The Secret to Independent/Self-Publishing? - Series! (Part 2)

Last week I talked about my journey through independent publishing learning what was working and what was not.  I had started with writing non-fiction and one-off novels, and found that the promoting of them was very difficult, particularly because, once I had promoted them, I was done.  There was no series which I could build over time.

What I’ve done with this blog post, in splitting it up, is illustrate part of what works.  If you can generate some interest and say the story will continue, that draws an audience in.  It also helps because it’s spread over two areas.  Some of you will undoubtedly see this post first, and go back to the last one to see where I began while many of you will have seen that first, and come here.  This is called casting a wider net.  If I had another one come out next week, some people would undoubtedly see that and trace it back to see where it all began.  And when people make sure to read all the way through, that counts as three views to my blog per person rather than just one.

In short, having a series builds an audience over time, something independent authors desperately need.  The more reasons you have to post about your series, the more opportunities others have to find it.  And by having multiple books come out, you can have something new to talk about regarding your series as time goes along.  It’s especially helpful when you have short stories that take place throughout as well, as you can post and talk about those for free, and they’re tiny amounts of your story that people can digest without a huge investment of time.

In my case, I’ve chosen to do my series Relic Worlds, about an anthropologist searching for ancient artifacts in the ruins of distant planets to learn what happened to alien civilizations in the galaxy.  Sort of Indiana Jones in space, if you will.  This series has a novel once a year, and a bunch of short stories in between each novel.  There are also games, choose your own adventures, and other interactive materials that come out for it all the time.

By having so many different elements, I’m able to talk about what’s happening in the series on an ongoing basis.  This is a huge departure from my other books where the only update I could give was, “book’s still out on Amazon and waiting for you to buy.”  As an ongoing tale, I can keep everyone up to date on the latest products and stories in the ongoing adventure.  And I can bring everyone along for the ride like they’re involved.

I bring them along by being a part of their discussions on Facebook, Twitter, forums, etc.  Being sci fi and adventure, those are the groups I belong to; and I enjoy the discussions.  I can get involved in what they’re saying about other sci fi and adventure stories, and I build trust and engagement with them.  So when I say, hey guys, something else has come out from Relic Worlds, I’m not just appearing out of nowhere and trying to sell them something.  Hell, I’m not even selling to them, I’m giving away most of what I’m talking about for free.

Speaking of which, it’s best to make the first book free as well.  This pulls people into the story as they’re likely to get the first book for free just to see what it is, then they’ll get curious where the characters go from there.  I made sure to end the first book by giving a sense of where everyone was going, but leaving it open-ended enough to make everyone curious.  With my one-off books, when I gave them away for free, that was it.  They had the product and didn’t need to buy anything else.

And then there’s the conventions.  While it was difficult for me to find conventions to sell my other books, with sci fi, there are plenty of conventions dedicated to just that, or to the “popular arts,” which generally includes sci fi and fantasy along with comic books.  Now, at these conventions you’ll generally spend a lot of money getting a booth and decorating it, but then you’ll hardly have any sales.  So why are they worth it?  Because that’s where you build your following.  They may not want to spend money at your booth because they’re spending it all on Batman and Star Wars paraphernalia.  But since they met you, they’ll go home and look at your stuff, and possibly buy it later.  They’re also pretty willing to join your mailing list.

This mailing list, I’ve learned, is perhaps the most important element.  By having it, I can contact them directly to remind them I exist rather than counting on people to look up my page and start following along.  Again, with a one-off book, all I can do is tell them what’s in the book and hope they buy it, or maybe tell them about new books I’m writing, which may or may not be of a genre they’re interested in.  But by having an ongoing sci fi series, they will stay connected, and follow the story that matches their interest.

So, the plan for Relic Worlds going forward is basically in two parts: online and at conventions.

Online I interact with others in their groups and on my pages, twitter, blog, etc.  I tell them what’s new in the world of Relic Worlds while interacting with them about other subjects in sci fi and adventure.  (Even throwing in a lot about real science and archaeology.)  This is all centered on the newsletter that I send out once a month to the people on the email list.

Meanwhile, I go to whatever conventions I can get to and afford, and I build my email list, as well as give out flyers to get people involved in the series.  So far it’s done well to generate some interest.  Few sales have come from it, but I’ve just started, so hopefully this will work.  I’ll post later about how it continues.

The Secret to Independent/Self-Publishing? - Series! (Part 1)

When I started doing independent publishing, I wrote nonfiction books and single, one-off novels.  While I’m proud of these works, and the non-fictions in particular have been met with rave reviews, I’ve learned that these are precisely the sorts of books that are the hardest sells for independent authors and publishers.  What works, in short, are series for niche markets.

You see, major publishers can sell one-off books more effectively because they have a larger marketing budget, and they’re well established in the industry.  They have connections and inroads into distribution channels that give them a virtual monopoly in certain venues.  This is especially prevalent in pre-sales where they are able to get reviewed by major publications that have large subscriber bases and loyal viewers, readers, and followers.  These connections would take individual publishers and authors years to build, if they can build them at all.  Additionally, traditional publishers have large teams of people dedicated only to publishing without the distraction of writing.

Independent authors are trying to get the attention of news reporters, bloggers, show hosts, etc. while continuing to write another book and often while doing a day job as well.  And when they finally break through those barriers and get some coverage, all that effort is rewarded once, and then it’s back to the drawing board for the next story.  Sometimes people who bought one of your books will remember you for the next one.  And Amazon has been great about telling people who buy one book that there’s another book by the same author.  But this all has limited success, especially when your books are not of the same subject.

However, social media gives the author complete control over their promotions.  No longer are you dependent upon news sources to see some value in your product.  You can post about your newest creations online.  The problem with this is two-fold.  First, people don’t like to be sold to while you are on social media.  So you can’t just go on and start saying you have a book to sell.  You have to become a part of the community; like and comment on things other people are posting.  After a while, you can bring up your own book, and if you did it right, you’ll get some sales.  But then that’s it.  You’ve done what you can for that book.  And now you belong to a group you only joined because you wanted to do that one thing.

In my case, I did have three non-fiction books that were all true crime related, so I was able to be a part of the true crime community and talk about each book as it came out.  But this was limited because I couldn’t post too much about each book without giving their content away.  And, to be honest, I’ve never had that big of an interest in the whole world of true crime.  I just happened to have three stories I’m fascinated by that happen to be defined as true crime.  My posts probably reflected the fact that I just wasn’t that interested in the general subject matter.

Also, the only conventions I could take these books to were general book conventions.  There are no true crime conventions, (at least I hope there aren’t,) so I was limited to what I could do online to try to generate interest in these books.

Fiction series for a niche market, however, that’s a different story; one I will get to in my upcoming post next week…

My First Booth at Wondercon

I ran my first booth ever at Wondercon this weekend, and I learned quite a bit.

First I must explain that I have been studying this for quite a while; how to best use a convention to sell my products.  I first went to Comic Con in 2007 and have been trying to utilize that convention and others in the best way possible.  Mostly, I tried to do it on the cheap, handing out flyers in the front, and running events that didn't involve getting a table myself.  One example was the treasure hunt I ran, where I gave out flyers full of clues that led attendees to several booths until they got to the last one where they got a prize relating to my series.  (The flyer, of course, also said the name of the series on it.)

All of these attempts failed to have much of an impact.  The treasure hunt, first of all, was too difficult to accomplish, and few people got to the end.  But the biggest problem was that I was, ultimately, outside of the convention.  To really be taken seriously, I had to go all the way and get a booth.  So that is a must.

I became impressed with Wondercon when it first moved to Anaheim.  The first year was rough; but overall it had the feel of a more independent minded convention that remembered its sci fi and fantasy roots.  It wasn't quite so owned by the corporations.  I knew that when I got a booth, it would be here.

My booth was way in the back, which made it easy to load, but harder for attendees to find.  Luckily, it was right next to the food court, so a lot of people saw it during lunch.

I ran the treasure hunt again, but this time it was simple to do.  And at the end, people who wanted to claim their prize had to give their name and email address to enter the drawing.  The grand prize was a trip to Disneyland, so there were a lot of people who wanted to do it.  This left me with an extended email list.  However, it was not as long as it could have been since people had to do the treasure hunt first, and some didn't want to bother.

The table was filled with the flyers on the right, the books in the middle, and a large volcano model I made on the left.  The Relic Worlds sign hung from the table int he front, and vertical signs of the two books hung behind me.  I found this to be a really good layout, though I might have overdone it on the number of different flyers and different books.  What I really needed was a flyer with the treasure hunt, a flyer with the books, and a flyer with a free short story.  Maybe adding the bookmark was a good idea as well, because it was easy to get people to take a bookmark after they had bought other books.

The way the days worked seems to be the same for every convention.  Friday is the day when people trickle in and look at what there is to offer.  It's best to give them previews of what I have as well as get them on the treasure hunts.  At night there was gaming in a different building.  I thought this would be super important as it would be a whole new audience that extended into the evening.  However, this year the gaming area was far away from the convention center, so hardly anyone was there.  Also, people tend to break off into cliques at these gaming events, so its effectiveness was limited.

Saturday was the big day.  It was the day to push both the free fliers and the books, as well as attract everyone with the volcano, and put on a game that utilized the volcano.  This was more effective than the night gaming as it was in full view of other attendees, who looked on at the setup with amazement.  (I spend hundreds of dollars making it.)  I did find, though, that it would be better to have a separate person run the game, as I needed to be at the booth.  I also had two models dressed as a couple of the characters posing for the cameras out front where the cosplayers hang out, and give out flyers.  This was one of the best and most effective things to do as we got TONS of people photographing them along with the books.  I could not have arranged this, however, if I hadn't had two wonderful volunteers at the booth selling books while I was dealing with the models.

Sunday is known as the dead day.  However, it's also the day people are usually more apt to buy.  They've spent the last couple days looking over everything, and on the last day they go through buying what they've decided to get.  It's also the best day to network with other booths as they're less busy.

In the end, I learned that conventions are essentially the second half of the equation to sell books.  The other half is online, which I'll get to in another post.  Conventions are where you spread the word in person.  You can't really expect to make any money at them; you're going to spend more money than you make creating an effective platform.  However, this platform should be used to create something that the attendees go back and tell others about.  The experience should be something they want to photograph either at your booth, or in the cosplay area.  (I had both with the volcano at the booth and the two models in the cosplay area.)  It's also a great way to get people to learn about your website and any deals you have going, such as a free book deal or a sale.

But what it's best for is what I've recently learned is the most important thing in independent book selling: building the email list.  I never thought of this as such an important step, but it is.  Having a website and Facebook page is important for people to go see, but the general public will forget about you unless you actively remind them of your existence, and sending short stories and/or updates is the best way to do it.  So an email list is what you need.  And there's no better way to build this than at a convention.  When people meet you face to face, they get interested in what you're doing.  They're usually not ready to buy anything because they want to keep checking you out.  So they're willing to give you their email address for you to tell them.  I made the mistake of tying it to the treasure hunt.  While the hunt was fun and unique and best of all, made me stand out, it limited the number of people who signed up on the list; and many who would want to hear more later on never came back.

So the bottom line is it's best to find a way to have the attendees join your mailing list by doing something there at the booth that's fun and memorable, but they need to give you their name and email to do it.

Independent Book Review - Raiders!

Attention Bloggers Who Will Not Review Self-Published Books...

ATTENTION ALL BLOGGERS WHO WILL NOT REVIEW SELF-PUBLISHED BOOKS

I have mind-blowing information that may shock you, so hold onto your seats because this might get ugly.

YOU... YES, YOU... ARE SELF-FREAKIN' PUBLISHED!!!

That's right.  Every time you press that "Publish" button, guess what?  You have just self-published!  You have just committed the crime that all of us self-published authors have done which cause you to refuse to review our books!

Okay, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here's what I've witnessed online.

So I was looking for people to review my independently published books.  The traditional media largely ignored me because they're all in bed with the big corporate publishers.  Fair enough.  They're all part of the same family.  So I figure I'll go to my family, the community of people who are interested in independent publishing, i.e. the blogging community.  They're all self-publishers, so why wouldn't they give a chance to self-published books.

Now I expected many of them to not have the time to read my book.  There are a lot of independent authors and publishers out there, so if they're already full, I completely understand.  What I wasn't prepared for is this:

"No self-published books."

That's right.  BLOGGERS sticking their noses up to self-published books.  The hypocrisy here is amazing.  They want you to overlook every traditionally written newspaper, magazine, large format business, etc. to read their blogs, but they won't lower themselves to read your self-published writing.

So I have made a basic determination.  Any blog which says it will not read self-published material is not worth my time.  I even look for that policy first.  Because if they don't have time to help their fellow independent artists, then I have no time for them.

My Big Push

This year is my big push.  One can always say that every year is their big push, and New Year resolutions are as cheap as paper and dissolve as easily, too.  But this year is a true make or break year for me.

For one thing, it marks my 20 year anniversary in southern California.  I’ll have been here longer than I’ve ever been anywhere before.  And it’s getting a bit ridiculous having struggled for so long and still not having a career.  The film career didn’t really go anywhere, (you can read more about that in my blog “Tales of a Failed Filmmaker”,) so now it’s on to the writing career.  I don’t want that to linger in the same way, so I placed a limit on it.  Succeed at writing, (or one of my other two possible careers: video producing or gaming,) or choose another career on which to live.

Don’t get me wrong.  My writing will always be there, and I’ll always have a passion for games and videos; but if, at the end of this year, I’m still having to supplement my income with a “day job,” then I will at last admit that I cannot succeed financially in any of my passions.  I know that others can, and I know that it’s possible; and I’m hoping that I will number among them as I want to be able to finish work and be done.  I’d rather not have one career job in the day, and try to cram all my passions into the evenings and weekends.  I’d rather do them during the day and have my free time be mine; with my family and friends.  But I can’t live like this forever, so I have to make things work now or surrender.

This year will tell.  This blog will follow that journey as I put my books together and try to promote them.  First up is Two Gun Hart, (about Al Capone’s long-lost brother who was a Prohibition officer in Nebraska,) which is currently in pre-order and will become available to the public March 20^th.  I will be touring after that, then going on to Relic Worlds the rest of the year.  (Relic Worlds is about an anthropologist searching for long-last alien relics.)  If you follow along, you can see how it goes.  I’ll be talking about other areas of this push in my other blogs:

Jeff McArthur

Relic Worlds

Tales of a Failed Filmmaker

Command Combat

#promotions #presales #capone #blogs

Huffington Post Talks About the Shifting Landscape of Book Reviews

My mother sent me this wonderful article from the Huffington Post talking about the changing landscape not only of publishing, but of spreading the word regarding books; primarily through reviews.  They even bring up a topic I spoke on earlier; that of the need for bloggers not to ignore their own kind and review other self-published authors.

See it here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/19/self-published-book-reviews_n_3467890.html

Relic Worlds: Lancaster James and the Search for the Promised World Released

Yesterday at Wondercon I released Relic Worlds: Lancaster James and the Search for the Promised World.  It is the first primary book in the Relic Worlds series.  What I mean by "primary book" is that there are other Relic Worlds books out there, but this is intended to be the first in the series.  The Deep Beyond, which was released several years ago, is the prequel, and is intended to be read after someone knows the characters and understands it.  That novella gives insight into the characters before the main incidents in the primary story.

The Relic Worlds series follows the adventures of Lancaster James, an anthropologist scouring the ruins of long lost civilizations on distant planets in search of powerful artifacts they left behind.  He is trying to find out what happened to these alien races, why they disappeared, and to see if the same thing can happen to humanity.

In The Search for the Promised World, Lancaster is following the trail of the subter-Siguerans, a race who left a trail of clues behind as they made their way to a planet they believed was promised to them by their god.  He will have to compete with space pirates, street thugs, and corporate barons to get to his destination and learn the truth.

The book is currently available on the website, www.relicworlds.com, and on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Relic-Worlds-Lancaster-Search-Promised/dp/1499197020/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1398023946&sr=8-11&keywords=Relic+Worlds