My third book, THE BRIDE TOURNAMENT, releases January 7, 2016. I'm seeking cost-effective ways to get the word out. Amazon shows 1,434 historical romance releases in the past 30 days, so it can be easy to get lost in the crowd. How much time and money am I willing to spend, and how do I predict the best return on my investment?
I'm offering a Goodreads giveaway, during which members can enter to win one of three print copies. Perhaps some of those who sign up will be interested enough to buy it or one of my other books. So far 52 people have entered, with 27 days to go. My investment: Time: less than half an hour Cost: 3 paperbacks + shipping.
I'll be participating in a Facebook party on January 9 in conjunction with another author's release. Readers can stop by, chat online with authors and comment to win giveaways. I'll be hosting from 3:30-4:00. Time: half an hour to 4 hours. Cost: whatever I decide to give away.
Reviews: Tracking down reviewers can be time consuming, and costly. Publishers Weekly's BookLife doesn't charge, but doesn't accept that many books, either. I'm fortunate that my first two books were accepted. Time will tell it they'll review TBT, also.
Kirkus charges $425 with 7-9 week delivery, as does RT Review Source. There are dozens of other places, but each has a separate submission process and time frame, with no guarantee of review. There's also no guarantee that any review will be good or include a short, well-worded compliment I could use on, say, a bookmark or my website.
And it's hard to measure the impact even a great review has on potential readers. But you need some reviews if you want to participate in certain promotional publications (amounts and ranking, for example over 4 Amazon stars, vary). And I doubt many readers like coming across a book with no reviews.
Many authors say writing great books is the most important thing. I wouldn't release a book if I didn't think it was great, but will readers agree?
Stay tuned....
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