Ideas for marketing a novel online?

[Superior Content Creation]

Despite the advice of a couple people here at the forums, I have decided to circulate my first novel as an ebook. I've already designed a basic site using wordpress and set it up to accept payments--I'm offering the first 145 pages free and then charging for the rest to be downloaded.

I thought some of the brilliant minds here might be able to suggest a few unique ideas for marketing this--seo is just not going to do it because I don't think a whole lot of people are online actively searching for a novel to read, and if they are, they are not searching for mine specifically. Well, not yet... In the near future, I plan to submit a copy to Kindle Books.

Anyone have suggestions for me? You can look at my site at www.thesmellofpines.info. Advice on the site is welcome too.

Thanks in advance,
dru-man

[JeremyHoover]

Target bloggers and reviewers who write/review in the niche your novel is in. Send them a free copy if they'll write a review.

Develop relationships on other forums where readers hang out. Promote your free giveaway in your signature file.

Get the email addresses of everyone who downloads your book and keep in constant contact with them, offering articles about how you wrote the book, why, maybe even a free short story or two. Include the buy link at the end of your email.

[JoMo]

Get some people to do reviews on your book, and then create review sites. You can market those review sites with key words you research that are based on your books content. I see what you are saying about SEO'n, but people may be interested in your book who are not actively looking for a book. they may only be interested in the subject matter, but you can hook 'em with some good promotional sites.


-joel

[slvrsrfr]

i think this is a hard slog and if you figure it our i'd love to know. i set my book up on lulu.com which works well for me. sales are in the toilet, but i haven't done a lot of marketing.

i've tried some youtube videos based on keywords related to my book, such as "stephen biko" etc, they got some good views, but no sales. you could try the standard route of writing articles based on long tail keywords related to phrases folks might search when looking to guy a new book to read. i've tried this too, but didn't get much success with that either.

paul coelho of "the alchemist" actually released that book as a russian version ebook with free download of the whole thing. and it apparently increased sales of his hardcover version.

i was going to try that, but i can't give it away free as an ebook through lulu. but something for you to consider?

i'll be keeping a close eye on this post 'cos i'd be interested too.

good luck,

jason

[Shannon Tani]

Is it available on Kindle? I'm not sure how to do that, but I think that it's possible. Kindle users are more likely, I think, to purchase novels in ebook format.

Love,
Shannon

[monopuff]

This is the kind of thing Twitter is made for. Get on there, join in the conversations. There are tons of authors, editors, and publishers from every different genre represented.

Contact blog owners and offer to write a guest post or do an interview is another great way to get exposure. My mother actually runs a paranormal romance blog and you would not believe the amount of exposure the authors get, they literally go on a "blog promotion tour" much like someone plugging a film / book would go on television talk shows.

Good luck!

[Superior Content Creation]

Originally Posted by slvrsrfr

i think this is a hard slog and if you figure it our i'd love to know. i set my book up on lulu.com which works well for me. sales are in the toilet, but i haven't done a lot of marketing.

i've tried some youtube videos based on keywords related to my book, such as "stephen biko" etc, they got some good views, but no sales. you could try the standard route of writing articles based on long tail keywords related to phrases folks might search when looking to guy a new book to read. i've tried this too, but didn't get much success with that either.

paul coelho of "the alchemist" actually released that book as a russian version ebook with free download of the whole thing. and it apparently increased sales of his hardcover version.

i was going to try that, but i can't give it away free as an ebook through lulu. but something for you to consider?

i'll be keeping a close eye on this post 'cos i'd be interested too.

good luck,

jason

I won't be putting all my energy into this right now--it was on the back burner but I had an extra couple days on my hands so I said what the heck I might as well throw the website together. Most of my time will still be focused on my projects more likely to bear profit.

There are a lot of stories of people increasing hard cover sales by releasing free ebooks. Stories of first novels becoming successful this way are certainly out there but it does not happen as often--I may consider giving it away for free, but releasing the first half and charging after the reader has been hooked seemed worth a go. I'll check out lulu.com. Thanks for relating your experiences.

[Superior Content Creation]

Originally Posted by monopuff

This is the kind of thing Twitter is made for. Get on there, join in the conversations. There are tons of authors, editors, and publishers from every different genre represented.

Contact blog owners and offer to write a guest post or do an interview is another great way to get exposure. My mother actually runs a paranormal romance blog and you would not believe the amount of exposure the authors get, they literally go on a "blog promotion tour" much like someone plugging a film / book would go on television talk shows.

Good luck!

Twitter--of course! I actually haven't used twitter at all yet, so this will be a good opportunity to learn how it works. Thanks!

[rhelaine]

you need to create a brand around you.

you can listen to the "on the page" podcast. they had someone talk about that subject a couple of weeks ago

[twright]

Maybe add some pictures to go with your text on your website.. like a guy that is hurt in the woods.. maybe someone would see the picture and peek there interest in how he got there..

Optionally: if money is not a motivation.. use a autoresponder and every week release another chapter or offer to speed up the experience for the one time price.

[slvrsrfr]

Originally Posted by dru-man

There are a lot of stories of people increasing hard cover sales by releasing free ebooks. Stories of first novels becoming successful this way are certainly out there but it does not happen as often--I may consider giving it away for free, but releasing the first half and charging after the reader has been hooked seemed worth a go. I'll check out lulu.com. Thanks for relating your experiences.

good luck, i wish you the best. both my wife and i are struggling to make headway with our books. she is more focused than i am on getting her book published. she's on blogs and twitter and forums.

she been hustling hard for about a year and a half. had sales of over 1000 so it's working.

but this is why i'm trying to get into im, develop some passive income...i don't need a lot and then get back to writing/publishing my other books. i've written 3 so far. only bdb is published.

so i totally understand your approach.

jason

[Superior Content Creation]

Originally Posted by rhelaine

you need to create a brand around you.

you can listen to the "on the page" podcast. they had someone talk about that subject a couple of weeks ago

You mean like a voice introduction on the site?

Thanks for all the ideas, everyone. And so quickly too. I think a lot of this could be effective.

[TrishOleary]

Wow your novel sounds very interesting. I would definetly have some review sites set up.
I really like the look of your sales page as well.

[Superior Content Creation]

Originally Posted by TrishOleary

Wow your novel sounds very interesting. I would definetly have some review sites set up.
I really like the look of your sales page as well.

Thanks! I'm really new at all this and I had almost no computer skills when I started, so that is good to hear. Gotta love wordpress!

[Superior Content Creation]

Originally Posted by slvrsrfr

good luck, i wish you the best. both my wife and i are struggling to make headway with our books. she is more focused than i am on getting her book published. she's on blogs and twitter and forums.

she been hustling hard for about a year and a half. had sales of over 1000 so it's working.

but this is why i'm trying to get into im, develop some passive income...i don't need a lot and then get back to writing/publishing my other books. i've written 3 so far. only bdb is published.

so i totally understand your approach.

jason

It's good to hear she's made some progress. Not the most profitable venture in the world, but I suppose that's not really what it's all about anyways, eh? Good luck on the passive income. By the way, what is the name of your wife's book? Maybe I'll google it. I checked out the link in your sig--looks like an interesting read.

[monopuff]

Since we seem to be brainstorming some good ideas here a few posts on this thread jogged this idea.

How about you set up an affiliate program and offer blog owners in your genre a hefty percentage to promote both on their site and to their list. I guess this is what a JV is.

The give and take is you will get less money for these sales, but will get to build a list of buyers that you can keep in touch with.. maybe give them sneak peaks, etc..

The possibilities are really endless when you get going

[Superior Content Creation]

Originally Posted by monopuff

Since we seem to be brainstorming some good ideas here a few posts on this thread jogged this idea.

How about you set up an affiliate program and offer blog owners in your genre a hefty percentage to promote both on their site and to their list. I guess this is what a JV is.

The give and take is you will get less money for these sales, but will get to build a list of buyers that you can keep in touch with.. maybe give them sneak peaks, etc..

The possibilities are really endless when you get going

Yeah, I'm not against giving up a percentage at all. As long as people continue to be as moved by the story as they have been, word of mouth should be good, so I figure the more it gets out there the better. I like a lot of the ideas here, and I plan to start implementing some of them. Building that list could be valuable as well when the next novel comes out or the memoir is finished.

[Don Schenk]

Dru-man,

I'm just curious. Did you happen to test several titles and subtitles for your book? Often time the title and subtitle can make or break whether anyone even considers looking at the book.

I remember John Caples writing about the Dale Carnegie "How To Win Friends And Influence People" book, they tested the original title "How To Save Your Marriage" against the title that won. Caples put a copy of the "marriage" Ad in one of his books.

You can use little adwords Ads to test various titles and subtitles quickly. You might find a really exciting, curiosity title.

:-Don

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by dru-man

Anyone have suggestions for me? You can look at my site at www.thesmellofpines.info. Advice on the site is welcome too.

Your text is too passive. You're going to lose people before they even get down to reading about the free download.

For example: "In The Smell of Pines, seventeen-year old Derek Patterson is engaged in his own staring contest with death."

How about: "In The Smell of Pines, seventeen-year old Derek Patterson engages in his own staring contest with death."

Or even: "In The Smell of Pines, seventeen-year old Derek Patterson engages in a staring contest with death."

The same for your opening paragraph: "The will to survive is an amazing force of nature. Some people stare into the dark eyes of death and find a voracious hunger for life, providing the strength to conquer challenges which seem beyond human ability. Others simply close their eyes, letting death wash over them, so disillusioned by life’s hardships they see no reason to hold on."

The first sentence is too passive. You need something with more impact, something active. The will to survive pushes, the will to survive drives, etc. "The will to survive is..." just does not engage the reader.

The other thing is that you start the paragraph with the premise that the will to survive is an "amazing force" but then the last sentence seems to contradict that. Where is the will to survive of the people that let death wash over them? Are the two extremes (some people fight for life and some just give up) what makes the will to survive amazing? If that's what you meant, I think you need to use a descriptor other than amazing. But, it strikes me as contradictory, because a person that gives in doesn't seem to have much of a will to survive.

I think you need to rework that opening. Make it more active, less contradictory. Or, if the contradiction was your intent, make that clearer.

The passive voice also shows up throughout your opening pitch. "His brother, Peter...was sent to prison..." "David was left alone..." Then, "Meanwhile, Peter is out of prison and on an unrelenting mission to settle unfinished business with his younger sibling..." How about "Meanwhile, Peter, recently released from prison, sets out on an unrelenting mission..." Or, "Released from prison, Peter relentlessly seeks his young sibling to settle unfinished business..."

I think you need to use the active voice more in your pitch in order to engage potential readers and draw them down to your download offer. Otherwise, I think they'll just tune out before they get that far down.

And, honestly, you should work on putting the active voice more into the novel itself before distributing it and trying to sell it. For example, this paragraph from your first page: "In one paralyzing moment his whole cranium was gripped with an agony beyond the reach of his imagination. It was as if a thousand miniature knives were digging razor points into his brain tissue while a giant hand clenched monstrous fingers around the base of his head and squeezed it like a grape."

How about something more active: "In one paralyzing moment, agony gripped his whole cranium, as though thousands of miniature knives dug razor sharp points into his brain tissue while a giant hand clenched monstrous fingers around the base of his head, squeezing it like a grape."

If you want to make the most of your effort, my opinion is that you really need to make sure the writing does not stand in the way of the story. As it is, the passive voice, which more or less creates unnecessary pauses and breaks the story flow, is not helping you, neither in the pitch nor in the opening of your novel.

[Superior Content Creation]

Originally Posted by Don Schenk

Dru-man,

I'm just curious. Did you happen to test several titles and subtitles for your book? Often time the title and subtitle can make or break whether anyone even considers looking at the book.

I remember John Caples writing about the Dale Carnegie "How To Win Friends And Influence People" book, they tested the original title "How To Save Your Marriage" against the title that won. Caples put a copy of the "marriage" Ad in one of his books.

You can use little adwords Ads to test various titles and subtitles quickly. You might find a really exciting, curiosity title.

:-Don

I am familiar with the technique you're talking about from Ferriss' description of it in The Four-hour Workweek, but I'm afraid the title is played on throughout the book and has been the title ever since I wrote the first chapter when I was seventeen. It could be changed, but I really don't want to unless people just have a hard time with it.

I wouldn't be against experimenting with the subtitle at all. Right now it is The Smell of Pines: A Long Walk in the Woods, but the subtitle isn't really shown on the website. It's on the ebook graphic, but you can't really read it. I'll look into this more. It could very well be worth it.

[Superior Content Creation]

Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert

Your text is too passive. You're going to lose people before they even get down to reading about the free download.

For example: "In The Smell of Pines, seventeen-year old Derek Patterson is engaged in his own staring contest with death."

How about: "In The Smell of Pines, seventeen-year old Derek Patterson engages in his own staring contest with death."

Or even: "In The Smell of Pines, seventeen-year old Derek Patterson engages in a staring contest with death."

The same for your opening paragraph: "The will to survive is an amazing force of nature. Some people stare into the dark eyes of death and find a voracious hunger for life, providing the strength to conquer challenges which seem beyond human ability. Others simply close their eyes, letting death wash over them, so disillusioned by life’s hardships they see no reason to hold on."

The first sentence is too passive. You need something with more impact, something active. The will to survive pushes, the will to survive drives, etc. "The will to survive is..." just does not engage the reader.

The other thing is that you start the paragraph with the premise that the will to survive is an "amazing force" but then the last sentence seems to contradict that. Where is the will to survive of the people that let death wash over them? Are the two extremes (some people fight for life and some just give up) what makes the will to survive amazing? If that's what you meant, I think you need to use a descriptor other than amazing. But, it strikes me as contradictory, because a person that gives in doesn't seem to have much of a will to survive.

I think you need to rework that opening. Make it more active, less contradictory. Or, if the contradiction was your intent, make that clearer.

The passive voice also shows up throughout your opening pitch. "His brother, Peter...was sent to prison..." "David was left alone..." Then, "Meanwhile, Peter is out of prison and on an unrelenting mission to settle unfinished business with his younger sibling..." How about "Meanwhile, Peter, recently released from prison, sets out on an unrelenting mission..." Or, "Released from prison, Peter relentlessly seeks his young sibling to settle unfinished business..."

I think you need to use the active voice more in your pitch in order to engage potential readers and draw them down to your download offer. Otherwise, I think they'll just tune out before they get that far down.

And, honestly, you should work on putting the active voice more into the novel itself before distributing it and trying to sell it. For example, this paragraph from your first page: "In one paralyzing moment his whole cranium was gripped with an agony beyond the reach of his imagination. It was as if a thousand miniature knives were digging razor points into his brain tissue while a giant hand clenched monstrous fingers around the base of his head and squeezed it like a grape."

How about something more active: "In one paralyzing moment, agony gripped his whole cranium, as though thousands of miniature knives dug razor sharp points into his brain tissue while a giant hand clenched monstrous fingers around the base of his head, squeezing it like a grape."

If you want to make the most of your effort, my opinion is that you really need to make sure the writing does not stand in the way of the story. As it is, the passive voice, which more or less creates unnecessary pauses and breaks the story flow, is not helping you, neither in the pitch nor in the opening of your novel.

Thanks for the points. I see what you're saying about the contradictions of the will to survive as a force of nature. I think I will need to make some changes there. As far as the language goes, some of what you have said I agree with while some not so much. If you plan to continue reading and would be interested in giving more criquique, I'd be glad to send you a download of the entire copy and an email address for you to send your thoughts to. PM me if you're interested. I'll take all the help I can get.

[jacktackett]

Dru-Man - I recommend you read dan poynter's self-publishing manual.

Self publishing fiction, except for poetry, is definitely a touch row to hoe - but is doable, Christopher Paolini's Eragon series is an excellent example.


With both the self publishing and the ebook slant could make for an effect PR campaign. I would definitely suggest you launch a PR campaing, especially in your local area. Most venues are in need of local talent - like newspapers and radio. In fact you could provide interviews to any such organization. I would definitely recommend thinking about a general PR campaign.

Good luck!
best,
--Jack

[dndoseller]

Originally Posted by dru-man

seo is just not going to do it because I don't think a whole lot of people are online actively searching for a novel to read, and if they are, they are not searching for mine specifically.

"new novel" gets 27,100 searches per month on Google. What you think is apparently incorrect.

[Superior Content Creation]

Originally Posted by dndoseller

"new novel" gets 27,100 searches per month on Google. What you think is apparently incorrect.

Yes, I actually did a little keyword research after I made that statement and found the same thing. Thanks for pointing it out. It still leaves some speculation about how to grab that traffic, but I think there are ways to get it done.

[gianne2705]

That was the competition in this market all about.People might look for novels but they will prefer to read it at home with their spare time.Just like on a book where you can read in a few hours stop then read again.

[cimbah]

I have to be honest with you, I read A LOT of books (or at least I did before getting into IM) and the thought of reading a novel on a computer screen totally turns me off. From the perspective of a person who loves to read, there's something to be said about lying in bed or curling up in a chair with a good book!

[Superior Content Creation]

Originally Posted by cimbah

I have to be honest with you, I read A LOT of books (or at least I did before getting into IM) and the thought of reading a novel on a computer screen totally turns me off. From the perspective of a person who loves to read, there's something to be said about lying in bed or curling up in a chair with a good book!

I completely agree--I'm the exact same way. That's why when established authors give away free ebook versions of their novels it only increases the sale of the print books. Still, it is a model that has worked for some and I think worth a shot.

[Anthony J Namata]

This is a VERY interesting thread. I'm putting the finishing touches to my first novel, and have already started penning my next. If I were you I would put it up on lulu. They have both paperback and digital download options on the site, and a built-in option to download a sample of the book however long you want that to be. But most of all, Lulu has lots of traffic and an SEO system that can link keywords from your book to the engines. Just go take a look at Self Publishing - Lulu.com

Oh, and you can also giveaway free bookmarks at bookstores to promote the book. Just stand in the street outside a bookstore and hand them out to people entering and leaving the store. Or if the store will allow you to leave them at the till, you do that!

Best of luck!

Anthony

[clubvikram]

Originally Posted by dru-man

Despite the advice of a couple people here at the forums, I have decided to circulate my first novel as an ebook. I've already designed a basic site using wordpress and set it up to accept payments--I'm offering the first 145 pages free and then charging for the rest to be downloaded.

I thought some of the brilliant minds here might be able to suggest a few unique ideas for marketing this--seo is just not going to do it because I don't think a whole lot of people are online actively searching for a novel to read, and if they are, they are not searching for mine specifically. Well, not yet... In the near future, I plan to submit a copy to Kindle Books.

Anyone have suggestions for me? You can look at my site at www.thesmellofpines.info. Advice on the site is welcome too.

Thanks in advance,
dru-man

yup, indeed the novel can be marketed in a real nice way. you search for good blogs, where they are general novels, or the blogs which discuss the subject of your novel, make good press releases, target some good forums to tell others about it, and i would really suggest that you optimize the blog as well, so that you can market keywords, so that people looking for the particular subject can get a know how of your blog and book as well...

[Superior Content Creation]

Originally Posted by Anthony J Namata

This is a VERY interesting thread. I'm putting the finishing touches to my first novel, and have already started penning my next. If I were you I would put it up on lulu. They have both paperback and digital download options on the site, and a built-in option to download a sample of the book however long you want that to be. But most of all, Lulu has lots of traffic and an SEO system that can link keywords from your book to the engines. Just go take a look at Self Publishing - Lulu.com

Oh, and you can also giveaway free bookmarks at bookstores to promote the book. Just stand in the street outside a bookstore and hand them out to people entering and leaving the store. Or if the store will allow you to leave them at the till, you do that!

Best of luck!

Anthony

I'm glad this thread has been getting so much response--I was a little unsure whether there would be interest, but it seems a lot of warriors are are curious about marketing novels online. Thanks for the tips! You're the second one who mentioned Lulu, so I'm on my way over right now.

[slvrsrfr]

thanks for inquiring dru. here's her link. i loved it (of course i'm biased). it's an adventure novel about ancient egypt exploring the technologies that gave the egyptians there ability to create the pyramids etc.

Secret of the Sands - The official homepage of authors Rai Aren and Tavius E.

feel free to contact her, she's been very generous with her suggestions to fellow authors on some of the forums she's on.

jason

Originally Posted by dru-man

It's good to hear she's made some progress. Not the most profitable venture in the world, but I suppose that's not really what it's all about anyways, eh? Good luck on the passive income. By the way, what is the name of your wife's book? Maybe I'll google it. I checked out the link in your sig--looks like an interesting read.

[Superior Content Creation]

Update: I've sold two copies of the eBook so far and recieved one $20 donation, and I haven't implemented any marketing tactic besides starting a group on Facebook. Was one of those purchasers a fellow warrior? lol

To be fair, the donation and one of the purchases were from people I knew in high school, so....There have also been four downloads of the free version since yesterday, which actually comes out to a really good conversion ration considering the traffic I've got right now. I haven't tracked the total number of free downloads...ooops. I guess I better upgrade the sight and start capturing emails.

[slvrsrfr]

if someone's bought your novel. and i think you have paypal on there, then you have their email.

not that they've necessarily opted in but you could always send a friendly inquiry if they'd like to be kept up to date?

jason

[Superior Content Creation]

Originally Posted by slvrsrfr

if someone's bought your novel. and i think you have paypal on there, then you have their email.

not that they've necessarily opted in but you could always send a friendly inquiry if they'd like to be kept up to date?

jason

Yeah, I have the emails for those that purchased, but I forgot to capture the emails for the free downloads.

[Superior Content Creation]

So, for those of you using Lulu--do you retain full rights to the work when you publish with Lulu? I think Jason mentioned something about not being able to distribute for free because he was using them. Can you still offer the book on your own site? Can you still submit to Kindlebooks and other competitors--what about making deals with a print publisher?

[Anthony J Namata]

Originally Posted by dru-man

So, for those of you using Lulu--do you retain full rights to the work when you publish with Lulu? I think Jason mentioned something about not being able to distribute for free because he was using them. Can you still offer the book on your own site? Can you still submit to Kindlebooks and other competitors--what about making deals with a print publisher?

Yes, you can do all of the above. In fact, print publishers are likely to find YOU through Lulu because they GO there to look for new authors.

[slvrsrfr]

Originally Posted by dru-man

So, for those of you using Lulu--do you retain full rights to the work when you publish with Lulu? I think Jason mentioned something about not being able to distribute for free because he was using them. Can you still offer the book on your own site? Can you still submit to Kindlebooks and other competitors--what about making deals with a print publisher?

and when i got on board you could get automatically onto amazon through them as well.

it's a very easy process. and yes you definitely keep all of the rights for yourself.

jason

[Katie Rich]

I really like this idea. Could I critique a little? on my pc, the headlines and background are a little blurry. The white headline text is a bit 'thin' and not good on the eyes. Might just be my pc though! Twitter and ebook reviews should help with distribution. And the title makes me want to read it!!

[Superior Content Creation]

Sure--thanks for the critique. I agree about the headlines and background being a little blurry--I don't think it's just your pc. I guess I was just being a little lazy. I think it's the program I used to put the image together. I'll try to do some work on it after I'm done working on my cover for Lulu. Thanks a lot--I'm glad the title appeals to you!


By the way, it looks like I can't give any more "thanks" on this thread--it appears I've overdone it already. I wasn't sure if there was a limit, but I always like to show my appreciation to people who contribute. Thanks again to everyone for all the great stuff!

[Tracey_Meagher]

Have you thought about making it into an audio book and putting it for sale on itunes? I don't know much about this but it could be worth looking into. The is huge potential in this market.

[Superior Content Creation]

Hmmmmm...I like it. I've expiremented with dublit.com a little--mainly poetry. In the past, I've been told I've got a bit of a monotone going on, so if I was going to do this I'd probably want to hire a voice.

[uzomaeze]

What you have done is the best deal offering a certain chunk of the ebook for free, you can also use face book to advertise your book or promoting it there, set up a fan base page for the book, you can integrate that aspect on your website, and also including it in the 145 pages you offered for free, ask readers to follow you both on twitter and facebook, by so doing you are actually building a viral community which will spread the word about your book, in all good luck

[ken_p]

i am not a big ebook fan, so i have no idea, but i took a look at your site, and i really like the content,the only thing thats bothering me is the background. its really disturbing if you are trying to read...

[Jon Steel]

That's a pretty solid book summary. Honstly, however, to market such will take strategy. I would start by going to online book clubs, reading blogs, and author sites. The first two are self explanatory, however, if you contact other authorts (and this is your first novel) maybe you can convince them to back it and send an offering out to their "fan" mailing list...

Good luck to you - I hope everything works out...

By the way, I don't like your website or your book cover at all. You may want to hire a professional to dress that up a little better for you...

[Superior Content Creation]

Originally Posted by uzomaeze

What you have done is the best deal offering a certain chunk of the ebook for free, you can also use face book to advertise your book or promoting it there, set up a fan base page for the book, you can integrate that aspect on your website, and also including it in the 145 pages you offered for free, ask readers to follow you both on twitter and facebook, by so doing you are actually building a viral community which will spread the word about your book, in all good luck

Thanks for the good wishes. I've already got a facebook group going, and I plan on getting twitter going too. A lot on my plate right now, but I'm on it. How do I go about integrating it with the webpage? I'll look into it.

Originally Posted by ken_p

i am not a big ebook fan, so i have no idea, but i took a look at your site, and i really like the content,the only thing thats bothering me is the background. its really disturbing if you are trying to read...

Thanks for checking out the site. I felt the same way when I first put the site together, worrying that it might be too busy, but besides one comment earlier about some blurriness, no one has mentioned it. I'm glad you pointed it out; I think the site is going to need a little bit more revamping. Do you think it was distracting because the background image isn't very clear, or do you just think the image is altogether too much?

[Superior Content Creation]

Originally Posted by Jon Steel

That's a pretty solid book summary. Honstly, however, to market such will take strategy. I would start by going to online book clubs, reading blogs, and author sites. The first two are self explanatory, however, if you contact other authorts (and this is your first novel) maybe you can convince them to back it and send an offering out to their "fan" mailing list...

Good luck to you - I hope everything works out...

By the way, I don't like your website or your book cover at all. You may want to hire a professional to dress that up a little better for you...

Yeah, the marketing will definitely take some focus. My focus is spread out a little right now, so I'll work on this when I have time from my other projects, but I think if I applied all the different tactics on here I might get some readership. I don't have the funds to hire a graphics guy right now, but perhaps I can expiriment with the software more and see if I can improve. Cheers

dru-man

[europromotional]

there might be several advices available for successful online marketing campaign. but Promotional Products can offer you some good mode to make money as a solid marketing tool.

[Alexa Smith]

I would definitely put the "Click here to download the first 145 pages free" prominently at the top of the page, rather than discreetly at the bottom. I would imagine that anyone willing to buy a novel as an e-book and read it on-screen (this excludes me) would be willing to download 145 pages of it free.

(I'm having difficulty understanding why you're doing it only this way, rather than also publishing it through something like Author House or Create-Space so that people can buy it from Amazon, which would surely produce a lot less resistance and far more sales? But I suppose this is off-topic to this thread, strictly speaking).

[Superior Content Creation]

Thanks for the tip on re-locating the download link. I think that's a good idea. As for publishing through different mediums, I plan on doing it in more ways than just this one. I am currently setting up an ebook on Lulu, and I plan to submit to Amazon as well (as long as Amazon is fine with having it on different platforms). I know so little about this that I didn't know anything about Author House or Create-a-Space, but I'll surely look into this now. As I mentioned before, this project was on the back burner but I had some time on my hands so I threw up a site real quick.

Cheers,
dru-man

Here are some tips to generate buzz:

*submit the free pages to free e-book directories.just make it compulsory to optin before they are able to download.

*comment on other prominent blogs in your niche and put a link to your site.

*contact ezineowners in your niche(you can find them by typing"your niche+ ezines in the google search) and propose JVs.at least some of them will accept your request.