write « Robin Writes

Since there was so much interest last week, I’m expanding the topic of marketing and adding some information that a fellow author sent me.

He has had an incredible uptick in sales since using some of these sites, and, as a service to all of you, I decided to test a couple of them myself, to see if it was merely a fluke, or perhaps you might want to give it a whirl too.

All of these sites involved paid promotion—and some of you will say you can’t afford it. That may well be true, but like any business, you have to spend a bit to make money. Let’s start with looking at some figures:

On one of these sites, the first one I’m testing, the cost is $25. The email blast/blog/RSS goes to 700,000 people; the cost is about .00004 per view. That’s pretty darn cheap.

Of course, not everyone will actually read it, some won’t be interested in my book, and some will forget. Some readers may even not order it for weeks or months. But, since my Kindle version is priced at .99, I’ll earn about .50 per copy sold—if I sell 50 books, I break even.

My author friend’s book did much, much better. We shall see. And I’ll update you next week!

If I sell fewer than 50 books, that’s still however many books in the hands of readers who will talk about it, maybe review it. I’m still selling, and I’m still getting promotional value.

And one more thing—a number of sales in a short period also usually results in additional sales even after the promotion. Now, no one can guarantee this, but it’s often proven to be the case.

Here are the sites he recommends, after a year of research and documentation:

Some of these have had better results than other, of course, and it’s going to depend on the author, the book, the genre, and so forth. But this list is a good start for everyone, I think.

As I said, I’m testing them—the first promo I’m doing is on January 30 with Kindle Books & Tips—and I’ll let you know how it works out!

Well, first I get up. I mean, doesn’t everyone? Then I get coffee. Again, doesn’t everyone? And then I work—my job, business, whatever you want to call it. All the promo, answering emails, checking my calendar. Oh, and social media and reading the news. Usually I eat breakfast: two slices of bacon.

And take my drugs. Legal ones, that is. Blood pressure meds, because the doc insisted; I did talk him down from 40mg to 20mg. I don’t take everything at once. I’m weird. I space them out. The thought of all of them rolling around in my stomach at once makes me feel a little icky.

And of course, by now, I’ve had a second and maybe a third cup of coffee. Well, my husband doesn’t call the stuff I drink “coffee.” It’s that instant orange cappuccino. Love it. Get crabby without it.

Snack time: homemade granola. In case fish oil—blech— doesn’t bring down my cholesterol. In the summer, I might substitute a smoothie. Not one of those gross “throw all the green crap in the blender” smoothies, but one made with fruit and low-fat frozen yogurt. See, I’m not a complete heathen.

At some point, and I shoot for 9:00 but it doesn’t always happen, I shower and dress. Usually sweats, unless I’m going somewhere, but still. It counts. Oh, if I’m going somewhere? Jeans and boots. I have a reputation, you know.

I do aerobics throughout the day (often while waiting for coffee) and stretches and some special exercises for the parts that are getting creaky. I take a walk as long as the temp is above 32 and I play soccer with the puppy outside. I also walk to the mailbox.

The rest of the my morning is spent answering more emails, messages, filling orders, and editing/formatting. In between, I jump up and do the dishes, make the bed, clean a little, pick up cat and dog messes, etc.

Glamorous and exciting, no? “No” is indeed the correct answer here.

After lunch (leftovers), I often take a nap. I’ve already put in about 6 hours at this point, and I don’t really sleep well at night. I thought I was just being a lazy bum until I tracked my sleep time for a month. Turns out that I get 7 1/2 hours of sleep each day—WITH a nap! Yay, justification!

From 2:00 or 2:30, I drink more coffee, take care of family and household stuff, and then I work some more. I finally, finally got to the point where I try to shut it down by 6:00 p.m. After dinner, we mostly just watch TV, unless I have an event or something. Movies. The fewer rating stars, the better!

During that, I’m usually on the phone, finishing up a few things or texting for a bit. Not much of a bit. Texting tends to annoy me unless it’s a quick note. I do NOT like texting conversations—just call me already!

So that’s the long, extended, boring version of my workdays. Six days a week. The only variation is if I have an errand or two to run, an appointment of some sort, or just feel like doing something different.

I’d like to say, “And on the seventh day, she rested,” but that wouldn’t be strictly true. I try to do “nothing,” but somehow all the daily tasks still fall to me. And while I do write during the week, a couple days at least, Sunday is my blogging day, the day I Google myself to make sure there’s nothing, er, embarrassing out there, and the day we often drive out and look for our future property.

Gee, I sound like an old fogey—Sunday drives! And now that I write it all down, my life does sound extremely dull. So let’s think for a moment. What else do I like to do?

I like to dance. Once in a while, we put on music and pour the wine and dance in the living room. Good luck getting my husband to actually go anywhere to do this. Of course, we’re better at it if we’re drinking, like everyone, right? Unless it’s ballroom—yes, we do ballroom dancing. We took lessons a while back, for a solid year. Our instructor was 90 years old—he could dance circles around me!

I also play the guitar and the organ and do leather crafting. And I garden; well, not right now, but soon! I do a lot of cooking—from scratch—love to cook. I bake and I can or dehydrate the stuff I grow.

Oh, yes, of course I read—I have over 1,000 books, even if the majority of my reading these days consists of manuscripts. But I read books sometimes 2-3 times, and I never, ever give them away.

And I shoot. I can hit the target too. Generally in the center.

We camp often, March through October at least. I like to try to make “regular stuff” over the fire, especially in cast iron. And yes, we camp in a tent. We have firebuckets and a handwashing station—good ol’ Girl Scout training. We hike and sit around the fire and sometimes play our “special” version of a parachute game . . .

So, what do YOU like to do? How do you spend your days?