THE WEB'S REACH
Try to imagine a world without websites. If you've only been on the earth less than 20 years, it's extremely difficult. Even at my advanced age, I can't fathom the thought of trying to exist without the benefits the internet provides each and every day.
I use websites for writing, communications, social media, news, sports, finance, maps, and so much more. You name it, and it's on the web somewhere at the touch of your fingers within seconds.
If you have a question, no matter how stupid it may seem, you can find an answer in a whisk of the screen. Don't like the answer, you can find thousands more!
The value of websites is vast from the most ridiculous of uses to the most intellectual. Nothing is outside the grasp of the web's intricate pattern of networks!
If you are a writer, whether you've published a book or not, the internet is one of the greatest tools you'll use other than your brain. Truth is, the knowledge trapped by the web is magnitudes greater than we could ever expect of our individual brain.
Who needs a dictionary or an encyclopedia series when they're "connected" to the internet? Anything reference books can do, the web can do better and faster!
As wonderful as the internet is for writing, it's even greater and invaluable as a marketing tool. The web helps soothe some of the sting most writer's feel when ensnared into being a salesperson or marketeer, a title many authors despise.
How you feel doesn't matter when it comes time to gain exposure for your book and sell your magnificent story to the masses! If you're an indie author and try to do it without the internet in today's world, you will fail.
The detested task can be made easier to swallow with a few important suggestions. Let's start with the basics when marketing your creative masterpiece.
As an indie author, if you want to get your book to the masses, you should start with one of the greatest mass marketers in the world — Amazon. Use their CreateSpace (https://www.createspace.com/) arm to publish paperbacks and their Kindle Direct Publishing (https://kdp.amazon.com/) arm to publish your eBook version. Be sure to consider the selections that provide the broadest distributions as you fill out their book submission forms online.
Publishing your treasures and getting them up on Amazon's website are simply the essentials to launch your marketing campaign. You'll be using so many different websites it will make your head spin! But, if done well, your sales will take off!
In order to prevent wasted time and dollars, it will be important for you to determine which websites are the most effective and garner the most traffic. One of the tools I love for this important chore is Alexa's "Website Traffic, Statistics, and Analytics" (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo).
Go to Alexa and type the website address you desire, like "amazon.com", into the search window and click "Find." Voila, you have Alexa's ranking and much more information regarding that website's relative position against the measurable websites across the globe. This is a tremendously valuable tool. Learn to use it a LOT!
When I'm deciding between the hundreds of promotional websites to determine which will provide the broadest exposure to my book, I start with Alexa. I just type in the site's web address and check it's rank against all the other promotional choices. In this case, the "lower" the number, the "higher" the rank — kinda like golf.
Below are several examples of Alexa's rankings (Dec 04, 2016 snapshot) of some book marketing websites that indie authors may find valuable in their trek through the vast marketing landscape.
amazon.com: 8
bookbub.com: 15,156
ereadernewstoday.com: 171,624
newfreekindlebooks.com: 382,394
bookgorilla.com: 435,689
ebookstage.com: 508,873
freebookshub.com: 1,071,527
itswritenow.com: 1,090,574
free99books.com: 1,211,876
This is a very small sampling of the marketing websites I choose from regularly and is in no way an endorsement of any particular promoter. I provided these to show the variance within the vast range of the spectrum. I've worked with all of these and over 20 more different sites with varying success. I love the benefits the majority provide to an indie author.
While Alexa's website ranking is not the only metric I use to decide my choice of promoters, it is my starting point. In general, the higher the ranking the better the chance of gaining greater exposure of your book's title and author name to larger hordes of marvelous readers, which is important when you release a new book.
The purpose of this message is to tout the usefulness of "websites" and the internet. Of course, it's not only the reach of the web that matters. The promoter's fees, number of subscribers to their emails, and followers on Twitter and Facebook are important factors as well. I will address book promoters in greater detail in the not-too-distant future.
But for now, if you've got a list of suggested promoters from experienced authors or articles, I'd suggest that you fetch Alexa's rankings at a minimum to gain a feeling of their global reach. Since the rankings are fluid and relative positions can change, I highly recommend that you review the most current numbers at the time you are choosing to use a promoter.
At the beginning of this message, I asked you to imagine a world without the internet. Well, my science fiction book series which begins with The New World: A Step Backward does just that. This action-packed adventure portrays the exciting, but primitive, life on Earth in 2075 after the technology as we know it has been destroyed. To get a glimpse, peek at Amazon's "Look inside" feature for my book using the button below.
In the weeks ahead, I will expand on the book marketing choices. For now, I encourage you to look at the other "Marketing Suggestions" provided within my book series' website.
I use websites for writing, communications, social media, news, sports, finance, maps, and so much more. You name it, and it's on the web somewhere at the touch of your fingers within seconds.
If you have a question, no matter how stupid it may seem, you can find an answer in a whisk of the screen. Don't like the answer, you can find thousands more!
The value of websites is vast from the most ridiculous of uses to the most intellectual. Nothing is outside the grasp of the web's intricate pattern of networks!
If you are a writer, whether you've published a book or not, the internet is one of the greatest tools you'll use other than your brain. Truth is, the knowledge trapped by the web is magnitudes greater than we could ever expect of our individual brain.
Who needs a dictionary or an encyclopedia series when they're "connected" to the internet? Anything reference books can do, the web can do better and faster!
As wonderful as the internet is for writing, it's even greater and invaluable as a marketing tool. The web helps soothe some of the sting most writer's feel when ensnared into being a salesperson or marketeer, a title many authors despise.
How you feel doesn't matter when it comes time to gain exposure for your book and sell your magnificent story to the masses! If you're an indie author and try to do it without the internet in today's world, you will fail.
The detested task can be made easier to swallow with a few important suggestions. Let's start with the basics when marketing your creative masterpiece.
As an indie author, if you want to get your book to the masses, you should start with one of the greatest mass marketers in the world — Amazon. Use their CreateSpace (https://www.createspace.com/) arm to publish paperbacks and their Kindle Direct Publishing (https://kdp.amazon.com/) arm to publish your eBook version. Be sure to consider the selections that provide the broadest distributions as you fill out their book submission forms online.
Publishing your treasures and getting them up on Amazon's website are simply the essentials to launch your marketing campaign. You'll be using so many different websites it will make your head spin! But, if done well, your sales will take off!
In order to prevent wasted time and dollars, it will be important for you to determine which websites are the most effective and garner the most traffic. One of the tools I love for this important chore is Alexa's "Website Traffic, Statistics, and Analytics" (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo).
Go to Alexa and type the website address you desire, like "amazon.com", into the search window and click "Find." Voila, you have Alexa's ranking and much more information regarding that website's relative position against the measurable websites across the globe. This is a tremendously valuable tool. Learn to use it a LOT!
When I'm deciding between the hundreds of promotional websites to determine which will provide the broadest exposure to my book, I start with Alexa. I just type in the site's web address and check it's rank against all the other promotional choices. In this case, the "lower" the number, the "higher" the rank — kinda like golf.
Below are several examples of Alexa's rankings (Dec 04, 2016 snapshot) of some book marketing websites that indie authors may find valuable in their trek through the vast marketing landscape.
amazon.com: 8
bookbub.com: 15,156
ereadernewstoday.com: 171,624
newfreekindlebooks.com: 382,394
bookgorilla.com: 435,689
ebookstage.com: 508,873
freebookshub.com: 1,071,527
itswritenow.com: 1,090,574
free99books.com: 1,211,876
This is a very small sampling of the marketing websites I choose from regularly and is in no way an endorsement of any particular promoter. I provided these to show the variance within the vast range of the spectrum. I've worked with all of these and over 20 more different sites with varying success. I love the benefits the majority provide to an indie author.
While Alexa's website ranking is not the only metric I use to decide my choice of promoters, it is my starting point. In general, the higher the ranking the better the chance of gaining greater exposure of your book's title and author name to larger hordes of marvelous readers, which is important when you release a new book.
The purpose of this message is to tout the usefulness of "websites" and the internet. Of course, it's not only the reach of the web that matters. The promoter's fees, number of subscribers to their emails, and followers on Twitter and Facebook are important factors as well. I will address book promoters in greater detail in the not-too-distant future.
But for now, if you've got a list of suggested promoters from experienced authors or articles, I'd suggest that you fetch Alexa's rankings at a minimum to gain a feeling of their global reach. Since the rankings are fluid and relative positions can change, I highly recommend that you review the most current numbers at the time you are choosing to use a promoter.
At the beginning of this message, I asked you to imagine a world without the internet. Well, my science fiction book series which begins with The New World: A Step Backward does just that. This action-packed adventure portrays the exciting, but primitive, life on Earth in 2075 after the technology as we know it has been destroyed. To get a glimpse, peek at Amazon's "Look inside" feature for my book using the button below.
In the weeks ahead, I will expand on the book marketing choices. For now, I encourage you to look at the other "Marketing Suggestions" provided within my book series' website.