The Rise of the independent Publisher: Publicity

 

Mr. Dobbs has created a complex character who is both diligent and compassionate. This is a well written story. a tantalizing mystery and a excellent description of the difficulty of policing in war time.   *****

I'm what you call an hybrid author - I've been published traditionally, and continue to be so but for the Frank Parade wartime mysteries I decided to go down the self publishing route - well sort of. 

I've set up my own publishing house for these books - Red Valley Publishing. The books are set in my home village of Gilfach Goch and the name translates as little red nook or red valley and so the name Red Valley Publishing is apt.

The book, Down Among the Dead is the first in a series to feature the police detective Frank Parade and the second, provisionally titled Listen to the Wind should see print during the first quarter of 2022.

I believe Down Among the Dead is a good book and the many reviews seem to agree with this assessment.

The author made me feel like I was actually stood at the side of Chief Inspector Frank Parade watching him work. So if you like murder mysteries I highly recommend you give this book a go *****

But  writing a good book, while paramount, is only half the battle. These days the author, particularly if going down the route of independent publishing must publicise their work. There are ways to do this but be warned it takes time, and of course the author is walking a fine line between being a nuisance and offering the reader something they actually want.

1. Create a killer landing page. ...
2. Promote it within your website. ...
3. Use supporting content formats. ...
4. Go all-out on social media. ...
5. Explore other content sharing platforms. ...
6. Use free tools to make your eBook go viral. ...
7. Try guest blogging on authority sites. ...
8. Invest time in traditional email outreach.

Skilful marketing is something that all authors must learn to master if they want their books to stand out amongst the many many that are available, particularly digitally, and often it is not the best authors who manage to score a hit with publicity. I've lost count of all the badly written books I've seen selling in high numbers simply because the author has managed to get the hang of digital marketing. Similarly there are some great even excellent books out there that don't get the sales they deserve because - and here's the thing, being a brilliant writer doesn't mean you will be brilliant at marketing your work.

So what's the answer?

 I'm blown if I know!

I'm simply stumbling about in the dark but I'm learning as I go along.

The steps highlighted above are a must for any writer to try, but maybe the best advice I can give is to target your audience and reach out to them. Use systems like Mail Chimp to build up a mailing list, and find blogs that cover the genre you work in. Become active there, reach out and see if you can get your book reviewed  or maybe you can write a guest post yourself.

Reviews are the lifeblood of the small independent publisher.

Coming 2022

Don't give up - the book pictured above, Down Among the Dead was published in 2018 and yet in the last month it's sold more copies than it managed in the last few years. This is good for me since the second book in the series is nearing completion and should see print around March of 2022. I've been plugging this book like crazy recently because I'm proud of it; believe it is a damn good thriller and will satisfy crime/mystery/thriller readers. If I didn't believe that then I wouldn't bother.

These days it is not just enough to write a brilliant unputdownable book - you'd got to find the market for that book, build your brand and hopefully then you can watch sales rack up.

REMEMBER First and foremost though you've got to write a bloody good book, because good marketing or not poor work will eventually lose readers. It's all about hard work and the unpleasant fact is that after all the hard work of writing and perfecting your book, the real hard work begins.

If you're reading this then the chances are that you are a writer yourself, and it would be nice to think that all writers leave reviews, good or bad, of the books they read. I always do. It helps get books noticed . So each time you buy a book then please leave a Amazon, Goodreads or blog review. It's the least we can do. After all, we'd like others to review our work.

Down Among the Dead is currently available in print, audio and eBook. Amazon currently have the eBook for a limited time at 99p.

Listen to the Wind will be published in 2022.