Does Social Media Help Sell Books?

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blogging, books, Facebook, indie authors, Indie books, indie writers, self-published authors, selling books, social media, Twitter, vlogging, YouTube

If you’re a newcomer author, you probably have heard that you need to establish a social media presence in order to sell your books. It may seem daunting if you are unfamiliar with how social media works when it comes to selling something, but it can be easily be learned. It also can be easily learned that some of what you hear about selling books via social media may not be true.

Image by Blogtrepreneur via Flickr

During the five years since I released my first book, I’ve learned a lot about how social media works, in terms of business. So, in this post, I am going to give my thoughts and opinions on the whole social media thing. Remember, this is based on my experience.

First things first: no, you are not going to sell books via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and all the others.

You might have heard people tell you to provide links to your books on these social media platforms, and constantly provide these links, in order to have success as an author. But that is not how it works. In my experience, very few people are going to click on a link on Twitter or Google+, and go to Amazon or Smashwords, let alone actually buy your book. Those social media posts may come across as spam for a lot of people.

In my opinion, the best time to ever provide links to your book(s) on social media is when you have a sale, a big promo going on, or something seasonal may attract people to that link. For example, it’s October, and my books is about vampires. Since it is the month of all things dark and spooky, I will tweet a few times a link to my book on Amazon or Goodreads. It may not work; it may come across as spam. But it doesn’t hurt. I just will only do it a handful of times.

In the meantime, I better do something else with my social media presence. I need to add more content to my feeds in order to draw attention to my authorship. And that is what social media is all about: drawing attention to something. Whether it is a person, a business, a promotion, whichever – social media announces, “I am here!” And that helps get word out about your books.

Remember, selling books is a business. Writing is a craft, an art. Selling the work is a business, and social media is a big part of how businesses sell their products.

It is a way to interact with followers that could lead to sales. It is also a way to meet other people in the same field. I’ve met quite a few other authors through social media. Eventually, word gets out about your book(s) and people may just pick them up and read them.

But no, social media does not sell books. Don’t count on it, don’t rely on it.

You are probably wondering if blogging – which is form of social media – sells books. Well, I’ve had a few sales that way, but not a lot. But that is not why I blog; I do not blog to sell books. I blog to get the word out about myself as an author. I blog because it is my way of talking to people. I blog to start conversations with other authors. I blog because it is fun.

That being said, I am going to start a new way of reaching people: starting next week, I am going to vlog – meaning video blog. I am going to set up a YouTube channel where I would be doing the same thing I do here, only I’ll be speaking rather than typing/writing. No, I won’t stop blogging altogether. I like this blog, and I want to keep it going. I’ll just be finding a new way to reach people as I continue on as an author. That will happen sometime around next week.

In the meantime, I will continue using social media to get the word about myself and my book(s). And you do the same. Fill your channels with content related to you and your work. Let others get to know you. That may help – just help! – sell your work.

 

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How Do You Choose a Story to Write?

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authors, indie writers, influences, inspiration, muse, muses, story inspirations, the art of writing, writers, writing

How does a writer decide which story they are going to work on? What makes them choose, out of all the ideas in their head, one specific one to work on and devote all their energy to?

Image via Flickr

From my perspective, it is all about timing. Sometimes there is something going on in the world that a writer has to respond to or interpret. Kind of like the 2011 novel, When She Woke by Hillary Jordan. That book is a take on the anti-abortion sentiment in the United States, which is relevant to many in recent years.

Or perhaps someone has something to say, such JRR Tolkien when he wrote The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Supposedly, he was inspired by the events of WWI, which he fought in, as well as his take on male friendships, which he supposedly felt was too fractured.

Or some writers pay attention to trends. A few years ago, BDSM erotica books were all the rage, thanks to the Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy. At the same time, YA dystopian books were widely popular, and there were many different books of that genre.

Or quite simply, a writer is inspired by a muse, and they have to get that story out. No matter the trends, no matter what is going on in the world. There is something in their subconscious that is forcing words to get to paper, or a computer screen. Sometimes the muse chooses what book to write, not the author.

How about you? Who or what inspired you to write your most recent work?

Choosing the Name for My Vampire Trilogy

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authors, book series, book trilogy, books, crime, crime scene, indie writers, modern technology, social media, technology, The Dark Proposal, The End of Eternity, Trilogy, vampire books, vampire trilogy, vampires, writers, writing

Happy End of Summer, everyone!

Yes, isn’t sad that summer is over? For me, it went by too fast and I barely had time to enjoy it. But unfortunately, this year’s summer was far too hot and humid, so that experience has me looking forward to the much cooler fall. Seriously, some seasons aren’t worth getting ill over.

In the meantime, I am still working on my sequel. It is a long and hard journey, mainly because of my crazy schedule that has me working hard in an expensive city. But I am making headway, and I believe by this time next year – or maybe sooner – I will be celebrating its release, five years after the first book, The Dark Proposal, was published.

I know, it’s a long time to go between releasing books in a series. In this case, I am writing a trilogy which is quite ambitious and pretty far fetched for someone who has a busy schedule. But I am determined to keep my word and keep on writing. I know I am pulling a George R R Martin here, but it is what it is. I am not a full time writer and it will be eons before I reach that point. I do what I can and I hope the results will be at least descent.

Later this month, I will be revealing the two possible names for my sequel. I’m split on the two, but I’ll reveal them anyway to mark the 4-year anniversary of The Dark Proposal’s release. But before I do that, I want to discuss the name of my books’ trilogy.

I am calling my trilogy The End of Eternity. It may seem odd that I am not calling my books The Dark Proposal trilogy. After all, many books and movies go by the first name of their series. They include The Twilight Series or the Star Wars trilogy. But I see The End of Eternity as fitting, and my apologies if it seems like I am giving away the story.

Image via Pixabay

When I started writing The Dark Proposal, I not only was exploring abusive relationships, but I was also asking the question: how could vampires survive today with so much technology and surveillance? I would imagine it would be far from easy and would be a problem unlike any other for vampires. I would imagine through the centuries, vampires would have dealt with the witch hunts, the Inquisition and other atrocities due to superstition and fear. But crime scene technology, social media, surveillance, and other modern technology would make it difficult for a vampire to get by. It’d be like the supernatural versus science. Who wins?

I originally wrote a story about all of this, but struggled with it because the characters were boring and no real backstory to them, no matter how hard I tried. Writing about Claire and Daniel’s relationship help add some color to the technology vs. vampire issue nicely.

So, The End of Eternity trilogy will answer the question of modern technology vs. vampire, along with what would happen if a young woman found herself in a relationship with a man who turned out to a murderous vampire. See, that’s the fun thing about vampires. There are so many issues and stories to explore with them. The possibilities are endless, and I think there are many good stories still waiting to be written about vampires. Maybe mine will set off a trend!

So, my trilogy is called The End of Eternity. 🙂

Introducing…Video Services for Indie Authors!

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affordable, author interview, author interviews, book trailers, books, indie authors, indie writers, interview, self-published, self-published authors, trailers, video, videos

Hello everyone!

You’ve probably been wondering what I’ve been up to in recent weeks, since announcing I will be getting back to writing the sequel to The Dark Proposal. Well, I have been scribbling notes here and there, plus writing background stories on each character in order to flesh them out more. I am totally loving this process! Why didn’t I think of it before?

But I have also been developing something else to help the indie author scene. Some of you may be aware of my Author Interviews, where I conduct and post interviews of self-published authors. It’s been a thrill to do this, especially since the authors and the readers of this blog seem to enjoy them.

But lately, I’ve been working bringing my author interviews to the next step, and I know I am ready to unveil it.

I will be offering video services for self-published and small press authors. The services will be:

Post-production book trailers

Video interviews of authors.

You see, I have a background as a video journalist, and I would like to use the equipment that I still have to help authors reach their audiences. Book trailers seem to be the obvious route, especially since I have a video editing software. I would love to create book trailers that will include actors and cool effects, but alas, I could only work with the usual stock images and stock music. But maybe someday…

As for video interviews of authors, this is where I will take my author interviews to the next level. I will do short videos where the author simply talks about their books, the inspiration behind it, its writing process and what they hope readers will get out of it. It will be a promo video where the author voices their book’s journey to their audience. I don’t think many authors get the chance to vocally speak to their audience, so this would be a great chance for them.

However, there’s one small problem: I could only do this for authors in the New York City area. I don’t have the funds or team to do this outside of the Big Apple, so unfortunately, my target area is limited. Granted, there are many writers in New York, but it would be great for me to get those in, say, Michigan, Florida, Oregon, Canada, Europe, etc. Well, maybe next time…

Anyway, so here are my services and my rates. If my rates seem low, well, its because I understand that many self-published and small press writers have very tight budgets. I’m trying to be fair here.

POST PRODUCTION BOOK TRAILER:
– 1 minute trailer          $150
– 3 minute trailer          $200
– 4 or more minutes     $250

In addition, if the author wishes for me to purchase the music or stock images, that would be added to the tab. I am willing to discuss who should be responsible for purchasing such items for the book trailer. But if it is me who does it, I will have the author reimburse me when I forward an invoice.

VIDEO AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
– 3 to 6 minutes             $250

BOOK TRAILER WITH SNIPPETS OF AUTHOR INTERVIEW INCLUDED:
– An extra $100 included to whichever aforementioned service you choose.

I will be including each video – of either service – on not only this blog, but a YouTube channel I will set up. I will also promote it on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. I will also allow the author to use the video of his or her website and author platform. There will be an agreement between the two of us over this so nothing gets confused.

Sounds interesting to you? Let me know by shooting me an email at megancashmanbooks [at] gmail [dot] com

The Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing

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books, eBooks, Indie books, indie writers, Kindle, NA, New Adult, self-published authors, self-published books, Smashwords, the writing process, vampires, writers

This week marks six months since I released my first book, The Dark Proposal. To celebrate, from March 12th to the 16th, my book will be 99 cents on both Amazon Kindle and Smashwords. So spread the word!

As I look back on those six months since I became a published author, I want to address self-publishing. I’ve been meaning to do so for a long while, and I think now would be a good time.

I don’t regret self-publishing my book. While I did go for the traditional route initially, I was too intrigued by self-publishing that I chose to do that. I liked the idea of being in control of my product and not compromising with someone else or having someone decide how to market my book. It was my work, my product, my baby. I wasn’t going to turn custody of my work to someone else.

I admit it did cost money to release my book on my own. The money I spent was almost entirely toward my editor. The cover design, getting the copyright, and paying for a blog tour was nickels and dimes compared to getting my story edited. It is overwhelming and it can make you wonder if you’re crazy to venture into self-publishing, but it was better than the alternative, at least for me.

Keep in mind, most indie authors do not have overnight success. Most have to publish several books in order to see major profit. So, it is a huge gamble and the investment is enormous, almost not worth the headache.

But is it better than querying agents or going to a small publishing house? Sure, if you don’t mind waiting for agents’ responses, waiting for at least to have interest in your novel, waiting for that agent to get back to you and then possibly shop your book around to the Big 6. If you get anywhere, you would then wait for your book to be published – after it is edited and you might have to accept major changes to your baby, such as character ages or names, certain scenes you feel are important are cut out, etc. You also get no say on what kind of cover you want (that was one of the big things that attracted me to self-publishing because I didn’t want anyone to decide how on the cover but me).

Then your book is published. It is on shelves at brick and mortar stores with the public more aware of it than an eBook. There is some buzz and your book sells – but how well? From what I understand, a traditional author has to wait a few months to learn how many copies they sold, instead of daily. Yes, they may see more money – but is it guaranteed?

One thing I keep hearing about the benefits of traditional publishing is that an author knows for sure their book is good and worthy enough when a major publisher accepts and releases it. They have the major stamp of approval and their hard work has paid off. While that is true, I don’t entirely agree. I do agree that can be elating to know that Penguin or Random House would want your book above so many others. I would’ve loved it if my book was picked up by one of the Big 6. But patience and I aren’t friends, and I did like the idea of being in control of my product.

I’m not judging anyone who chooses to go the traditional route, I just don’t agree that what works for one author will work for all others. I really believe all authors need to decide what works best for them. This is a great time for authors because we get a chance to choose how to get our work out to the world. We get to choose what works for us personally, and that’s imperative when you are serious about being a published writer.

So if you want to do traditional, go for it. If you want to go indie, go for it. Just do what you feel is right for your product. To hell with the opinion of others because no one knows what is best for you. Both options have their pros and cons, and both are risky and time consuming. But if you are serious about getting your story ready by others, you would do what it takes to get them into the hands of readers everywhere – and there’s a chance you’ll be glad you did what you did. I know I am!

The Next Big Thing – I’ve Been Tagged!

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authors, book sequels, books, indie writers, tagged blogs, the writing process, writers

You may have heard about the latest blog trend where authors “tag” each other and have them write about themselves and their work. It is kind of a way to help readers get to know authors.

Well, fellow author Rob Watts tagged me for The Next Big Thing. I accepted his tag and here I go with the questions:

1) What is the title of your next book/work?
I am currently working on the sequel to my first book, “The Dark Proposal” and it looks like I’ll be calling it “Blood Ties”.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book/work?
I knew I wanted to write a trilogy when I came up with the idea for my first book. I had two ideas for a vampire story and I figured it would be best to combine the two. “Blood Ties” will essentially be about how Claire McCormick adjusts to being a vampire while trying to maintain her humanity. She has to choose to be loyal to her fellow vampires – remember she never really wanted to be one – or be loyal to humanity. Life is getting tougher for vampires and she has to decide who’s side she is on.

3) What genre does your book/work fall under?
My book is an Urban Fantasy.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
Good question because I usually envision actors playing my characters if they ever came to the big screen. Maybe for the role of Daniel, I would choose Tom Weston-Jones who is on the BBC America show Copper. He looks similar to the way I described Daniel, he is about the age Daniel turned into a vampire, and I think he can play the conniving, cold character my antagonist is.

As for Claire, there are some actresses I think fit her physically, but I do not know if they can pull off her personality.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A young woman is forced by her vampire boyfriend to choose eternity, or death to those she loves.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I’ll be honest. Although I self-published my first book, I’m looking for a small publishing house for the sequel. This is because self-publishing is very time consuming, which is tough when you have a full time job (I didn’t have one when I released “The Dark Proposal”). So to save time and energy, I hope to find a publisher to release my books.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
About five months. I tend to edit as I write, so I would say I came to the finishing line of my novel in five months. After that, I did more editing before turning it over to a freelance editor.

8)What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Hard to say because Urban Fantasy books tend to be more romance focused with the vampires as good beings who are unhappy with what they are. Mine is the total opposite of that.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Firstly, I always wanted to write a vampire novel because they are fascinating beings. I was inspired to write this story while watching True Blood last year and I used to fantasize about a sexy vampire coming into my life. But then I realized vampires are evil beings, so from there I wrote about the dilemma and trauma of a young woman discovering her boyfriend is a vampire.

Secondly, I’ve always wondered why vampires seem to elude investigators and hunters despite all the technology out there. It is much easier to track down criminals then compared to 20 years ago, so if vampires existed, wouldn’t they be more easily caught? I would think a vampire would be baffled with the way human technology has evolved, and might feel threatened by it.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
It’s quick, gets straight to the point. No over descriptions, and I made sure every scene and every word counted.

Again, thanks to Rob Watts for tagging me!

Now its my turn: Lauren Blakely has a New Adult novel coming out next month, so I thought she would be a good choice. Here’s a link to her blog: http://laurenblakelybooks.blogspot.com/

Tag, Lauren!

Too Little or Too Much? My Thoughts on Indie Book Promotions

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authors, indie, indie authors, Indie books, indie writers, Kindle, marketing, media, novels, PR, promoting, promotions, Public Relations, Twitter

The day is almost here. This coming Friday – September 14th – I will finally publish my first book. As soon as I get home from work, I will start the process to upload The Dark Proposal onto Kindle and put my hard work and my baby out to the world. It is both exciting and daunting that I am about to do this.

The exciting part is obvious. I’ve been planning to be a published author since I was a child and the moment is almost here. I feel like I’m taking a major step in my journey and new life as a novelist. I’ve been preparing for so long, and I ready to get on the ship.

But when I say daunting, what I mean by that is as a self-published author, I alone am responsible for my book. Everything, from the writing and rewriting, choosing the cover design and picking the right graphic designer, and all other things, was my responsibility. With the exception of hiring an editor (I heart you!) and having beta readers critique my work, I created my book all by myself.

That also includes the marketing part, as in promoting my book. I did a lot of research during the writing of my book and during the time afterward. While correcting my work, I did what I thought was necessary to promote The Dark Proposal. However, there was plenty of confusion on my part on how exactly to do all this right so my book will get some sales.

Yes, I set up the blog in May and I blogged as often as I could. I changed my Twitter account so it would be exclusively for my writing. I set up a Facebook page just for my authorship. I liked pages on Facebook and followed those I liked on Twitter, as well as follow back anyone who followed me. I made plans to contact media outlets and in mid-August, found Dark Mind Book Tours which set up my five day blog tour taking place next week (thanks Franny and Silvia!). I also Tweeted as much as I could (its not easy to do all this while working full time), set up a Goodreads page, and finally, got my Independent Authors Network page squared away (thanks William!)

But was this enough? Honestly, was it? Based on what blogs I read on how to promote your self-published books, it seemed that there was so much to do. Meaning, what I have done already was far from enough and I needed to come up with more strategies.

Image via Open Clip Art

But then I came across other blogs which said what I had done was enough. Even author forums which discussed promotions seemed to agree. Heck, even some established indie authors even said no one should sweat promoting their books, and instead they should focus on getting started on their second book. After all, many self-published writers claim the more books you have out there, your chances of success will increase. Makes sense. After all, chances for anyone to have tremendous success from one book are slim. That is a fact.

NOTE: Before I go further, I know some of you would wonder why I haven’t mentioned making a book trailer. Here is the answer: as a former freelance video journalist, I would’ve loved to have brought out my media and editing skills to create a trailer and get noticed on YouTube. But I also knew despite my video skills, I didn’t have the resources to create a stellar trailer. Basically, I would’ve created just another video that would have just music, stock images and my voiceover – much like the thousands of others out there. I decided not to sweat over making something that wouldn’t be much different from other trailers. However, maybe around Halloween I’ll release a book trailer to keep the momentum going for The Dark Proposal. But we’ll see.

Anywho. I guess when it comes to promoting your self-published book, the wisest plan is to do what is best for you, your schedule and your sanity. I work full-time, 40 hours a week, so it is not easy for me to be promoting my book round the clock. You may say I should schedule tweets via HootSuite so word about my novel will spread more. I admit I could’ve done that. What made me hesitate was seeing so many authors do that, but ended up repeating the same ten tweets every hour and rarely interacting with any of their followers, let alone tweeting other people’s work. That turned me off and I didn’t want that to happen to any of my potential readers. From what I’ve been told, for every single tweet you use to promote your book, tweet four times to interact with others. I try that, given my schedule, but at least I try.

But there is more to promoting than using Twitter. That site does not guarantee a huge following of interested readers, so don’t count on it. Blogging helps, because it gives people an opportunity to get to know you and what you are about. I just wish it was more clear on what to blog about. I didn’t want to post anything absurdly self-centered, anything irrelevant to my book or writing, or even rant about what is going on in the news. I knew early on posting such topics would either confuse or turn off potential readers. I thought about venting about how overwhelming it can be to work full-time, promote your first book and work on its follow-up, and somehow squeeze in errands, a social life and other necessities in life. That may sound like a good idea, but I didn’t want to sound like a Debbie Downer, so I scratched that.

I think I did what I could to get the word about The Dark Proposal and there still may be other options. I’m looking into contacting websites that review vampire book exclusively, and even contacting podcasts in hopes of an interview. I am being my own PR representative, and though I have a background in journalism, it is still a foreign field for me.

But I’m learning as I’m going. No one held my hand during all this and I could only take notes on what I should’ve done sooner. After my book comes out, I’ll take notes on what worked for me and didn’t work in terms of sales. I understand the majority of books sell only about 1,500 copies. So I am not expecting to win the lottery here. It would be nice though! 🙂

But really, I understand the risks I took in going indie and so far, my only regret was getting too overwhelmed. I think if I had remained calm most of the time, I would’ve done some things earlier or more often.

But no time for regrets. My debut book is coming out Friday and there is no looking back. I am hoping those who told me they intend to read The Dark Proposal (and these are complete strangers, not friends or family) will like what I wrote and will look forward to its two follow-ups (yes, I am writing a trilogy). That would mean all of my hard work had paid off, my solo hard work.

The countdown continues…3 more days! By this time Friday, I am anticipating The Dark Proposal will be up on Kindle, ready to be sold and read 🙂