I’m a woman under the whip! Candy Korman is my mentor on this marketing learning curve, and she is [very kindly] keeping my nose to the grindstone. I’d be lost, not to mention a lot lazier, without Candy’s help but… honestly? Marketing is not fun.
Now, before I get too negative I have to say that setting up all these Author pages is a one-off task, so once it’s done it should be done forever [more or less]. Tweeting however, is an ongoing form of torture, especially when it’s hot and your brain feels like oatmeal porridge.
I’m trying to make tweeting about Vokhtah more interesting for myself, and readers, of course, by doing little Q&A’s about weird Vokhtan facts, but I have no idea whether they are intriguing… or just plain annoying. If any of you stumble across my tweets could you please let me know if I should continue or try something more conventional?
The dog is on her back, fast asleep and I feel like joining her so I’ll keep this short. 
Enjoy your day/night depending on timezones.
cheers
Meeks
Authors' favourite books
NANO 2012
January 21st, 2013 at 2:10 pm
Ah, yes, marketing. So, so fun. Sigh…
January 21st, 2013 at 3:56 pm
The only thing that makes it less ‘fun’ [love sarcasm] is knowing I’m with friends, rowing along with Candy.
Are we there yet? -slap-
January 21st, 2013 at 2:51 pm
Yay, fun! Listen to Candy…she knows…
January 21st, 2013 at 3:54 pm
lol – I am, I am! Just having a suk? sook? coz it’s hot and there are more damn fires around today. -sigh-
January 21st, 2013 at 2:54 pm
I have no marketing plan currently, and I don’t believe Twitter sells books. It is a constant stream of ads and links. Anything more than 5 times a day is too much.
I am concentrating on getting other stuff written and published. More available titles is more exposure
January 21st, 2013 at 3:52 pm
Ungh… and that is the other side of the equation isn’t it? To reach some kind of critical mass we need more published work out there. Catch-22.
January 21st, 2013 at 3:22 pm
In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king — or in this case, the teacher is one chapter ahead of her students (just barely).
I know quite a bit about marketing in general and a few things about selling with social media, but until I make a real breakthrough, let’s just say we’re all rowing in the same direction and we’ll ease the way for each other.
Twitter is a game of numbers. When the people who follow you are also following 500, 600, 1000, 2000 other people, you have to tweet often enough to get noticed at all. Of course this can annoy followers with modest numbers. The same goes for Facebook — another potentially useful social media platform. Who knows what will pop next? Pinterest? Yes, I’m on it. Can’t figure out why but…
I’d rather be writing!
January 21st, 2013 at 3:51 pm
lmao – Yes ,yes and no, not on Pinterest.
I was just thinking today that I’m really itching to get into book 2, but whether that’s because I’m feeling creative or because it would be an excuse to stop marketing, I don’t know. But yes, writing is beckoning so sweetly!
January 21st, 2013 at 3:28 pm
That is going to be my next step as soon as I get this darn cover finished. I am frightened and nervous about the whole marketing aspect. Hopefully you both will have some advice when I am ready.
January 21st, 2013 at 3:48 pm
I’m still a newbie but I’ll pass on whatever I learn and I’m sure Candy will help too. Chin up!
January 21st, 2013 at 3:59 pm
Thank you. I am trying to set a goal for myself to get the cover done within the next two – three months. Waiting to see if a photographers a friend recommends is going to do the photos. If all goes well, I could have my book ready by this summer.
January 21st, 2013 at 7:00 pm
I hope so! It’s a great feeling.
What’s the book about?
January 25th, 2013 at 10:13 am
Imagine that the very food you eat and the beautiful carpet on your floors start to make you feel violently ill. Your contact lenses cause your eyes to burn and water uncontrollably. Trace amounts of mold on other people’s clothing cause you to become unable to hold a thought or get it from your brain to your mouth during an everyday conversation.
The life you once knew is gone and you have become a
prisoner of unexplainable and severe allergies and sensitivities. In this new life you can no longer shop or visit friends in their homes because there are too many chemicals and fragrances there. You become plagued by one mystery infection after another and no doctor or specialist seems to be able to give you any explanation of what’s causing your terrifying symptoms. Depression sets in and becomes your constant companion as you try to cope with the stress of being sick and of struggling to live within your newfound limitations.
“Allergic to Life: My Battle for Survival, Courage and Hope” is the story of one woman’s journey through a battle to reclaim her life and overcome depression caused by an exposure to toxic mold in her workplace.
January 25th, 2013 at 10:51 am
Oh good for you Kathryn! Your blog does a great job of disseminating information but the book will have a far greater reach. Go girl!
January 25th, 2013 at 12:09 pm
Thank you. Your words are giving me the encouragement I need to push forward with my cover and with the marketing and promotion process.
January 25th, 2013 at 12:25 pm
It’s not an easy path but it’s worth making the effort.
January 21st, 2013 at 4:26 pm
Though Pinterest is currently big ( and yes, I will get Vokhtah on there) I’m reading that Goodreads is where all authors have to be since many readers go there to find their next book nowadays. It’s a case of making sure your book is on the appropriate lists and getting votes to bring you up the lists to prominence. It’s all a game of luck. xx
January 21st, 2013 at 7:02 pm
-laughs- Is that all you have to do.
I’m not poking fun – I have an author page on Goodreads – it’s just I that I know about 6? people there. -sigh-
January 21st, 2013 at 4:32 pm
http://pinterest.com/lorddavid/australian-authors/
Also on a couple of book boards.
xxxx
January 21st, 2013 at 7:03 pm
Oh My God!?! -huge hugs- Thank you David, really, thank you.
January 21st, 2013 at 5:18 pm
Good luck with the annoying side of having finally sent the Book out into the world. At least you have Candy to keep prodding you
January 21st, 2013 at 7:05 pm
-grin- My fairy godmothers are legion! The cattle prod tends to smart a bit though.
January 21st, 2013 at 9:29 pm
And the hot poker is unpleasant too I’m sure
January 22nd, 2013 at 2:27 pm
Given the difference in our timezones, the hot poker tends to be rather chilly but that’s almost pleasant in all this heat. Um don’t tell Candy that though!
January 22nd, 2013 at 2:32 pm
Never!
A much nicer day today though I am sure you agree.
January 22nd, 2013 at 2:56 pm
It was wonderful this morning but starting to heat up now. I’m feeling righteous as I went out and did 1.5 hours of weeding!
January 21st, 2013 at 8:24 pm
Truth is, our attention span as consumers is so limited, that it is better to keep reminding someone about what you do.
January 21st, 2013 at 8:31 pm
-cries- but it’s so boring! You consumers should just pay more attention. :p
January 22nd, 2013 at 2:16 am
I feel your pain. Marketing does suck. You’re right though, once you have static author pages set up they’re done. I don’t tweet, can’t even imagine what I could say in 140 characters that would get anyone to check out my book. GAAAHHH! Where can I get one of those cattle prodding fairy godmothers?
January 22nd, 2013 at 2:25 pm
-giggles- If you can wait a few months for the madness to die down I’ll put my hand up! In the meantime I have to tell you that Candy Korman is blazing a trail for the rest of us to follow.
In fact I’m going to suggest that she should right some posts on this!
January 23rd, 2013 at 6:22 am
I think that is a GREAT idea!
January 23rd, 2013 at 10:52 am
Hey! Nice to meet you Kathryn.
I’ll start the ball rolling by telling you to get cracking with that cover. 
January 23rd, 2013 at 11:04 am
It’s me: kmtreat – I figured I wanted to have my name out there since it is going to be on the book.
January 23rd, 2013 at 11:25 am
lol – I knew it was you coz I recognized your photo! It is nice having a less formal name to relate to though. I don’t actually like my name – Andrea – which is why I think of myself as ‘Meeks’. I chose A.C.Flory because one of my favourite sci-fi writers [C.J.Cherryh] doesn’t advertise her gender either. Sci-fi is still a rather male dominated genre unfortunately.
January 23rd, 2013 at 11:36 am
lol – I had my grandson (a toddler here) this morning and then did an errand. A little brain mush going on right now and the beginnings of a headache. I decided that if I am also going to promote my book, I need to have my author name out there. I put my maiden name in there to pay homage to my parents.
And nice to meet you Andrea.
January 23rd, 2013 at 3:08 pm
I don’t have any grandchildren but I can imagine a toddler would be enough to give anyone a headache! Awfully sweet but so tiring. They never seem to stop do they?
It’s great that you’re starting to promote yourself because in a very real sense, you are your own brand, especially if you go indie.
Any hints you want to share about the book? I’m sure you’ve got a lot of people besides me curious.
January 23rd, 2013 at 5:06 pm
Soon.
January 23rd, 2013 at 6:03 pm
-grin- Ok.
January 22nd, 2013 at 8:22 am
What is your tweeter name? I’ll follow and retweet.
January 22nd, 2013 at 2:21 pm
A.C.Flory…. and thank you. I didn’t even know you were on Twitter.
Do you tweet as Ilil Arbel? I’ll look you up right now.
January 22nd, 2013 at 9:31 am
A number of years ago, when I had ZERO online presence, I entered a contest. Writers posted first one chapter, then the next & next… and site visitors voted on their favorites.
I knew my chances were slim. But, there was also a committee of editors from publishing houses (this was pre-ebook revolution) also voting for semi-finalists, etc. I made it through the first few cuts with the “professionals” but not the popular vote.
I didn’t know how to MARKET myself in this context, so I simply asked my friends to ask their friends to go to the site, sign up and vote. It was tough and humiliating, But I did what I could.
The higher I got in the ratings (due to the committee’s support) the more I became vulnerable to what the semi-finalists began to call “drive by shootings.” Around midnight EST before the day’s calculations were done, groups would swarm in and cast negative votes with low points for me and other targeted members of the remaining authors. It was scary. I’d drop in the ratings right before it counted and I felt helpless.
I was reminded of that experience when I read this article in today’s New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/21/business/a-casualty-on-the-battlefield-of-amazons-partisan-book-reviews.html?ref=business&_r=0
Amazon reviews are the wild, wild west again…
January 22nd, 2013 at 2:19 pm
Ouch and ouch.
In reverse order, the pillorying of the Michael Jackson biography is troubling because it highlights the new power of social media. Did all those so-called fans even read the book? I rather doubt it, given the speed with which the campaign was mobilized. And that leads me to think that the individuals taking part in the campaign were doing so for the rush of power it gave them, rather than through any strong belief or motivation.
Neither Amazon nor any other retailer can curb the power of social media directly, however there are things they /could/ do.
First, would be to insist that only those who have bought a book on Amazon have the right to review it [on Amazon]. At the moment, that is optional.
The second thing is to insist that all reviews feature the actual name of the reviewer. I’m quoting this from the article :
“Within two weeks, the book had nearly 100 anonymous one-star reviews…”
Being able to maintain an anonymous presence online is a ‘sacred’ tradition. Unfortunately, it allows people to indulge in the kind of behaviour they would never even contemplate in ‘real life’ where they are known and actions have consequences.
I had no idea that any of this was happening because I live in a warm, safe bubble with people I count as friends. But that may change now that I’m published. I truly hope all official sites reform their guidelines on anonymity. The wild, wild west may appear romantic now but back then it was a deadly time to be alive.