Ads for Authors Archives

Tech and I have a difficult relationship.

It thinks I should intuitively know things I do not, and is entirely too smart for its own good. In the past few weeks, it’s tossed three major salvos my way – first, a widget on this website broke, crippling the website. Second, my cellphone had a meltdown. And finally, one of my books on Amazon went on a walkabout. You can’t believe what a headache that caused.

Thankfully, with the assistance of some folks who are smarter than me, a bit of cash, and mind-numbing patience, Tech has been brought to heel. Fingers crossed, it stays in line for a while. The upside to these glitches is that each one forces me to learn something new.

Speaking of learning something new, I’ve now finished both the Facebook and the Amazon components in the Ads for Authors advertising course I’m taking. I’ve not had a lot of success with either platform yet, but I’m working on it.

One thing in particular has become painfully clear – I need more reviews for my books.

Reviews are social proof that my books are worth someone’s time. Reviews are doubly important for indies like me whose name and work isn’t well known.

I would really appreciate it—and it would help me tremendously—if you could leave a review for my book(s). A review doesn’t have to be more than a sentence or two. Perhaps what you liked about the book or who you would recommend it to. You can find some examples here: https://jpmcleanauthor.com/testimonials/

The preferred place to leave a review is on Amazon—they are the major player (by a long shot) in online book sales. (You’ll need an Amazon account and you’ll have to have spent $50 on Amazon in the previous year.) The following links will take you directly to The Gift Legacy’s Amazon review pages:

In Canada:

In the USA:

If you are unable to leave a review on Amazon, please consider leaving a review on Kobo or Goodreads. I am ever so grateful for your support. Thank you.

And if you’d like to discover a new indie author, there are still a few days left to pick up some great deals in the “Too Good to Miss Urban Fantasy Book Fair.”

Leading photo of angry sky by Victor Rodriguez on Unsplash

Secret Sky is the book that went on a walkabout and caused all kinds of havoc. Get your copy of Secret Sky from Kindle with one click right here. And if ebooks aren’t your preference, click on the bookstore tab for other purchase options, or just click on the covers below.

Addicted

A wise person once said that if you want to make a difficult change in your life, like losing weight or quitting smoking, the best path to success is to tell someone. The idea is that by saying it out loud not only do you reaffirm your commitment to the change, but the people you tell will shame you into it hold you to it.

That advice is crap.

After I released the final book in The Gift Legacy, I told anyone who’d listen some friends I was making a big change: I was giving up half my treasured writing time to learn how to market the books.

Half because there’s a lot to learn and I’m afraid I won’t figure it out; tech isn’t my strong suit; the books aren’t going to market themselves; time is ticking to take advantage of the new releases, etc. I’ve put it off far too long and writing a book is only half the job. The other half is marketing it.

My plan was to spend the first half of my writing time—when I’m fresh and at my most creative—writing my next book. At the halfway point, I’d shut it down, take a break, eat, get outdoors, maybe get some exercise. When I returned for the second half of my writing time, I’d dig into the Ads for Authors online course I’m taking to learn the ins and outs of advertising, followed soon after with actual advertising.

How’s that big change going you ask?

Not so well.

Not only are my friends not naggers (and far too nice), but when the halfway mark arrives, more times than not, I have zero discipline to take a break, let alone move on to marketing. Case in point: at seven o’clock last night, I was still in my PJs (and that wasn’t the first time).

I’m addicted to writing . . . there, I’ve said it.

Writing is my crack. Words are the endorphins that flood my brain with happy juice and fire my imagination. Words are the gateway drug to sentences and paragraphs and then, egads! . . . scenes. Each scene I commit to digital bytes sends out tendrils of endorphins to the next scene and on it goes.

Why can’t marketing feel like that?

There are those who’ll tell you it should and it can, but that’s a lie I’m not there yet.

Truth be known, I have tried out a few new marketing ideas. The March cross-promotion was exciting, and I had a lot of fun as a sponsor with the Creative Ink Festival, but I’ve got to hunker down and make more progress with the online course.

On the plus side, the new book broke 43K, which is about halfway, and is still going strong.

Here’s my new plan: rather than try to quit writing at the halfway point, I’m going to concentrate on marketing one day and then reward myself with writing the next day. Let’s see how that works. If you have any helpful suggestions, I’d love to hear them. Just leave a comment or contact me via the social media buttons. Wish me luck.

Secret Sky is the book that started the addiction. Get your copy of Secret Sky from Kindle with one click right here. And if ebooks aren’t your preference, click on the bookstore tab for other purchase options, or just click on the covers below.

Chocolate photo: Charisse Kenion on Unsplash
Coffee mug photo: Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash