A common
query:
I am an author and I independently published a book and I am looking for affordable ways to put my book in the hands of targeted audiences. If anyone has insight in this area, please, help a brother out.
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Self-published books do poorly on ebay, the publisher’s website, and the author’s own website.
Marketing a pay-to-publish book is damned difficult. Many of the avenues open to traditionally published authors are not available. Chain bookstores won’t host signings or carry copies (although they will order them for customers). Newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio don’t want your press releases and won’t do interviews. The library system won’t accept free copies. Writing- or book-related conventions won’t let you set up a sales or autograph table, don’t want you on their author panels, and forbid you giving away promotional material.
About the only marketing I’ve seen have any effect for self-published authors is active participation at forums and chats dealing with the subject of your book. Find your niche market and determine where online they hang out. Some sites may allow you to discuss your book *if someone asks about it* (but will ban you for bringing it up more than once). Some may allow a link to a point of sale in your profile, or to your blog or web-page which in turn links to a point of sale.
You’ll sell a few more copies than you might have, but overall, like most self-published books, regardless of quality, total sales will probably remain below 100 copies. More often, the number hovers somewhere around 2/3 to 3/4 of your total number of friends and family members. Quite a contrast with the thousands of copies which constitute minimally adequate sales from a conventional publisher.
I’m sorry not to have much hope to offer, but this is a path many have trod before you, with poor results.