Story Cartel Promotion Process Details

Story CartelLast week I shared some details about setting up my promotion at Story Cartel. I’d like us all to see what an author gets for a $25 investment (which, if I recall correctly, includes Story Cartel giving copies to the winners of a drawing, meaning the author doesn’t shell out on the back end, only the front end. I’ll confirm this detail for you by the end of this series.)

Today, the details of the promotion itself: the messages we used, how often we used them, and the response we’ve gotten.

The Messages

Here are the messages we used. Twitter has its 140-character limit, so I wrote 3 short ones to fit that, and when I realized one of them was perfect for longer-format networks as well, only wrote 1 more long one. Twitter benefits from more frequent posting, which is why we created more short messages than long. Continue reading “Story Cartel Promotion Process Details”

The Story (Cartel) Continues

Story CartelUpdate on my Story Cartel launch. My goal is to share every detail I can so you can see what would work for you.

Last Monday we sent out a special edition of the newsletter, and posted the same content here at the blog. We had launched the download at Story Cartel on Friday so we’d have the page’s URL for the post and newsletter.

By Monday morning, 9 Story Cartel members had already downloaded the book. This was before the newsletter and post went live.

The day of our launch, 9 more people downloaded the book; 6 of them newsletter subscribers. (One of the earlier downloaders is also a fan who follows everything I do closely, but I’m still pleased they discovered my launch on their own.)

According to Story Cartel’s data for average downloads per review, the 18 downloads shouldn’t result in any reviews. Continue reading “The Story (Cartel) Continues”

An Offer You Can’t Refuse

Special edition post; I’ll keep it brief and direct.

Get a free digital copy of A Long, Hard Look at Story Cartel. Write a review, and you’re entered to win a print copy.

More importantly (to me) you’ll be spreading the word about my writing, and giving me honest feedback on my latest book.

Don’t say no.

Download it right here: http://storycartel.com/books/a-long-hard-look/

Free: Here, There . . . Everywhere?

How much free is good for your marketing?

I’ve written bunches about using “free” as a marketing tool. Generosity is your greatest marketing tool. Don’t use it sparingly; spread it around like manure and watch things grow.

Generosity and free aren’t the same thing. Generous can include over-delivering on what you were paid to do. I’ve had generous helpings of fish at our favorite chippy in St. Paul. Paid for, but still generous. When you hire me to help with your writing and publishing, generosity will be ladled over you like gravy. Good white gravy like we make in Texas for your sausage and biscuits; that kind of generous.

mailboxes

My newsletter is also an act of generosity, one which also happens to be free. Membership, though, is stalled out at 140 of you good folks. When we hit that magic number, a couple people unsubscribe, and then someone else finds me and we roll back up to one Tweet’s worth.

One thing I realized is that the signup form simply offers “more information.” Not the most enticing offer, perhaps. I considered giving away something more; a whole book, maybe?

Continue reading “Free: Here, There . . . Everywhere?”

Who Are You Writing For? (It Isn’t Really Either/Or)

I should turn that into a song, eh?

vegComes up sometimes in discussion boards: write for yourself and find artistic fulfillment, or write for your audience and sell books?

Here’s what comes up in the research of Chip and Dan Heath, experts in the brain science of decision-making: avoid either/or thinking when making decisions. Consider more than two opposing options.

Today, consider taking a page from CompSci (that’s computer science for the 99.9% of you who’ve managed to elude its evil grasp.)

But first, let’s make soup. Continue reading “Who Are You Writing For? (It Isn’t Really Either/Or)”

When They Say “What’s Your Book About?” You Say . . .

does this make my pants look big?90% of the folks who discover you’re a writer will find a quick escape route, or feign boredom. (I tell myself it’s feigned because that’s less painful.)

The few who don’t flee just might ask the one and only question a reader really cares about:

“What’s your book about?”

Just like the question “Do these pants make my backside look big?” this question has nothing to do with the actual factual answer, it is an emotional plea for reassurance. Continue reading “When They Say “What’s Your Book About?” You Say . . .”

Do One Thing

waterfallDrip. Drip. Drip.

Water wears away stone by constancy, not power, not volume.

Marketing with a long vision will serve you better than looking for short-term sales.

Every day, do one thing to market yourself as an author, or to learn more about successful marketing. Here are 20 ideas to get you started: Continue reading “Do One Thing”

The Difference Between Price and Value and Why it Has Nothing to Do with Your Book

a new pathWhen I read Richard Halliburton’s first book, The Royal Road to Romance it altered how I think about the process of living. Though it is as far from a business book as you can get, it is one reason I make a good living doing things I love.

Another reason (and, to contradict what I said above, even less of a business book) is Dr. Seuss’ unknown classic I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew. A youngster, plagued by problems, sets out for Solla Sollew, “where they never have troubles, at least, very few.” The lesson he learns, again, triggered new thinking and new actions, a different path in life.

At the other end of the spectrum, I own 3/4 of Donald Knuth’s indispensable The Art of Computer Programming and haven’t made it past the first few chapters of book one (the engagingly entitled Fundamental Algorithms, which I assure is dead sexy to Knuth’s target audience.)

Continue reading “The Difference Between Price and Value and Why it Has Nothing to Do with Your Book”

The Endless Drip Drip Drip

drip, drip, dripWelcome to the first official Marketing Monday post. Yeah, I’m gonna give it a shot.

It’s human nature to go for big wins. It’s good science to go for the power of small wins.

Most progress occurs incrementally, not exponentially. (Real change, on the other hand, vice versa.)

Are you looking for ways to make a big splash with your marketing? Looking to sell hundreds of copies the day you launch? Continue reading “The Endless Drip Drip Drip”