How can I get my books to sell?

[JinkiesFarie]

I already have it published, created a deviantart account and a blog promoting as best as I can. But nothing seems to really be making it fly off the shelves. I've had 12 people download samples, but no actual purchasing of the book. What am I doing wrong?

 

[PennLady]

You really thought it would fly off the shelves? There's a lot of stuff out there. Do you have a Facebook page, or one for your pen name? You can talk about it there, or on Twitter, or any forums where you may be a member. There's no magic formula.

 

[Stella_Omega]

if you write about D/s, you could promote some by hanging out on fetlife. there's a group there called "litsters unite" and lots of groups for petplay, or whatever else you write about.

 

[JinkiesFarie]

No I didn't think it'd literally be flying off the shelves, but I thought it'd have at least one buyer

 

[TxRad]

No I didn't think it'd literally be flying off the shelves, but I thought it'd have at least one buyer

Call your mom.

Promotion is harder than writing by a very long shot. It takes more time and more work unless you have a publishing house or an agent behind you.

 

[seekingmalefwb]

Give BJs with each sale?

 

[lovecraft68]

I already have it published, created a deviantart account and a blog promoting as best as I can. But nothing seems to really be making it fly off the shelves. I've had 12 people download samples, but no actual purchasing of the book. What am I doing wrong?

A nicer cover would be a big help. You need something a little more appealing, that cover does not scream sexy to me.

Also your description is very short. Granted SW only gives 400 characters for the short desc. which is a bitch to work with, but you can do an unlimited longer one and you did not.

I would edit it and add a longer more intriguing description, that plays up the erotic aspect.

 

[lovecraft68]

Give BJs with each sale?

Jeez, go back to the personals will ya?

 

[PrincessErin]

.....

 

[R_Percival_Shackleford]

you know, the quality of your writing and its marketability have surprisingly little in common. to be blunt, a turd would outsell shakespeare if it was polished enough: marketing is a whole art of its own.

 

[Firebrain]

Things a self-published author needs to succeed:

1) A professional-looking book (good cover, careful editing etc)
2) Solid distribution: upload to Kindle directly, upload to All Romance Ebooks directly, and use Smashwords for iBooks, Nook etc (as you are).
3) A book which is packaged in such a way that the market understands what it is at a glance--for erotica, that's a sexy cover--and sold at a fair price. I would not charge much for your first title.

Ideally:
1) A backlist of several titles, preferably with at least one available for free. One free title will (hopefully) climb the Amazon charts and drastically improve your visibility. A self-pubber's backlist is one of their biggest marketing tools, and it may mean you don't see much in the way of a sale until you have several books.

And then preferably:

1) Review copies distributed to review blogs (there are hundreds of these. It will take a long time to trawl them and write requests, but they increase your visibility and give you google search results). If people agree to review your book, ask if you can guest-spot on their blogs and provide giveaway copies. Yes, give your book away. With any luck, they'll tell people on Goodreads and Twitter etc how good it is.
2) Professional-looking website (can be done on a blog site)
3) Solid social network e.g. Twitter with plenty of followers. It can take a year or so to build a useful network of people. Twitter allows readers to find you. (Facebook is a bit of a mute point for erotica, I feel. People tend to have family and colleagues on facebook, and few want to publicly admit to liking smut. You'll have more luck elsewhere).
4) Goodreads presence and stats (reviews and Twitter will help this greatly). Goodreads is a place where readers look for new book suggestions, and a strong presence there fuels your sales.

Finally: a great big dollop of luck. With all due respect, it seems you're not in possession of much of that, so I'd have a go at some of the things above.

 

[sr71plt]

I think Firebrain gave a great, comprehensive response.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Its my experience that when writing is really good people gotta have it, one way or anuther.

Does it thrill you? Is it so good you gotta show it to everbody, like a check from Publishers Clearing House or your date with Lady Gaga?

 

[sr71plt]

Its my experience that when writing is really good people gotta have it, one way or anuther.

The issue is how are they even going to know about it?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Almost every writer knows when his wares are good. What puzzles writers are the mediocre stuff he cranks out.

 

[sr71plt]

Almost every writer knows when his wares are good. What puzzles writers are the mediocre stuff he cranks out.

You pulling these out of your nightstand drawer, James? And en route did you forget the topic of the thread?

 

[lovecraft68]

Firebrain put out a great list of things to do.

End of the day however, the e-book market is such a vast place that there is a lot of shit luck involved.

 

[sr71plt]

I don't think a study of the New list bears that out.

I'd note where their stories fell on today's first contest list--but there might be (and probably should be) a different dynamic running for listing of contest entries--to keep it on as even a keel as possible.

 

[lovecraft68]

I don't think a study of the New list bears that out.

I'd note where their stories fell on today's first contest list--but there might be (and probably should be) a different dynamic running for listing of contest entries--to keep it on as even a keel as possible.

Think you're posting this on the wrong thread.

 

[sr71plt]

Yep, it should have been posted to the "Story Categories" thread.