The Ups and Downs of Self-Publishing (a.k.a. I Need Your Help!)

Hey!

So, I wanted to tell you a little bit about the ups and downs of self-publishing, and offer a way that YOU (who are so wonderfully supportive and have read and loved my book) can help AND get a free signed paperback in return.

I *love* self-publishing. Like with my whole heart. I love that I am in control of the entire creative process as well as the business end of things. I decide what the cover looks like (or, well, really you do because I CANNOT make a decision), the price, when it’s released, when to put it on sale, etc. And I get a MUCH higher percentage of the proceeds as an indie author than I would going traditional. I *love* that…because I’d like to be able to make a living as a writer.

I work hard to create a high quality product—a clean, polished, well-told story that is laid out/formatted neatly and wrapped in a shiny, professional-looking cover. I do a lot of it myself and I have people to do the things I can’t (like story and line editing, copy editing, and proofreading). I’ve found that it’s a serious advantage to be in control of and responsible for every part of the process.

Which brings me to the disadvantage of self-publishing: I am responsible for EVERY part of the process. Like marketing. There’s no marketing team out there spreading the word and selling my book for me. But there IS a fabulous book blogging community that I’ve been  warmly welcomed by (thank you!), and they are probably the best way to get exposure for a new book. It would be virtually impossible to get the word out without them.

These past few months I’ve been marketing like CRAZY because I want Intangible to do well—I want people to hear about it and read it. (And pine for book two.)  ;-) In that time I’ve contacted over 750 book bloggers and more than 400 have expressed interest in reading and reviewing Intangible (again, THANK you!).  Already 100 of those lovely bloggers have posted reviews online, helping to spread the word to their followers as well as people on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. (Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!)

(Those are crazy numbers, I know…but really, I’m trying to get the word out about my book to millions of possible readers. On my own. It’s bound to take some craziness.)

So I’m working hard to get the word out, but I still need more exposure. And that’s where YOU can help. :-)

How, you ask? Like this:

1. Pick a date.
2. Spread the word about Intangible. Tweet, blog, chat, text…heck, maybe even do something crazy like talk to people about it. ;-)
3. If there are at least 10 ebook sales on your date, I’ll send you a signed paperback of Intangible. Free!

Simple, yes?

Now the small print:
1. If the date you’ve chosen is already taken, I’ll ask you to pick another.
2. I have to use ebook sales because they are accounted for immediately. I can’t count paperbacks sold on Amazon because it’s impossible for me to tell what date someone ordered the paperback. However, I will count any paperbacks purchased directly from my store on this site. So the total for a given day will be the sum of ebooks sold on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, plus ANY books (paper or ebooks) sold on my site.
3. Just as an FYI, I typically sell several ebooks a day, so it won’t take much more to make it to 10 on any particular day.
4. I need to limit this to the US only for right now, and I’m sorry to do that. It’s just that international shipping charges are a wee bit too steep for me at this point. (However, with more success I’ll be better able to afford international shipping . . . so, here’s hoping!)
5. You can play as many times as you like. No limits. Get a free book for you, get one for a friend, get one for your library!

So, if you want to play, shoot me an email telling me which date you’d like to claim: j (AT) jmeyerbooks (DOT) com.

And thank YOU so very much for helping to spread the word! :-)

Have a great day, everyone!