So I am publishing my novel, Tollesbury Time Forever, as an ebook on Kindle!

All very exciting!

I am now exploring ways to develop interest and would really appreciate any advice anyone may have.

I have started a blog:
http://tollesburytimeforever.blogspot.com/

and developed a website:
http://www.stuartayrisbooks.co.uk/

The cover is complete and I am 90% through the final edit.

What I need to know is what else can I do to give it the best chance of selling??

Thank you!

Stu

I can recommend an excellent book, Stu - 'Wannabee a writer i've heard of' by Jane Wenham-Jones, jam-packed full of advice about getting yourself out there and known, once your book is published. It's about £9.99.

Bood luck with it.

Thank you so much Petal! Will definitely check it out - now if I can sell five copies of Tollesbury Time Forever then I would have made a profit after buying the book you recommend! Commerce in action!!

Stu

Bood luck with it

Is that New phrase? Teach me.


All the best, Stu

Thank Mox!

I need all the bluck I can get!

Stu

Yes, the Jane Wenham-Jones book is excellent, and there's also Alison Brackenbury's Marketing Your Novel, which is a little more staid but also very thorough.

Best of luck with it!

Emma

Thank you Emma! This is all great fun!

The problem with ebook publishing is that you don't have a physical book to send out for reviews or to take into local bookshops or stack up on a table while you give a talk about it. And, as I discovered after I'd put The Winter House on Kindle, you can't even give it as a gift if you're in the UK.

I think (and I'm only guessing, because sales are anonymous) that social networking is one of the best ways to promote ebooks. To be honest, I can't get the hang of Twitter, but I think I've sold quite a few copies via Facebook, and I'm total crap at promoting it.

If you're on FB, look up Anne Brooke (who many on here will know). She publishes in hard copy as well as ebook, but she really knows how to get her novels in front of buyers.

Good luck,

Dee

Hi Dee!

Thanks for that great advice. Twitter is a bit of a mystery to me too! I know what you mean about not having the physical book but I have weighed up the advantages and disadvantages and feel the benefits of publishing Tollesbury Time Forever as an ebook at this stage far outweigh any negatives.

I will check out Anne Brook too!

Thanks again!

Stu

Hi Stu,

I completely agree with you about the advantages, particularly the control you have and the absence of middle people. You write the book, you publish it, you get all the income (well, 70%, which is more than any 'normal' return, I believe), and you stand or fall by your own work. You don't have to wait years for a publication slot, and you can have your book in the public domain for as long as you want, without it being dependent on the fnancial whims of publishers or bookshop managers.

I'm more than happy with Kindle Direct Publishing... and the only reason TWH doesn't sell better is my own failings at promotion. And, I have to say, I'd do much better at that if I was trying to live on the income!

Dee

And you get to involve the people that matter! My son has helped with the website and my wife has painted the cover. Just feels so much more like it should - particularly when Tollesbury Time Forever is about a man in search of a simple life!

I'll keep an eye out for it

Thanks Dee!

I may even remind you when it's out as part of my hard hitting publicity campaign! (which will probably consist mainly of the word 'please'!)

Stu
http://www.stuartayrisbooks.co.uk/