Book Promotion Advice from Popular Indie Fantasy Author Joseph Lallo

Today I’ve got a guest post for you guys from fellow indie fantasy author Joseph Lallo. He’s had a lot of success with his fantasy series (The Book of Deacon is the first and is available for free at Amazon, Smashwords, and many other stores) — in fact, his series is usually outranking mine over at Amazon (not that I pay attention to such things… daily). I’m sure you’ll find some useful nuggets of wisdom in his post today.

Book Promotion Advice from Joseph Lallo

Hi everyone! Joseph Lallo here. When you are an indie author, getting the word out is tough, and why wouldn’t it be? You’ve spent countless hours trying to become a better storyteller and wordsmith, and now suddenly you need to be a marketing department. It seems like a cruel joke, doesn’t it? It can be a little daunting, and it was and remains one of the most difficult parts of the process for me. However, since The Book of Deacon (the first in my fantasy series) was first released I’ve found my way into some pretty great promotions. I’ve tried to distill the gauntlet of trials and errors into the lessons that I’ve learned along the way in the hopes that you’ll learn a bit without earning quite as many bumps and bruises as I did.

The first thing you’ll want to do is the groundwork, most of which should already be done if you’ve got a book you’re hoping to promote:

• Make yourself accessible. Have you ever been watching a commercial or a TV show and the announcer informed you that you can get something for free, only to go on to instruct you to send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to a P.O. Box in Alaska, then wait six to eight weeks? Have you ever taken advantage of something like that? I haven’t, because if you have to jump through hoops, it isn’t free, is it? No one likes a catch, so you need to do your best to remove as many catches as possible. Have your book available in every format someone could want. If you’re hoping to give it away to reviewers, always have at least one option that will put the book in their hands without having to sign up for any new accounts or install any new software. It is a simple thing, but it goes a long way to making your book more appealing to promoters. You’ll also want a web page, and it is also handy to have a presence on at least a few of the bigger social networks, because a familiar logo that will like/tweet/follow you is sometimes much more appealing than a plain old link.
• Have a media kit. In my spare time (Ha! Spare time!) I do game reviews and entertainment coverage for a website called Brainlazy.com. When an indie developer comes along asking me to talk about their new game, their chances of me actually doing so are phenomenally better if they have all of the basics bundled up for me already. It doesn’t take much: some art (book covers and author photos are traditional), a bio, a synopsis, a cluster of purchase links, and some contact info should do it. If you want to get really fancy, try putting together a press release. It just a one page summary of what you’re pushing with all of the key info: Date, title, description, accolades, contact info, and author bio. Trust me, when all it takes is a copy and a paste to talk about you, journalists are much more likely to do it. Don’t just blast them with the press release by itself, though. Introduce it in a human and reasonable way.

Once you’ve got your self set up to be promoted, the next step is to find places that will promote you. In my case, I’ve found that the most effective way to locate a place that you’d like your book to be promoted is to ask yourself a few questions:

• How do I find the books I like to read? If you are a writer, chances are you’re a reader as well. If you are an indie writer, chances are you’re a broke reader, so you have to be frugal in your quest to quench that thirst for reading material. Do you look at the free book lists? Well, it is one of the oldest bits of advice out there, and one of the first that I followed with The Book of Deacon, but making the first in a series free, or making a standalone book free for a limited time, is a great way to get a quick injection of readers. With any luck, those readers will like it, review it, and spread the word. GoodReads.com is another place to make sure your books are listed. Not only does it attract reviews, but a few retailers link goodreads reviews in their storefront.
• Whose opinions do I trust? I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that you probably read posts on an author’s site from time to time. Chances are very good that the author you read and follow has worked with other authors and bloggers in the past. What do you know about these people? Well, they are willing to work with people who write in the genre you prefer, and they are trusted and respected by your favorite authors. Sounds like just the sort of people who might be willing and able to give your books some exposure, don’t they? I have found that a great way to get a list of potential promoters is to visit the sites and twitter feeds of my favorite indie authors, find the sites that reviewed them, and jot down the contact info. Then visit the author sites of the other people those sites have reviewed, find the other sites that reviewed them, and repeat.
• How would I like to buy my books? Now, this is an interesting one. Obviously it means that you should do your best to have you books available in the markets and formats that you yourself prefer, but let’s go deeper. When I buy games these days, I often buy them as part of a bundle. Maybe it is a sale on Steam, or maybe it is the Humble Indie Bundle or one of its imitators. A year or two ago it was suggested to me by a friend that bundles might be a great way to sell eBooks, too. I agreed, and started digging around. Eventually I found my way to a site called StoryBundle. If you’re not familiar, here’s the deal. StoryBundle accepts submissions from indie authors of all genres. The folks running it take a look at the books and pick the best to gather together into themed bundles which will be offered for a short time at a price of the buyer’s choosing (anywhere from $1-$100). The books are sold without DRM and in the most flexible and popular formats. To encourage folks to contribute more than the minimum, a bonus threshold is set, usually about $1 per book, that rewards generous customers with a few extra books. Buyers can decide how much of their purchase price goes to the authors versus the site, and a single click can send 10% of your payment to one of two charities. By an amazing coincidence, the Indie Fantasy Bundle is running right now (until March 19th), and as an even more amazing coincidence, The Book of Deacon Trilogy is featured. What are the odds! Despite the fact that I’ve now been featured twice, please be aware that I don’t have anything to do with the site. They just like my writing, and I like their business model. There are plenty of other bundles out there, too. In the end, they can have easily the same impact as a free book promo, except you actually earn money.

By now, you should have an idea of some good ways to find places to promote you. Now you need to do your best to get them to do so. Here are a few tips to improve your odds:

• Be Interesting. I don’t mean that you need to cultivate some sort of absurd, over the top persona, but don’t be afraid to let some of your personality shine through in your communications. Like it or not, promotions are commercials for your books and your request for promotion is a commercial for yourself. In either case if you’re going to be making a commercial, make it one people will remember. Think of the band OK Go. A little creativity and a lot of enthusiasm go a long way.
• Be Helpful. Remember that unless you really hit it big, the people you’re asking to promote you are going to be people like you or me. They are doing the best they can with very limited time and resources. If you want them to promote you, don’t walk up to them with your hand out. Make an offer. Try to trade. Offer to, say, do a guest post. Maybe a post about different ways to get promoted… We’re getting a little meta here, aren’t we?
• Be Persistent. Now, this is very important. Being persistent does not mean being a pest. I’m not telling you that you should send three emails a day to each person on your list. In fact, I’m telling to absolutely avoid it at all costs. What I mean is that you should keep plugging away, and have a lot of irons in the fire. Keep track of which people have replied and which haven’t. Give them a few weeks to get back to you, and if they don’t, give them a nudge. If they don’t reply, move on. It is a great big internet, and there’s always another blog waiting for you.
• Be Gracious. Remember the people who help you, and do your best to help them back in any way you can. It pays to have friends. You never know who might get famous with a little extra push, and being one of the ones who helped them along is never a bad thing. Not only that, but the writing biz is fickle, and the people you pass on the way up are the same people you pass on the way down. You may need help again, and they may need yours, so be a good friend and you’ll never be short of help when you need it.
• Be Confident. Hard to do on purpose, but it really does help to believe that your book can succeed. I took a chance and entered one of my Sci-Fi books in the Kindle Book Review’s Top Indie Books of 2012 competition, and I got as far as the finals!
• Be Lucky. Even harder to do on purpose, but hey, it belongs on the list. If you think of getting rich and famous in self-publishing as a lottery, every time you take a stab at promotion you are buying a ticket. You never know when you’ll hit the jackpot.

If you follow these tips, and you’re at least as lucky as I am, then you’re bound to get at least a few bites, and success leads to success. I started with one or two reviews from bloggers, and a handful of customer reviews. These reviews gave readers confidence to sample my stuff, which led to more customers and more reviews. I learned what my mistakes were, corrected them, and pressed on. In time my success started to move me up the charts, which made me easy to discover, and so it snowballed. A strong sales record and solid reviews will eventually put you on the radar of the big shots. By following the tips I’ve given, I’ve been tapped for an interview from Mark Coker, included in the Apple Breakout Books promotion, included in recommended books emails from Barnes and Noble, and plenty more. It takes a lot of work to get the ball rolling, but once you do, it can pay off in a big way.

I hope this was helpful, and thanks for reading!

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Joseph Lallo
www.bookofdeacon.com