I’ve had a website for about 14 years. Initially, I used it as self-promotion regarding personal training and self-defense classes. Later, it became a catchall for stories and advice about riding motorcycles. Eventually, the stories grew in length and I began writing novels, so the site morphed into promotion and info about that.
A lot of the online advice about book promotion states that an author must have a website or blog, have an email distribution list, and aggressively hit social media. I have two problems with these suggestions: first, every single site I visit to get advice is trying to sell me something (services or software), and second, as an avid reader I’ve never visited an author’s website.
These days I buy most of my books on Amazon. My purchasing process is: I know the genre and look there, and if the cover looks intriguing, I’ll then read the product description, if that looks good, I’ll download the free sample, and finally, if the writing and story have grabbed me, I buy the book. Note that an author website or mailing list is not part of that process.
On Amazon, I can follow an author and receive a notification when they release a new book.
The point of this is that I’m thinking of closing down my website. In its place, I’ll up my advertising on Amazon and get involved with Bookbub, and use my Facebook author page to keep readers that want to follow me engaged.
Question 1) Am I not seeing some great benefit of having a website? Maybe my page sucks (it probably does), or maybe I’m not advertising the page presence properly. Thoughts?
Question 2) Amazon is the big dog in the pack, so advertising there is a no-brainer. Bookbub looks good, but I’ve not tried it yet. I’m on Goodreads, but don’t participate much. Any suggestions regarding on-line or retail sales platforms?
Question 3) Like many, I’d much rather spend my time writing than marketing. I’ve heard that getting several well-written books in active genres is really the way to increase exposure and sales. True or false?
Question 4) Engineers (as I was in a previous life) like to believe that a good product sells itself – but when we say that those in marketing snicker. I know (but hate it) that I have to work more on marketing, can anyone suggest classes or books that might help?
Thanks!
A lot of the online advice about book promotion states that an author must have a website or blog, have an email distribution list, and aggressively hit social media. I have two problems with these suggestions: first, every single site I visit to get advice is trying to sell me something (services or software), and second, as an avid reader I’ve never visited an author’s website.
These days I buy most of my books on Amazon. My purchasing process is: I know the genre and look there, and if the cover looks intriguing, I’ll then read the product description, if that looks good, I’ll download the free sample, and finally, if the writing and story have grabbed me, I buy the book. Note that an author website or mailing list is not part of that process.
On Amazon, I can follow an author and receive a notification when they release a new book.
The point of this is that I’m thinking of closing down my website. In its place, I’ll up my advertising on Amazon and get involved with Bookbub, and use my Facebook author page to keep readers that want to follow me engaged.
Question 1) Am I not seeing some great benefit of having a website? Maybe my page sucks (it probably does), or maybe I’m not advertising the page presence properly. Thoughts?
Question 2) Amazon is the big dog in the pack, so advertising there is a no-brainer. Bookbub looks good, but I’ve not tried it yet. I’m on Goodreads, but don’t participate much. Any suggestions regarding on-line or retail sales platforms?
Question 3) Like many, I’d much rather spend my time writing than marketing. I’ve heard that getting several well-written books in active genres is really the way to increase exposure and sales. True or false?
Question 4) Engineers (as I was in a previous life) like to believe that a good product sells itself – but when we say that those in marketing snicker. I know (but hate it) that I have to work more on marketing, can anyone suggest classes or books that might help?
Thanks!