Disillusioned Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 It's been three years since my 1st novel went into print and I haven't made a penny on it. My quality of life has not improved. Well, shoot... part of it is my own fault. I hopped through 3 different writers' groups, and they all believe in the old-school method; beg and kowtow to some agent, and maybe you'll get lucky. I hate to tell them, but that old method is dying, fast. That's why I left the groups. The experience hasn't been all effort with no reward though... one group provided me with a list of local indie bookstores, while another group taught me how to avoid contracts which would give me a raw deal. My buddy who says he wants to publish his music books is too busy having a good time to get the thing into print. Dammit, I know my 1st novel is a good book... it has extraterrestrials, a beautiful smart blonde that people either love or hate, nifty futuristic gadgets for the techies, and a lot of political intrigue. Out of a couple dozen people who read it, only two didn't like it. I still have a box of about 30 copies of it, and I'm going to do something I should have done a couple of years ago: give a few freebies to these local indie bookstores and if they like it, I can get more copies for them wholesale. They might like samples of my 2nd book too. Like Eldridge Cleaver said, you can't wait for them to call you up to bat. You have to step up to that plate and say, "I want to bat, sumb1tch". Link to post Share on other sites
meghufree Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 From what you have written, I understand that you have written a wonderful book but just not promoted it enough. Of course all the best to you - and I am glad you took the initiative to distribute those free books. In fact you could actually make sure you distributed your book in around 200-300 bookstores across the state/region as that would further increase the chances of a bookstore ordering copies of your book. Promoting it online by offering it for sale on different web portals could also be a nice idea. I do not specifically know of websites that allow books to be sold but I am sure there must be many. You could also create a Facebook page/website for the book and blog about it to further promote it. And you could even put up Google Ads of the book so that interested people could visit your blog/site and buy the book online by clicking on the adds. I know all this might have been un-solicited advice but I genuinely felt these could be ways to promote your book and listed them. In any case, all the very best with the bookstores thing. Link to post Share on other sites
blackmagik Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Oh you have to hassle that book out. Like they say, you have to spend money to make money! Keep trying, if your book is good like you say it is, you'll see success. Link to post Share on other sites
vvjack Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 The experience hasn't been all effort with no reward though... one group provided me with a list of local indie bookstores, while another group taught me how to avoid contracts which would give me a raw deal. Link to post Share on other sites
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