Please let us all know how you are promoting your books and what results you are having. I know it's difficult to do and maybe difficult to talk about publically. And as much as we all love writing, we probably hate marketing more. But sharing our experiences here will help in two major ways. One, misery loves company and two, some will spark ideas that we can use in this new age of publishing.

Ideally (to me, anyway) would be to promote my book automatically. Something I could set up and then, aside from the occasional tweak, ignore it while I continue writing the next book. I am currently experimenting with Google AdWords to do just that. Basically, it works like this. 1, Set up an account; 2, select your keywords & write your two line ad; and 3, choose how much you will pay. 1,2,3 easy peasy. Er, wait, um, well, there is a lot to learn if you want to be effective. Start here: https://www.google.com/adwords/

I just started a Google AdWords campaign and no, I am not yet effective but I am learning. Google helps me because they get paid only when someone clicks my ad and they love money. So there is a ton of clear, helpful advice, examples and specific explanations. The feedback graphs and charts tells you everything about how your ad is performing. There is even a real person to consult with.

Here's my strategy. I selected key words based on the themes in my novel. I wrote a two line ad using the keywords. Then I made sure those keywords appeared on my webpage. Now, for example, whenever someone searches for "genetic memory" there is a chance that my two line ad & a link to my webpage will appear in their search results.

Nevertheless, this ain't my area of expertise. My ad has improved and I do get exposure but I have a long way to go. The good news is, so far, Google has only cost me a nickel. (That might explain why they emailed me to remind me that I can actually talk to a real consultant -free

As the campaign progresses through the learning process, I'll post what I learn, and if anyone has a question I might answer I'll happily try. And of course, I am doing old fashioned things like encouraging the book editor of my local paper to mention the book and I even talked my banker into a lobby display.

But really, for most of us, myself included, the old ways won't work. We need new ideas. So please, share how you are promoting your books and what results you are having.

Finally home from Maine and not writing yet. Only slightly over a thousand emails to check (98.5% junk) and a lot of cleaning and yardwork to do before I can get back to writing. The grass is almost chest high, and I'm 6'2" tall. Good thing we live rurally and not in a city. I've considered getting a nearby neighbor in to cut and bale it since it's the same stuff he grows in his fields.

I've tried some of the ideas you've presented GD, but I'd never thought about Google Adwords. I've seen them but figured, being Google, there would be serious cost involved. I'm going to take a serious look at it when things are finally taken care of here. I suppose one needs a webpage? The ad can't be linked to my novel on Amazon or wherever I put the next?

We're all pioneers in this field, searching and feeling our way through this new country. Advertising a book that people can't pick up and thumb a few pages, or see on a rack is relatively new. Epublishing has been around for a decade and is seeing huge growth recently thanks to Kindle and other readers, but it's still new. Unfortunately, unless someone knows we're out there the chances of readers finding us is quite small. E-bookstores don't have racks with copies lining them. 

The sellers present their wares, name authors inevitably tagged with NY Times Bestselling Author. The rest of us are buried so far down any list that, if a prospective buyer went page by page every day, they would be years before finding us. It isn't depressing since I never expected to make money from pursuing epublishing. I would like seeing more people read my stuff just in hopes of being told they love it, or it's the most pathetic garbage they've ever wasted a couple of bucks on. Either way helps. Being told I can't write my name in the dirt with a stick pushes me to try harder.

Hi Curtis,

Yup, you do need a webpage for people to click on. Google calls it a "Landing Page" and your Amazon page might be allowed. More info here:

https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/14086?hl=en

& the costs are controlled by you. I set my costs at 5 cents per click and a max of $5 per day. I'm keeping the costs down until I know more. As it is, I cannot be billed more than about $150 per month. Which would mean that 6,000 people had clicked on my ad and went to my webpage. Worth it if I sold more than 60 copies of the book. The math looks good, but I am waiting to see how it works out in practice.

Has anyone used their Amazon page as their Google AdWords landing page?

Exactly, someone has to know you're out there. I'll try GD's suggestion, all that web stuff, but I'm going to start with old-fashioned bumper stickers, decals, maybe t-shirts, sent to everyone I know around the country. It won't be soon, got to finish the damn thing yet, but when it's ready I want mail addresses, you guys. I have family/friends in Florida, upper New York state, Maryland, North Carolina. Amber! Where you at, girl? GD, do a pal a favor, eh? To all who assist, free ebook, free printed paper doll, free whatever nonsense I churn out. 

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Until I'm proven wrong, I have more faith in eyeballs spying and fingers jotting my (eventual) website (MyGuySly.com) than I do in bought ads on blogs/sites. 

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Got to get back to my a-building site. If I reach the date I bought my domain name without a site up, I'll be hanging my head in shame.

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Anyone willing to give me an address, send it to me by private message. I won't misuse it. Unless you call a t-shirt showing up with a shit-eating grin cat on it misuse. Cause I expect you to wear it, dammit. So, along with the address, send your size. 

--edited by Mimi Speike on 7/27/2015, 2:00 PM--

OK, Mimi, you got my address & my t-shirt size is large.

But I dunno about the efficacy of your advertising plan. Once your book rolls out to over a hundred countries, y'll havta think globally. Neighborhood promotion may not do it

GD, I'm gonna try anything and everything, including a promotion with the Atheist of America. Dear God, marketing sounds like a full time job. When I get my novella in shape to publish, and get a handle on the art, I'll try some of this Google-tout-blog-tour-hocus-pocus.

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While I wait for my buddy program buddy to show up, I've got to get a handle on the art. I just bought one of those digital drawing tablets, to try out. I'll do some preliminary drawings for concept. I have a sample of my drawing style on here somewhere, wish I knew where it's got to, but I've never felt it was a useful illustration style. For one thing, it's so fully rendered that there's no room for color. I need to simplify it, reduce it to more of an armature for color. It certainly doesn't lend itself to a vector drawing program. This has been my roadblock for years. I've got to deal with it, in one way or another.

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I feel under the gun from a bunch of angles, and it's not a happy feeling.

Great topic.  After reading your story, I finally decided to add Google AdSense to my Blogspot.  http://erikrobin.blogspot.ca/   It should take a week for Google to process my registration.  I image that google will increase the traffic to my blog, thus making money for themselves, which will be helpful to me in the long run.

Cheers to all who post their story on this topic.

Uh, oh. Where'd those things go? Did I break something? (Technology/rules)? A little placeholder symbol is still here. It appears to have a teeny question mark in it. Try this/try that, my writing/marketing strategy in a nutshell.

--edited by Mimi Speike on 7/28/2015, 11:35 AM--

Now that I have a publisher (!) I have a marketing manager who is giving me advice on how to build my author platform. Here is what she is recommending:

Tweet 3 times a day

Write a blog at least once a week

Post on a Facebook page once a day (an author page, not your personal page)

Chat on GoodReads and update your status periodically

Post on Pinterest and Instagram

And yes, I am trying to do this!  But, not doing that well in some of those activities. One app that has been tremendously helpful is called IFTTT (if this, then that).  IFTTT allows me to automate some of my posts, so I can post in one place and then IFTTT will post for me in other places. Like this:  I post an image and comment in Instagram and IFTTT automatically posts that image and comment to Twitter and to my Facebook author page. IFTTT has many recipes that are worth exploring that do different things.

I also use Buffer.  Buffer lets me queue up tweets so that I don't have to go on Twitter and tweet every few hours.  I send interesting links to Buffer and it sends them out at pre-determined times.  Oh, and I only tweet about my book every once in a while. One thing I am learning about Twitter is that you have to tweet every day.  Consistency is key.  I am getting a couple new followers each day now that I am tweeting regularly.

I'm finding that all the social media stuff does cut into my writing time, but if I limit it to, say, an hour a day, with automation running throughout the day, it is okay.

Oh, and if you want to follow, I'm JanPeac on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest. And JanicePeacockAuthor on Facebook.

cheers,

Janice

--edited by JanPeac on 7/28/2015, 11:42 PM--

WoW! Google just may have come through for us. The gist is:

A member of the "Google AdWords Welcome Team" phoned and she walked me through set-up of a "Display Network Campaign." My book ad will automatically appear on websites that Google thinks may be interested in a science fiction novel - fan sites for sci-fi, etc. Total cost to me is 1-2 cents per click and I set the max cost to me per day.

There is no cost to have a Google professional walk you through the set-up. The lady who called me did so because a couple weeks ago I had set up a Keyword Campaign. The lady said she was part of a new team that worked with new advertisers to get them into the specific program that worked best for them (and Google.) She saw my product was a book and knew the best program for writers is to display the book ads on websites with an affinity to that particular kind of book. She was great! She spent 40 minutes helping me set up my ads because, she said, they were a new group at Google and wanted to be effective. I also have her assistance free of charge for the next two weeks.

IF this works, and I feel good about it because a professional is betting it will, then we have a way to promote our books automatically. More of our time is free to write the next book.

Anyone can do this and right now is the time. Google is currently welcoming writers so contact them if you are interested:

http://www.google.com/ads/displaynetwork/

Oh, and if you happen to get Brittany, tell her I said "Hi."

--edited by GD Deckard on 7/29/2015, 11:53 AM--

Uh, oh, does this mean that at some time in the future they will not be so welcoming? Nothing I can do about it, I'm not published yet. Sounds very good. Keep us posted.

What does anyone know about Hootsuite? I see it mentioned on Scribophile.