I’ve Published my book – So what do I do now?

Although in the midst of a tricky crowdfunding sell on my latest novel, ‘The Atlantis Deception,’ I have started to think about the processes to come – the copyediting; the proof reading; the advertising – should I put my eggs in the google advertising basket, Facebook ads, amazon ads, or maybe all three? How should I use Goodreads to its full advantage – and what about twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn? Is my website good enough? Are my blogs frequent enough – Is my content even worth reading?

At this point, with my meltdown in full swing, I turned off the computer and crawled under my desk.

I needed to get back to the basics and focus on the why as oppose to the, ‘just do it because everyone else is doing it.’ Forgetting about the pre-publishing bit, I know I need to throw myself into aspects of post publication marketing even now and I need a plan of attack. Without a focus and simply an aimless approach I will achieve nothing and probably just give up, disheartened, like hundreds of authors before me, by the enormity of the task. Even with a plan it still feels like I’m trying to break through a wall with a toothpick.

So what is important? What should I (and therefore you) be trying to improve as I hurtle into the world of publishing? I’ve come up with five target areas I can influence:

1. Cover Art
2. Teaser paragraph
3. Trailer
4. Reviews
5. Traffic

I’m linked to a publisher now and I still not certain how the cover art will be dealt with. That said I’ve still commissioned a local artist to generate some advertising posters to support the launch of the novel when it happens. Imagery is so important in this field and given we are artists ourselves, often overlooked. It is ironic that the phrase, ‘never judge a book by its cover,’ couldn’t be more wrong in the literary world – for the first time author (assuming the title pricks the interest of a reader) this is absolutely what our work will be judged on. If the cover does its job, the reader will then move onto the teaser paragraph. Test your cover image before revealing it to the world – if you are online only, ensure it is striking enough to work as an Amazon thumbnail. If you wouldn’t click on it yourself, go back to the drawing board.

I’ve included a couple of images John has created for me. If you like his style and would like to work with him, please drop me a line.

The teaser paragraph is your clincher, you’ve reeled in your potential reader with an interesting title and excellent art work – now you need to wow him and her with your ability to weave an interesting story. Similar to the cover art, you need to do the groundwork. Find out what works and what really doesn’t. Check out the number of hits you’re getting and dump accordingly. Once you hit on the winning formula your views to buys ratio should start to fly!

Item number three on the list is the book trailer. This is a new(ish) method of advertising to me and something I’ve had to create as part of my Unbound crowdfunding project. With little budget I’ve found this tough to engage with and although my trailer (uploaded to YouTube) is okay, an investment of (at most) two or three hundred pounds would make it amazing. Once published this is where my initial budget will be heading. There are so many thousands of books out there now and I believe this is a nailed on game changer and something that will help me stand out from the crowd. In case you are already at the point of requiring a book trailer, these are a selection of developers I have come across so far.

(under 1minute book trailer, around $250).

http://www.3dtree.net/ http://www.vimeo.com/user4056030 (usman-rafi@hotmail.com) http://ligastudio.webs.com/ http://www.mindofminnich.com http://www.pixelgenio.com/ http://pcledera.webs.com/ http://www.thedesigncrew.biz/

Lowest Price (Less than $150): http://redlotusproductions.wordpress

Reviews: This is where social media starts to come into play. Reviews are key (if you believe the hype, Google analytics and Amazon itself) to generating the next of my goals, traffic. Optimising your cover and teaser paragraph will not mean anything without traffic. First and foremost, try and make everyone you know to both buy your book and leave some kind of review. They should be truthful to some extent – we’ve all seen those self-published books with twenty or so five star reviews and they stand out like a sore thumb. That said they will at least move you along the path. It’s then down to begging and pleading (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn); giving away free copies, doing favours and swapping reviews with other authors in the same boat. With any luck over time enough reviews (hopefully good) will land on your plate for Google and Amazon to take notice. Then you’re away!

Once you set out your plan of action and allocate your budget appropriately, the publishing game suddenly doesn’t seem quite so complex. Maybe it’s even a game we can win. Just remember everything you do should be geared towards one thing – persuading readers to click your BUY IT NOW button!

I am still actively seeking pledges for my latest novel, ‘The Atlantis Deception’ which is on the road to being published by the crowdfunding publisher, Unbound. If you like Michael Crichton with a little Clive Cussler on the side, please check out the project at https://unbound.com/books/the-atlantis-deception/ and perhaps consider becoming a patron of the creative arts.