It seems, if I understand Nicholas Erik correctly (here an extended interview with him, outlining his approach to advertising on the Amazon platform), then I should be spending something between US$2000-3000 in a concerted campaign to get my work offered appropriately to a target audience. Well.
I was delighted to receive an Economic Impact Payment from Uncle Joe Biden a month ago, which I intend to use to finance the advertising campaign, commencing in about five days and running until the end of the launch day for ‘the main event’ Biome NE47 A Novel. So that’s really a mini-campaign of four days duration, which also coincides with a Kindle Direct free offering of Prequel during that interval.
I hope to have a few more readers’ reviews and comments on the Amazon platform by the time of the actual launch, and I hope the simultaneous promotion of the freebie and the actual main event will elicit some sales. But to be honest, I’m really in the dark, a faltering newbie with timidity supreme, just like the anxious hare on the cover of Prequel.
When I’ve done the promotions and seen the launch come and go, perhaps I can re-think my strategy and continue to work out better techniques so that Sequel will be more of a success when it comes out. To that end, I’m contemplating joining JerichoWriters.com formally for continued advice, now that I’ve begun testing the waters. No doubt I’m making some obvious novice errors, but I’ve found that all the various advice and opinions about how to go about this independent publishing lark are counter-productive, contributing to a general sense of malaise. Like, I’ll never figure it out unless I go for it, make my own mistakes, and then, if I’m not too bruised and battered, I can come back to it. Ah ha, I’ll muse, that didn’t work, for that reason, but if I try this, I might achieve some joy.
It’s no wonder that struggling writers want to let a publisher do all the promotions/marketing . . . it’s really daunting! And just how much do you really believe in this Biome exercise? Enough to invest thousands of dollars in the hope of a return? I suppose one can understand why publishers are so picky in taking on an author, given that they’re the ones who’ll be trying to recover their investment.
Biome NE47 