Hello and Happy Friday! This week has been filled with work, sick little ones, and trying to get a handle on what a self-publisher does for promotion. The current buzz is street teams, book bloggers and reviewers, for those of you who may be wondering. Should I do a post next Tuesday on what I've learned? Anyone interested?
Tonight I was looking for Amazon reviewers to request a review of Finding Meara, and stumbled upon a thread on the forum about a high ranking Amazon reviewer who is selling his reviews on his personal website. I didn't search to find the website to see if it was true, but I think someone else did verify the threads poster's claim. Between that, and the similarities between agents in traditional publishing and book bloggers in self-publishing--well, it's all kind of wearying. Since I'm not very good at requesting help and submitting my work to quality-measurers, I'm going to have to suck it up big time, or promotion isn't going to go well at all. I won't be buying any reviews, though. Promise!
On a positive note, Amazon has now promoted Finding Meara twice for me. I don't know how on the earth they are choosing my book to put in their "if you like Fantasy, you might like this..." e-mails. It's not like my sales are skyrocketing or I'm getting a zillion reviews. I'm glad they are though, because it's the only thing close to "real" marketing I've got going for me.
Let's see... Last week's funniest photo was:
And here are this week's photos!
| So, how bad is it that these birds remind me of my great-aunt and grandmother? |
| My eldest gets the same expression when someone scratches his back. |
I am obsessive about checking and double-checking before I send an e-mail for this very reason.
There you have it! I really can't decide. I have quite a tie going on between Carl, and the Bear Rug Cat. Don't make me choose!
Did you have a clear favorite, or did you have a tie this week?
Repoied to all.
ReplyDeleteGot it!
DeleteI love Carl, too, and wish him luck with the uncooperative red dot. But I have to choose the lion and "Replied to all." The fact it's a lion makes it twice as funny. Where do you find all these? They're awesome! Thanks for putting a big smile on my face every week, and good luck with marketing! :-)
ReplyDeleteI get them from I Can Has Cheeseburger. I know they don't mind me resharing. :) Sometimes I find them from other places, though, like e-mail, Facebook, etc...
DeleteThe dandelion one made me chuckle.
ReplyDeleteYup, do that post. I'm kinda interested in street teams. I haven't seen a lot about it. One self published writer/blogger I kinda follow does it, and my opinion of her book is that she published WAY to soon. So this is kinda my question.
What's your opinion on the street team thing. The little I've seen, it's people supporting people. Which is great. But if someone signs up to help you, you'd probably do the same in return. What if their book is crap. Not just something you maybe don't read, but something that really needs work. Would you be obligated to still help? And would you want to promote something that you really think so little of.
So I'm curious about your opinion about that. And just what you've found.
It's a deal. Let's see what I can come up with!
DeleteI love them all! LOL! Especially Carl, and the dandelions. I'm sorry the little ones have been so sick and you've been buried with Spring snows. You are so good at posts that explain how promos work that I think anything you wrote would be a true help for others.
ReplyDeleteI'll give it a try. I didn't know about book bloggers or the resources out there to find them. I also didn't realize how much like agents they are in weeding out books worth reading. Some of the comments/tweets I've read sound just like agents.
DeleteIt's a tie for me! The reply to all and that poor kitty questioning the bear rug idea. lol
ReplyDeleteIsn't it's poor face priceless. (the kitty) It really is worried!
DeleteLoved the dandelions, Lara. I want to be a dandelion. ;)
ReplyDeleteI would love to see more posts on your adventures in self-publishing. When H&C decided to take a break, your posts were something I was sorry we wouldn't be posting. I would love to read. I'm still staying open-minded about publishing options. For now, I'm still editing. Maybe I'm too comfortable editing- I feel like I've been doing it for eons, lol.
Love your posts. :)
My favorites are Carl and Replied to All. What a fun theme for your Friday posts, Lara! I think you've go the "self-promotion by not self-promoting" thing down. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tonia and Nicole, for stopping by. I don't know how much the photos help with promoting, but I sure like looking for them!
ReplyDelete