I can't say I've entirely figured it out, but I'm learning as I set it all up. My original plan had involved a lot of concentration on pre-sales, trying to get so many people to buy before the release so the release date would look huge, and hopefully I would get into the New York Times Bestseller list. I learned from Two Gun and from other top sellers that this isn't a goal that's good to concentrate on for independents. People don't know us yet, so they need to learn to trust us.
That's why series work the best. Readers want to see what we can do before they spend money. That means seeing something for free. And if you have only one book, you're limited on what you can show. You can give away a chapter, maybe two, but after you've given those away, you don't have a lot more to give to get attention on another day, and audiences typically need to see you multiple times before they'll buy your work. I think I heard the number is something like nine times before they'll consider buying your work.
So the best thing to do is to have a series where you have multiple books. Most of the top sellers have given away the first book and the second costs some money, often still very cheap. This entices readers in slowly but surely. I have been coming out with short stories and giving them away to anyone who would read them to hopefully get them involved. I always direct them back tot he website where new products are constantly being posted.
As for my plans for promotion, they go in three stages: Pre-pre-release, Pre-release, and Post-release.
Pre-pre-release is 6-3 months before release. This is when I send out everything that's been done before. I'm trying to get my first book out to as many reviewers as possible, and make people aware of the series, the short stories, and the products that existed before. I'm sort of catching up during this period.
Pre-release is beginning Christmas day, and will go until release in March, a period of almost exactly 3 months. This is going to be when I build hype for the book coming out, and will mostly focus on how the story is directing towards the second book. The short stories will start leading toward something specific, that something being what's in the second book. Also, this step begins on Christmas because I will be giving away the first novel and the pick your path book that day to get people who just got a new Kindle into the series. The pick your path book in particular leads to the second book as it's the introduction of the villains who are in it.
And finally, release. This will be the biggest time for this. I've found that with self-published authors, readers typically want to see what you've got, not what could be. While it's good to generate hype leading up to the product, I've noticed that those who have done well have done so once the book's out. The release will be happening at Wondercon, which will be the big event where we have a booth, are hosting a game, and will be doing everything we can to bring attention to the book. Just before and after that, we'll be throwing up every advertisement we can, and appearing on every social media group possible, giving away the first book, short stories, and every manner of giveaway item we can just to bring attention to that second book, which will be available on Kindle for a low price to attract readers. The number of downloads will be more important than the profit as these numbers get the attention of more numbers, and it's the interest in the series I'm most interested in at this time.
If it becomes popular enough, I can continue the series, and the fan base will grow for book 3.
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