This Month's Writing Challenges - April

What a week!

This week's writing challenge has been marketing the new book sufficiently to coincide with my KDP Select book promotion which started today.

What a lot of self-publishers do not realise is that once you have written your book the real work of getting it to sell begins. Through trial and error when releasing a new book you will find which methods work for you, and your niche.

Try and remember that the marketing methods other authors have used may not work well for you. Every reader is different, and your method of courting them will need to be adjusted. Similarly, using social media to promote your book may not work for you - social media platforms are now overly saturated with internet marketers trying to sell products in a social arena. There is an etiquette connected to social media which many people do not observe, which is a big mistake.

It can take a long time to attract traffic, attention, interest, and ultimately sales through using social media. This is partly because people need to feel that they can trust you before they will consider buying your stuff, so you have to create a situation where you can build a relationship with them in order to sell to them at a later date. Add to this the fact that sales from social media participation is minimal, sometimes as low as 4% of sales are generated from social media.

Also of note, if you decide to use social media to generate sales for your products or services, do ensure that you read the terms and conditions of using the website, as often there are no affiliate links allowed, which scuppers your return on investment, and revenue. Further, consider that the most active website in social media, Facebook doesn't allow affiliate or "follow" links unless you create a paid advertisement with the Facebook Ads Team.

With these obstacles, it can be understood why only 4% of a companies sales are generated through social media interaction. By all means, use your social media presence to attract traffic to your website. This is my method, and largely it works.

The takeaway message of this week is learn where to market your products and services, make connections or "fans" and nurture the relationship. Only after you have done all these steps, gently introduce your products and services. Provide value and your fans will be clamouring for your products and services.

Get my new book "One For The Money-The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy #1 at smashwords.com now for iPad, iPad Mini, iPod Touch, Kindle Reading Apps, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble Nook before publication at amazon.com for Kindle on May 27th.

One For The Money

The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy #1

Out now at amazon.com for Kindle and smashwords.com for iPad iBookstore Barnes and Noble Nook and Kobo

                                                        

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