…just over ten years ago, this ol’ Scots Jurassic scribbler finished writing The Violin Man’s Legacy, my first Jack Calder crime thriller… frankly, I wrote it just to see if I could actually produce a book all on my own… then the scribbling addiction took over… now, a decade later, there are five Jack Calder titles on Auntie Amazon Kindle, with a sixth as Work-In-Progress… 100,000+ downloads of the eBooks makes all of my books bestsellers by the industry’s definition… along the way, there has also been a series of collections of my blog posts, a book of poetry, half a dozen ghostwriting assignments for autobiographies, two corporate commemorative anniversary books and nearly 1,800 blog posts… one of the most frequent questions I get asked from wannabe and existing fellow-authors is ‘How do you get your books out there?’… it’s a sum’times gruelling, but necessary part of a modern writer’s life that the bulk of the marketing and promotional activity has to come from the writer himself or herself… I learned early on that the virtual universe was the place to be… the social networks in all their glory and dread… a few years ago, I was invited to the Dubai Festival of Literature to speak on two platforms… one as a self-publishing author, and the other as a supposed social networking guru… let me disavow that latter notion… I am still learning that stuff… however, I did share with a room packed full of authors at the Festival how I used a handful of the social channels to propagate my books… thereafter I was persuaded to write a short guide on how I was doing it, SELF-PUBLISHING STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL SALES, which is also on Kindle… the long and short of it is that ‘building the platform’ (of followers) is so vital to the business of writing, that I implore any and all of you who are seeking to enjoy a reasonable uptake for your literary babies, start now, and work on it regularly… be a pal on the networks… help other authors by sharing about their work on Twitter and Facebook, and any other channels of your choice… as a self-publishing author, you have to work your asterisk off in the social networks… it is hard work, but well worth it… see yeez later… LUV YEEZ!
SELF PUBLISHING STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL SALES
ALL MY BLOG POSTS ARE FREE TO SHARE OR RE-BLOG SHOULD YOU SO WISH – BE MY GUEST
Thanks, Seumas! Yep, good advise to remember, it’s necessary to be present on social media! You are proof! Well-known & read by many followers. Happy Wednesday. 📚🎶 Christine
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Well said (ur, written). I hated the idea of putting myself (and my books/stories) out there in the social media universe. But surprise! I’ve made so many virtual friends by doing so. Blogging is my favorite, but it’s fun to connect (and promote, though I’m still shy about that part) on Instagram and FB and Twitter. But dang, it does take a LOT of time.
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