So it’s been a busy month for me marketing Gwen’s books (actually 5 weeks, but I treated myself to a nasty flu/cold for one of those weeks.)
I decided to focus on getting reviews, jazzing up her book website, and also a Facebook page for Gwen’s books.
The results?
- An updated author/book website featuring both books on the page and a more modern look from the previous (from last decade) site.
- A Facebook page for the “Plant Lady Mystery” series with currently over 12,000 likes and follows.
- Over 1,300 downloads of her first book.
- 20 reviews!
Total cost – under $500, but that’s because I traded labor for money, and did it all on my own – manually contacting potential reviewers, customizing the website, coordinating sales and reviews, and of course, doing all the design and copy writing. Oh, and digging into Facebook big time (for example, reading both the 1st and 3rd edition of Ultimate Guide to Facebook Marketing.) I’m guesstimating that’s solid results for about 1/10th the cost of hiring others…
High points:
- Getting 1 penny likes to the Facebook page when advertising. They didn’t last long, but it was fun to get likes at that rate. Contrasted sharply with some 25 cent ones (and higher) that I stopped ASAP (low cost Facebook marketing means constantly monitoring your account!)
- Digging into the Facebook ad system to specify exactly the types of fans we wanted, so the likes meant we were getting real cozy mystery fans and not generic ‘likes.’
- Finally getting the look of the site nailed down, including all the artwork (like logos) needed for the Facebook page (we even bought some PLM magnetic calendars for 2018 as well as promotional mugs, something we’ve talked about for years.)
- Getting about 1,300 to download Gwen’s first book for free with a call to action over five days, leading to the bulk of the reviews, some good sales of book #2, and a really solid fan base.
The effort was so much fun I’m actually considering a “soup to nuts” one stop shop for ebook authors – from cover design, manuscript editing and formatting to Facebook promotion and review solicitation, and so forth. Just a minor issue of finding the time…
Next month?
Back to my long-awaited (by me) audio app, due REAL SOON NOW. And for Gwen’s book? Time to focus on the email side of things, and build up Gwen’s email list in time for the release of book 3 – Codename: “Pear Tree.”
