Somebody PLEASE Calm me down.

[qwlauren35]

I want to shoot these people. I am so absolutely, completely upset.

I paid $1000 for a press-release for my book. I was told that it would go out on May 14th, along with the website. It's August.

But that's not why I'm mad.

They put the website up 1-2 weeks ago, and the ecommerce doesn't work. I have repeatedly pointed this out, and have gotten nowhere. BUT, as long as no traffic was directed to the website, I could just have people go to Amazon.com....


Today, they put out the press release. They didn't tell me. I found out because I occasionally do a Google search to see what comes up. A news outlet in Nebraska ran it. And in the press release, it says that if you want to buy the book, you go to the website. But you can't buy the book on the website, because the e-commerce doesn't work.

$1000 for a worthless press release that will generate ZERO sales.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sent them the angriest, ugliest e-mail imaginable. I actually used foul language. I copied the president of the company.

And they have responded. They said the website was working this morning. Well, gawd-dammit it's not working now.

I just got a call. They are fixing it. I swear.

[elleng]

1. DAMN!

IF I were practicing law, I'd take it up for you.

FIX IT GOOD!!!

[elleng]

2. Do you have a copy of the press release?

One that others, such as I, could post around???

[qwlauren35]

3. Here's a Link

https://rivercountry.newschannelnebraska.com/story/47127561/author-lauren-wilson-announces-new-book-afrobougie-blues-a-collection-of-short-fiction-twelve-occasionally-edgy-yet-relatable-stories


And here's the text:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Author Lauren Wilson Announces New Book "Afro-Bougie Blues: A Collection of Short Fiction" - Twelve Occasionally Edgy, Yet Relatable Stories.

Lauren Wilson, first-time author, announces the release of her new book, “Afro-Bougie Blues: A Collection of Short Fiction.” Afro-Bougie Blues is a collection of twelve short stories of ordinary black women and men meeting life challenges. Each story portrays a unique scenario, with the primary character encountering a challenge like no other. This book allows the readers to see life from a different point of view.

Afro-Bougie Blues is written from the perspective of an African American feminist baby boomer who, while growing up, experienced life in the middle-class suburbs of Washington, DC. These twelve stories are an extension of her experiences and observations over the span of the past 15 years. The stories consist of various themes such as family, obesity, parenting, death, and abortion.

The book is available on Kindle along with the Hardcover format consisting of 102 pages written in the English language.

Lauren Wilson has been writing poetry and prose off and on for over 40 years. She began to pursue this passion in order to commemorate a cousin who passed away at the age of 19. She believes it is her inner voice that inspires her to write everything from her heart. This will be the first book she brings to the public eye.
Lauren believes her book can have a positive impact on the lives of her readers and that they will be able to see things from a different angle. To learn more about the author and her book, check out her website here. (www.afrobougieblues.com)

To purchase the book, please visit here. (https://afrobougieblues.com/book-options/)

[elleng]

4. THANKS!

[qwlauren35]

9. It's up to 160 now.

Let's see. How did I do it.

Before I launched, I contacted everyone I could think of, told them I would be launching, and asked if they could help me promote the book by forwarding my info once I was live on Amazon. By *everyone*, I mean every cousin on 3 sides of the family, every friend from 30 years ago, every sorority sister, just EVERYONE. I contacted about 500 people.

I also put together a team of 20 reviewers and gave them advance PDF/ePub copies of my book to read so that they could post reviews on Amazon, B&N and GoodReads. Then I launched. (Kindle, paperback, hardback on Amazon.com) I'd say that was the source of about 25 Amazon sales. 10 of my reviewers came through, and other friends reviewed the book as well, so I ended up with 20 reviews, almost all 4 or 5 stars.

Then I started advertising on book promotion sites. Here's a good source for a list, https://kindlepreneur.com/list-sites-promote-free-amazon-books/. I tried almost every one of them. Unfortunately, not strategically. What I should have done was made sure that I listed on each book promotion site on a different day so that I could tell which ones generated sales. Each book promotion site cost between $5-$50. Typically, I would get two ebook sales, with a profit of $1 each. It was very discouraging, but I kept at it.

I had a party with some friends and they bought 10 books. I count them. By mid-July, I had sold 100 books. I then found out about BookBub ads, and started running those. I got about 2 sales from Bookbub, so I gave up. I also contacted about 30-50 #bookstagrammers and asked them to consider my book. One wrote back. She's going to post my book on her blog next month... if she likes it.

In early August I tried a GoodReads Giveaway. 500 people signed up for 10 chances at a free ebook. I think I got about 20 sales from that.

Last week, I decided to throw some more money down the drain and re-did the book promotion sites, each on a different day. And I lowered the price from $2.99 to $0.99. The lower price and the 20 positive reviews enabled me to get accepted by some additional book promotion sites. I've sold anywhere from one - five books almost every day over the past week. So now I'm up to 160.

At any rate, that's how I did it. I just kept throwing money at it.

There are MANY people advertising themselves as Brand Coaches, or people who offer to market your book for you, for anywhere from $1000 to $4000. You really should have your own website, and you should be gathering e-mails. I'm not because I don't intend to write another book. It's also why I haven't invested in developing a brand. To me, my book is my brand. However, there are a lot of people who want to know about the author, so you have to put yourself out there. You should have an author page on Amazon and GoodReads.

I have a publisher. I have given them about $4000. For that, I have gotten editing and proofing (they did a terrible job and there was no *critique*), loading onto Amazon, B&N, Kobo (that didn't work) and Ingramspark (that didn't work)- you need Ingramspark for wholesaling to other bookstores and libraries. They created my website - which took them 4 months because I insisted on little tweaks, and some big stuff. Feel free to take a look - www.afrobougieblues.com - they did the ugliest cover imaginable, which I rejected and found my own cover for, they ordered books for me to have on hand so I could sell through the website, including 30 hardcover books - a complete waste of money. They launched a press release to 500 outlets this morning, even though the website ecommerce wasn't working. ONE news outlet has picked up the story. Waste of $1000. It's quite possible that other outlets were going to run the story but chose not to because the ecommerce on the website wasn't working, and they wanted to check it before they ran the story. I'll never know.

I am doing a second press release on the 29th to black news agencies. With any luck, the website will be PERFECT in time for the second press release. My goal is to sell 250 books in all media which is average for an Indie book. I've heard that selling 800 copies "gets you noticed" and I need to sell 2000 print copies to break even, which will never happen.

Hope that helps.

[keithbvadu2]

13. Sounds interesting

A senior enlisted man gave me a copy of his book. He started life in a dysfunctional family, father mostly missing, himself most likely headed for jail. Raised by his grandmother. She had to lock the food in the trunk of her car because her other two unemployed sons would eat it before any more money came in for the month. I told him we have some of the same relatives. Different skin color, different names. Same people. He recognized his path and joined the military. He has done quite well.

[GP6971]

7. Welcome to DU! n/t

[Apollo Zeus]

8. I just went to your website

I was able to put a book in my cart and start the checkout process so that seems good.

It doesn't say anything about a shipping charge so $12.99 with free shipping (?) seems quite reasonable.

I'm getting close to launching my first book and it has been a learning curve. Feels like I am wearing all the hats at the moment -- the book is now printed as a proof and review copy and will go through at least one more proof. It helps that I have a background in publicity, press relations and marketing but the world of royalties and book distribution is new to me. I am debating whether to pay for reviews -- the first ones, professional reviews, not ringers. Also debating whether to try to get a real publisher or just stay with self-publishing as was my original plan. I expect to make some mistakes releasing the first one and hopefully do better on the next one.

But your site seems to work and I see pick-up for your press release at "Daily Herald"

Wishing you thousands of sales!

[qwlauren35]

10. I have a friend who is preparing to launch.

A few things...

Ask every friend, acquaintance, neighbor, relative you can to review the book and post reviews on Amazon/B&N/ GoodReads. 10-20 good reviews is a good start.

It's good to have a website that you can use to sell the book and collect e-mail addresses.

A professional, editorial review is a good idea. Manybooks.com does them for $79. Not sure how good they are. BookViral does them for $248, they are in the UK. There's Kirkus, and Reedsy. Kirkus of course is the most reputable and the most expensive.

Hunting around, finding a REALLY GOOD publisher and paying them for marketing is probably better than doing it yourself. But you really have to hunt. I went for price, and have gotten very badly burned. $4000 is the going rate. It should include website development/management, social media presence/management, press release, video, and a few other things.

In the seminars that I've seen, there has been talk about creating a brand. I think that makes sense if you expect to sell more than one book. Paying someone to help you brand yourself may be worth it. I've also heard that if you're writing fiction, you have to be offering a unique experience that the reader will get from your book. If you're writing non-fiction, you have to be solving a problem for someone. I think that's part of the brand.

The big thing - do NOT rush to launch. Even if you think you're ready, put it off a bit more until every duck is in a row. Have your reviewers lined up. Have your social media linked to Facebook and Spotify so you can sell. Have the most beautiful, eye-catching individualized cover - that fits every aspect of your book. And have the most awesome book you can write - that meets someone's need. Have your author pages in place on Amazon and GoodReads. There is oh so much that should be done pre-launch so that you can hit the ground running.

But the biggest thing - expect to spend more than you make, and make sure that you consider it worth doing. Most books don't sell. You have to know that going in.

[qwlauren35]

19. Hmmm...

I saw some errors, but I will let others proof it for you.

Please consider going to www.thenextbigwriter.com and loading your chapters there. I am a member, and it has been a godsend. You pay a yearly fee of something like $40. Completely worth it. In order for others to review you, you must review others. I suggest that you find 5 people who are writing similar things and offer to review their work in exchange.

They will rip it apart. They will go line by line and edit, make suggestions, recommend different words. They will look at the feel and the flow and give feedback. They are THE BEST.

Plus they have forums with information about what people have done/tried/found/experienced. You can read, you can ask questions.

I cannot say enough how beneficial that $40 was.

[Apollo Zeus]

20. Will definitely check out nextbigwriter

thanks again

[qwlauren35]

18. Yes, it looks like Paypal is working.

I bought a book. It went through. You're right - there is no shipping cost. I think it costs about $5 to ship the book, and it comes out of my profit. I was super concerned about shipping, so I am glad that it's free.

According to the publisher, MC/Visa will be fixed on Monday. They tried to fix it Friday but the system kept crashing. I am COMPLETELY pissed. I have sold NOTHING. I can track the sales through Paypal. NOTHING!

I have seen the story show up in 4 media outlets now. I am not impressed with this $1000.

[keithbvadu2]

11. We have YOUR money ($1,000). Things are going well.

We have YOUR money ($1,000). Things are going well.

[thinkingagain]

12. I just place a purchase suggestion

With my local library with any luck they will buy several copies😊. It may be with Amazon if they do but it be a sale.
Wish you luck in your sales.

[mopinko]

14. set a notification on google.

you'll get an email any time your name comes up.
sorry they're fucking w you. lots of parasites out there feeding on ppl's dreams.

[qwlauren35]

15. DONE!

What a great idea! Thank you so much!

[mopinko]

16. you're welcome.

hope it all works out.