One Catch-22 of Internet Marketing For Authors
By Seth Mullins
When I became a published author, little over a year ago, I realized that my publisher would be doing next to nothing to push my book. So I started researching ways of doing my own promotion. I read about preparing press releases, doing book signings, methods for approaching that various media.
Somewhere along the line, I began to have more sober thoughts. Wait! I dont even own a car. What am I gonna do, hitchhike around on an authors tour? And most authors dont get offered interview spots on T.V. and Radio unless their book is ALREADY a bestseller or unless the topic theyre writing about ties in with some current and news-worthy event.
Basically, the tried-and-true methods of book promotion were beyond my means or just not feasible. No one wanted to review my book because I was an unknown author (!) The editors of the local papers and the folks at the college radio never replied to me.
Then the idea hit me: I could reach as many people on the internet, and not even have to leave my house. From that time on, I devoted hours to traversing the web. I participated in discussion forums, submitted my title to book lists like IBLIST, wrote and posted free to reprint articles with attached authors bio and links to my website on AuthorsDen. And on that site I posted a full bio, links to my book page on my publishers site, and sample chapters.
Some weeks as many as a hundred people would visit my site, and a dozen would read my excerpts. This went on week by weekover a years time.
How many books did I sell as a result of this (not including other efforts)? I could count them on my fingers. So what happened there?
Heres my hypothesis, and it has to do with the average persons perception of the web. See, to an author it seems a natural place to be exposed and generate sales. But to others, its a wide ocean of FREE information, a kind of cyber-library. My guess is that my visitors read through my sample chapters and enjoyed them.
Then they moved on, continuing to browse the endless field of free-to-view content that will forever come-hither in response to their keystrokes.
Seth Mullins is the author of Song of an Untamed Land. Visit his complete blog at http://www.writingup.com/blog/sethmullins
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