Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Marketing or reader perk ~ why can't it be both? (Read on for two good deals!)

One of the hardest parts about being a published author in the 21st century is getting found by readers. While traditionally published authors do have the advantage of *hopefully* being on bookstore shelves for their first eight weeks, e-pubbed authors and self-pubbed authors have an uphill battle from Day One.
                   
There are ten million books on Amazon ~ and that means one million total authors is probably a conservative estimate. My overall author ranking hovers between 20,000 and 30,000. That doesn't sound impressive until you do the math: I'm in the top 2-3% of all authors on Amazon.

I know how many books I sell. While I'm not satisfied, I am still climbing the mountain of success. Along the path, I need to find ways both to expose myself to new readers, and thank my loyal fans.

The best way to find new readers, in my opinion, is to give special and limited opportunities for readers to try me. One thing I have done, is lower the prices of my self-pubbed books until midnight on the Monday after I am at big events. I print postcards with the titles, prices, and deadlines, and give them out to readers who don't purchase AT the event.

I always see a bump in numbers after my appearances ~ and have found new fans as a result.

(Here comes the FIRST good deal!)

Boxed sets are big on Kindle right now, so I decided to jump on the trend and created a boxed set of my own. In "Hansens in America" I combined a father, son, and grandson's stories into one set, and priced the five books (and 500,000-ish words) at just $9.99.

This special "holiday" price will only be available until midnight on December 31st. I'm hoping my fans will spread the word, and that this encourages new readers to give me a try! My books normally sell for $5.99, so this truly is a smokin' deal.

(Here comes the SECOND good deal!)

For my fans, I wrote a novella called "In the Norseman's House" tying together the two novels which I set in Scotland: Loving the Norseman and Loving the Knight. I wrote those books to woo the Big Six publishers, but never wrote the connected story which rounds them off. Now that they are self-pubbed, I decided to write the connecting novella and give it away for free.

Anyone who takes a photo of themselves in a public place holding a sign that says, "Norway is the new Scotland! KrisTualla.com" and emails me the photo (Kris@KrisTualla.com) will receive a signed, limited edition, print copy of the novella. Eventually the novella will be available to the world, but not until my fans have a chance to get a free copy for themselves.

The bottom line is, I still need to be found. And I think the best way for me to do that, is to reward anyone who is paying attention!

So: Happy holidays to YOU ~ with love, from me. I hope you'll enjoy the gifts.


And spread the word.
Kris ;)

7 comments:

Judith Ashley said...

Very creative, Kris. I'm stunned that being between 20 and 30K on Amazon's author list means you are in the top 2 - 3% (which I think is wonderful given how great your books are).

Boxed sets do seem to be a hot item right now - do you know why that is?

Judith, who is thinking about where she can be holding the sign up...oh, first make the sign!

Kris Tualla said...

ROFL!!! :)

Sarah Raplee said...

You are my hero, Kris! I learn so much from you. Plus I love your books!

Maybe we can do the sign at Jan's Paperbacks, Judith!

Unknown said...

You have always been an inspiration for me... Where do you get all that amazing energy? As always, I love the blog post and your wonderful ideas ! V

Judith Ashley said...

Yes, we should take a picture in front of Jan's - We can make the sign at Panera's - I'll bring markers - can you bring paper?

And camera - I'll check to make sure mine's charged.

Great idea!!! See you tomorrow!

Diana McCollum said...

I love the idea of boxed sets! Anything an author can do to draw new fans is a good thing. Good luck on sales.

Diana McCollum said...

I tried to buy the boxed set for my Nook, but it wasn't available.