I was a little taken aback when my publishing company told me not to expect any sales (save for one or two) until my book his Amazon.com and some of the other online book selling sites. This book was originally supposed to be released right around March 1. Somehow it ended up live on the 26th of January, but I am certainly not complaining about it. So, since then I have been a busy beaver. Because I chose not to use a publicist or PR firm, I am having to do all of my marketing myself. It’s hard work, my neck has a permanent crick in it from looking at my laptop and desktop screens. I wrote press released for radio stations, newspapers and even a TV station or two. There is the possibility that I will be interviewed on a noon TV show for News 10. They said it would be live, but I really prefer taped. (That thing they told me about not selling anything? I have already sold 10 copies! I know, it’s not much, but you have to sell 10 before you can sell 20, right? Shows how much they know huh. :-) )
I just spent three days reformatting my book (and correcting a few more errors I found) for viewing with the Amazon Kindle. It was grueling work, but I think I did well in the end. I sent it to my own kindle multiple times and went through it page by page to make sure I got it right. I will find out in a few days if the book has been accepted and will go on sale in the Kindle book section at Amazon.com
I am disappointed in Amazon.com overall though. I learned a lot about trade discounts and the process a book goes through to get on the big book sites. After learning what Amazon paid for my book, I was very disheartened to find they set the price at the maximum possible price right off the bat. Because of this, I have suggested that anyone interested in purchasing the book should either wait for a book signing or for your local book stores to carry it (it helps if you call and ask them for the title, a LOT) or your can get it from the publisher site at www.authorhouse.com. Just search either my name or the name of the book.
Since the subject is ‘going green’, you may want to be green about your purchase and buy the e-book. It saves trees and saves you money. On the publisher site, the paperback is $8.50, while the e-book is a cool $3.95. Coincidentally, the kindle version will also be $3.95, when it comes out.
In the meantime, I am scouring the internet and every publishing site I can find for more ways to publicize the book, to put it in front of more people.
My hands, my neck and my eyes are tired of looking at computers for a while. So I will publish this, turn off the laptop, and sit back with my Kindle and start “I, Alex Cross” while dreaming about the chicken and dumplings waiting for me in the crock pot at the house.
For anyone else writing, keep at it. Learn everything, write everything, critique everything. Getting your first book in the mail for your approval is a feeling like no other. Chase your dreams, you CAN catch them. I did.
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