning’s Edge to a PR company for a ‘free’ press release. It was free, and I paid a little to have it published in various publications. The results were an email inbox flooded with offers for every marketing-related service, from Amazon page optimization to publishing company interest. All the publishing company’s interest offers were scams. I have learned to do independent checks through the company websites for such offers. The two most common offers were to increase my book’s visibility through Amazon optimization or to have my book listed on multiple Goodreads listopia. I haven’t approached the Goodreads groups yet, but several months ago, I paid to have my Amazon page optimized. It didn’t result in increased sales. Self Publishing an Expensive Hobby
Another common offer is the selection for a book club spotlight. These are mostly scams where they ask for payment to promote the book selection. My limited experience with book clubs has been that the group or someone designated by the group selects a book. Everyone reads the book and participates in the discussion. The author doesn’t need to promote the book to the group. Though some may be legitimate, I treat them all as scams.
Podcast and radio interview requests are interesting. Some are outright scams, but some are legitimate. These are interesting to me because I would really like to talk about my books. I don’t know how good a salesman I would be, but I would like to try. Of course, they all require an interview fee. If only I had sold enough books to pay for all these expenses. Writing and self-publishing are expensive hobbies. Since the press release ran, I spend about two hours each day going through emails. The awareness of my books has significantly increased. If only everyone who claimed to have read my book had actually read it, I would be a best seller.
Risky Business
Surprisingly, Salvation and Doom: The Cathardi Prophecy, sells five or six book equivalents per month. I signed a distribution agreement with Titan Book Distribution. They will print and distribute 4000 paperback copies through their distributors. I had to cover a significant portion of the printing costs, but my research into the company indicates it is legitimate.
I recently opened a Shopify store to sell my print-on-demand paperback books. Check it out when you get a chance and let me know what you think. C. Buck Jones Books
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