Promo For Ebooks: when, if and how to make it worthwhile.

Do novella's sell well? As a reader I never buy them because more often then not they irritate me becuase they are so short and for $1 more I could have gotten double the length.

I suspect it helps to stay within a range of a given subgenre. In other words, get known for writing m/m books or paranormal books or comedy books or whatever. With that in mind, I'd edit "write more books" to "write more books in the same general subgenre." I see a lot of people taking a scattergun approach, and I think there's a really good reason why major publishers pigeonhole their bestselling authors (because it works, in terms of satisfying reader expectations), and we could benefit from that practice, even if it's self-imposed.

I think it MIGHT, not sure on this, and it depends on the execution (badly done, it'll backfire like a belabored and self-consciously told joke), but it might also be a useful tool to have a really good catchphrase that people will remember and that defines the subgenre an author is working in.

Actually, both suggestions relate to branding, and I do think that, over the long term, branding yourself (no, not that way) is a type of promotion that has some potential benefits.

JD

Lila asked: Do novella's sell well?

The short answer is yes. So do short stories, however it takes a lot more sales of a short at $1.99 to make the same as a novella at $3.99. The biggest problem I have with novella length is the constant requests for a second book because they want more. Other than that, my experience is that novella's sell well.

Jan wrote: I suspect it helps to stay within a range of a given subgenre.

I agree and yet disagree. I'm one of those you could classifiy as 'scattergun'. My paranormals sell better than my contemporary's, but I still have contemporary's I want to write so I will likely do so, however, I will write more paranormals in the long run because that's what people want.

Veinglory wrote: People have been talking about branding catch phrases.

I think if you are going to brand something it should be your name. That is what's splashed on each and every cover you have and trying to get people to remember an author by anything else is most likely a waste of time. Having said that, I think you should find a phrase for your web presence, simply because your website is a marketing tool and from a marketing standpoint a catch phrase won't hurt.

You may be right about the catchphrase. I've seen some that I thought were cool and catchy and that worked (and others that made me gag), but in retrospect, I can't remember any of the ones I liked, just that I liked some, so that doesn't bode well for their usefulness.

But by branding, I mostly meant the name, except that it has to have a meaning or definition. And that's where it helps to have some focus. Sort of like, "Oh, Michelle, she writes books about ...." Or "Oh, that Michelle is wonderful; her books are always so ...." If you can figure out what goes in place of the ellipses, then that's your brand: Michelle = ..... And the idea of the catchphrase, I think, is to encapsulate that definition, offer it to the reader, so the reader doesn't have to come up with it herself. Except it only works, if the reader agrees, I suppose.

The most extreme example of this kind of branding working well is Nora Roberts. Her name means "traditional romance." And her alter ego of JD Robb means something slightly different. Or with Jayne Ann Krentz, her real name means "contemporary romance with a little bit of suspense," and her Amanda Quick name means "historical romance with a little bit of suspense," and her ... oh, heck, I've lost it, her other pen name ... means "sf/f romance with a little bit of suspense."

Anyway, to maximize the promotional efforts, it has to be good to have the name = a type or style or quality of book. Not necessarily good for the writing muse, but good for marketing.

JD

The 'catch phrase' I use on all my blurbs is Experience the Unexpected. This came about because several reviewers commented on the unexpected twists my novels take and fan comments on the joy of being surprised by my unexpected twists and turns. Hence -- Experience the Unexpected.

However, while my logo on the entrance page of my site has this 'catch phrase' my site is built around the word Unforgettable.

I don't know if this is good or bad ~grinz~ I just liked the way the site worked with that word splashed across the top.

This probably doesn't clear up the muddy waters of 'catch phrases', sorry.

veinglory said:

I am thinking pver what Mrs Giggles said about not going with every epublisher out there. I do focus on two but am scattered around many others. I think she has a good point about settling in and having most of your work in one (or two) places.

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I agree. I'm happy where I am now and don't really need to branch out more, although I'm still thinking of subbing something to Samhain and Virgin Black Lace because their books are different from what EC does.

But I do see writers who seem to be with so many ebook publishers and I wonder if it's a good idea or not. I guess the idea is that some publishers have loyal readers who always buy from them. If they buy your book and like it, they may seek out your other books with other publishers, so you're broadening your base. I just don't know if it works.

I think she has a good point about settling in and having most of your work in one (or two) places.

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I'm not as productive a writer as some, so my plan has always been to stick with one publisher primarily (at least for novella and longer, but short stories go elsewhere b/c LSB doesn't publish short stories).

I'm wondering, though -- how do readers hunt for books, anyway? If they buy them from fictionwise.com, they may not be particularly aware of the individual epublishers, and it doesn't matter which epub has your book. But if they buy them from the publishers directly, and there are at least twenty or so e-romance e-publishers, I'd have to think that readers tend to have two or three such epubs that they're more likely to check out, at least on a regular basis, rather than hitting all twenty every week/month/whenever. In that case, what are the chances that a reader who finds your book at Publisher A is going to even think to look at Publisher B and C and D for other books by you, rather than assuming that all your books are listed in Publisher A's directory of "books by author"?

Just rambling and wondering here. I really don't know. Maybe no one does. And I'm trying to exclude any other PR the writer does. Let's assume the author has no website or blog or bookmarks or any of the other stuff. In that case, is the author better off to release, say, four books with Publisher A, or two with Publisher A and two with Publisher B, or some other combination? And take Ellora's Cave out of the equation, since most would agree that, given their sales numbers, all four with EC would be better than anything else. But assuming the publishers are roughly on an even playing field, then what? One pub (or two for EV) or bunches? When and why and where?

Oh, man, just what I needed: something new to obsess about.

JD

I've found this thread and the other one about ebook promo quite interesting and helpful, since at times I've gotten worried when I see what other authors are doing to promote their books. From the responses I've seen, it seems like the best promotion is writing more books and building up name-recognition. But I'm wondering if there is any other form of promotion that ebook authors have found worthwhile. I have a website that gets regular traffic from my time writing fanfiction, but other than that I'm not sure what I could or should do to promote my books. I'm naturally rather lazy but I'm willing to do promotion work if it genuinely translates into sales.

It seems like reviews aren't always very helpful. Are there any reviews/reviewers that you find worthwhile--either in intrinsic value or in resulting sales? The same with ads--are any ads worthwhile in your collective experience? Is blogging worth doing? Bookmarks/pens/other such things? Conferences?

I suppose it's hard to judge with any accuracy how much promotion activities translate into sales, but is there any specific form of promotion that any of you are really glad you've done?

veinglory said:

I have been looking at what attracts people to my webste. Now, of course--I do not know how many buy books and only a minority of romance purchasers even look at author websites, but....

Links from popular blogs can bring hundreds of hits a day. But they need to be real, substantial mentions of your work done by the blogger out of personal interest.

Good keywording brings a lot of people in from search engines.

I am thinking pver what Mrs Giggles said about not going with every epublisher out there. I do focus on two but am scattered around many others. I think she has a good point about settling in and having most of your work in one (or two) places.

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I think if you are published multiple places, and people find their way to your web site from there, you can send them to all the places you are published. It broadens your market penetration.