Okay, so I haven't written in a while-- mostly because I've been
working on my next novel, but also because I didn't have enough to
say. But ha ha, now I do. Today I was planning on blogging about
how cool it was that I've finally had over 1000 copies downloaded
from Smashwords. And yes, I still think it's cool... although
actually selling 1000 copies would be even cooler. But the
other day, when I googled myself, strange as that sounds, I found my
book being offered on a couple of sites that aren't associated with
Smashwords at all.
Well, I moved pretty quickly from feeling confused to annoyed because
now if I want to change my book's price from free to $.99, like it is on
Amazon, I have to contact all these sites and hope they change it.
Okay... so that was the first thing that rushed through my head. But
then I decided that, since I'm not planning on charging for my book
(in fact, I'm trying to get it changed to free on Amazon as well)
then maybe I should look at this as free promotion. Which I guess it
is, but it's also a lesson-- a lesson on how making something free on
the Web can quickly spiral out of control. This is definitely the
only time I'll ever put a book up for free again. (I spent over
two years writing and editing Black Waters, and I actually
think it's worth something.) Now I know for a fact that there's no
way I would have anything close to 1000 downloads on Smashwords if
the book wasn't free. My Amazon numbers are closer to 100 than 1000,
and I'm only charging $.99! But still, I feel like I've lost control
of my product.
Since I'm definitely charging for the next book in my series, my hope
is that the people who read and liked the first book, will buy the
second. Sadly enough, this is my main marketing strategy because
nothing else I've tried has seemed to make a difference. Yes, I'm on
Twitter, and I do have a blog. For a while I also tried commenting
on other people's sites, but none of these activities really resulted
in more books being sold (or in my case sold/downloaded). I've even
had a few blogger reviews and interviews... but still. The only
thing that consistently boosts my sales are holidays. I get a lot
more Smashwords downloads and Amazon sales when people are stuck at
home. But that's certainly not the result of anything I've done, and
I bet a lot of other authors have noticed this too.
Anyway, I suppose the free thing has helped get my name out there
among the ever deepening crevasse of indie/self-published writers. Though the tough part is, it's hard to track your numbers if
you're not even clear where your book is. Boy do I still have a lot
to learn.