Advertising

A good friend of mine told me not to long ago that I'm still advertising my caviar work with a beer budget. She's right. I've never put a lot of money into advertising...didn't have the funds to put much into advertising. Up until the success of Wife by Wednesday I simply couldn't justify the expense. I find that the best advertising is word of mouth. Nothing tells a reader to pick up a book more than a recommendation from a friend.

However, and this is a big however, once a reader has an author on an 'automatic buy' list, that reader needs to be reminded when books become available. Not all readers sign up for newsletters and lets face it, some newsletters are lost in spam filters or skimmed over like the Bed, Bath and Beyond adds.

I have plenty of fellow authors ask me where I spend my advertising money. Well...I tell them, I run an add on Goodreads, but nothing to fancy there. Just a book cover and a link. I blog on other blogs and try and do as many interviews as time allows.I schedule blog tours with a marketing group to help me find new blogs to reach. Other than that, however, I don't spend anything.  I'm now looking into magazine adds, online and paperback. I know I enjoy seeing my favorite authors adorning the pages of the magazines I pick up. 

As of yet I haven't had many authors tell me that an add has = sales. There isn't a way to truly track an add to see if it directly affects sales. I do know that once a book hits the bestseller lists sales climb. This is something I can track and watch.

Most of my readers are online. They have to be. I might be one of the only NYT's Bestselling Authors who has yet to have her book on a shelf at a brick and mortar store. *sigh* Oh, well! I'll take my success and my readers however I come by them. I'm thankful for each and every one of you who read my books and look for more.

I am working on a more efficient newsletter and encourage those of you who want to be informed about my releases to sign up for my Yahoo Group. It's not a chatty group, just a collection of names so I can send you my newsletters and important announcements.

I would also explain to my readers that I have to write as well as promote my books. The more my readers are talking about me, the less I have to which means I can write more. Hint...hint... LOL

Feel free to SHARE my above graphic for your blog, your facebook page, or whatever you want.

Now...back to my latest WIP

Happy Reading,
Catherine

Why do you choose the E-Books you read?

Today's blog is my way of doing a little research about where to put my advertising dollars.


But before I get into the questions, I need to thank all of you who helped get my first blog off the ground. WOW! RWA and the questions in regards to E-Publishing is quite the hot spot. I think I'm going to keep my RWA membership for the next year and see if it makes any difference in the coming year. So thanks again for giving me your two cents on the subject.


Okay... On to my next topic.


Now that I'm going to have two books out next year, I need to know how you pick the books you read. I will have a series of polls asking specific questions during the month so please stop by once and a while to answer them.


Do you choose a book based on who the author is? Did you read an excerpt on a blog, myspace or a yahoo loop? Do you look for best sellers? Do you check the reviews?


I do look at the best sellers, but I'm known to cross reference those titles with the reviews. I look for recommendations from other readers a lot. I'm known to pick up an e-book because I've talked with, blogged with and watched an author go from-wanna be-to-published. If the excerpt doesn't spark my interest and the blurb is confusing I won't pick it up.


Let me know what sold you on the last E-Book you read.