Help! I need advice on book promotion.

[James E Stanton]

I have put four of my books onto Amazon during the last few months but have not had the time to promote them.  Recently I got a very positive review from Kirkus on one of them, "Mixed Foursome: The Zach Roper Mysteries" , four novella-length 'cases' of an ex-cop wannabe Pro golfer and his sexy Thai lover and sidekick.  I want to get up a promotion on it as two of my other novels are also detective fiction...one a sequel to "Mixed Foursome".  Have been trolling the internet for ideas, but I need some direction and it looks as if Crimespace might be the place to get it.  Current status of "Mixed": recently enrolled in KDP select, no customer reviews, has sold about 50 copies since it has been out, ebook is priced at $2.99. I'm willing to put a few thousand into paid promotion, especially if there is some prospect of getting the costs back. So give me an earful....Giveaways?, adverts on Kirkus, Goodreads, Kindlenation, Kindleboards, Ereader News, the Goodyear Blimp, any damn thing.... 

 

Jim Stanton  aka M H Burton    www.mhburtonbooks.com

 

 

[Conrad Johnson]

You can always do what John Locke did and pay somebody to write 300 fake reviews for you.

[Jed Power]

I would suggest Dean Wesley Smith's website.  I don't agree with everything Dean says, but there is definitely a lot of useful information for the situation you describe.  

[I. J. Parker]

Ditto!

[Jack Getze]

I Googled "Book Promotion" and found hundreds of places, peole, and internet sites what would give you idea.

[Jude Hardin]

Write more. The best promotion for your books are your books. If you're going to continue self-publishing, your money would be better spent on quality cover art and professional editing and formatting. While paid promotion isn't the best way to boost sales, IMO, mediocre covers and poor editing are sure ways to kill them. Good luck!

[David DeLee]

I agree with Jed & I.J. Look through Dean's old blogs on promotion.

I also agree with Jude. Spend your money and time on writing, editing a great cover art. I've wasted a good chunk of the last two months looking for some promotional way to boost my sales. Following a ton of advice found on the internet and from other writers, none seem to have done anything to boost sales. So now I'm hellbent on making up the time I lost by writing.

Picture me slapping my head and saying "I should've had a V-8"

Good luck,

David DeLee

[Brian Hoffman]

1. The best first step would be to maximize you Amazons page and anything else they offer to authors.  After all, that is where readers go first.  Then maybe your website, but almost never the sites we writers like.
2. I found a good book HERE.  Making A KILLING ON KINDLE.  The author's website is very strange from my pov.

[Patrick Balester]

Hold a contest and give some books away.