A Publishing Journey
What is an author
platform and how can you get one?
If you are a new author,
getting ready to publish or one who has been published already, and you don’t
understand why your book doesn’t sell, you probably haven’t heard about author
platforms, as was the case with me when I published my first book.
Since there are dozens of
articles and posts explaining the definition of author platforms, I’ve decided
to share the personal experiences of my publishing journey with you instead.
Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes and launch a very successful writing
career.
It was in 2011 when I
finished my first novel American Charm. I was so excited about it that I
couldn’t wait to see it in print. While my test readers (only family members
back then) read it and criticized it, I researched literary agents and my
publishing options. I considered the story to be perfect because it came from
my heart, and I believed as such it deserved to be on the shelves of
bookstores. I decided to find an agent who would represent me at the major
publishing houses. I bought guidebooks, did more research online, and finally
ended up sending query letters to two prestigious agents in the business. Very
soon I had to face the reality that instead of agents fighting each other to
get hold of my manuscript, one of them rejected me politely, the other never
responded. My pride suffered, but not my enthusiasm.
Next, I did more research
and found out about Amazon KDP and Createspace self-publishing. Eager to hold
and smell my first freshly printed book, I submitted my novel to an online
editing company, paying them big bucks to bring the manuscript into shape, only
to find out a year later that they did a sloppy job. I designed the cover,
wrote a synopsis, and finally uploaded my book to Amazon but priced it way too
high. I didn’t want to be compared to other self-published authors. I thought
myself better. Stupid of me. Then I shared the link with my three hundred
friends on Facebook, believing that they would promote it for me and the news
about my newly published book would spread like wildfire. Oh boy, how wrong I
was!
While I wanted the world
to stop and for everybody to concentrate on my super-duper amazing story, and
download, review and share it, I received a monthly report with only a dozen
sales. My husband encouraged me,
saying that, considering that I’m Hungarian and English is my second language,
the fact that I convinced a dozen people my book was worth their money is
pretty incredible. But I wanted more. I just didn’t know how to get it. Soon I
became torn between spending my limited time working on a sequel or promoting
myself. I started to read articles about successful self-pub authors with great
envy, hoping to learn a trick or two, but whatever I tried only boosted sales
momentarily.
But I kept going. I
reached out to local papers and review companies, and created a little buzz
once more. The book started to sell, then the sales died down again. Finally I
gave up on self-promotion and concentrated on writing, believing that either my
story or my writing style was not good enough. I wanted to get better.
Four months later I
published a short novella, and by early next year the second volume of American Charm. I knew I was not going
to break the bank with the new releases, but I believed I had to continue the
story for those who enjoyed my first book.
However, as time went by
I never stopped collecting information about self-publishing successes, so by
the time I finished my fourth book, Fields
of Elysium, I had a well-detailed marketing plan. Due to the fact that Fields of Elysium is a young-adult
romantic fantasy, a different genre from my first series, I decided to change
my author name and start afresh. I even un-published my previous novels because
they are nowhere near to my new standards, but I’m planning to revise them.
Fields of Elysium was completed, proofread, and edited by a retired
English professor, test-read, designed and had a cover and synopsis. I only had
to start building my author platform, bring awareness to my book, and create a
demand for it. I opened an account on Goodreads and started a two-month-long
ARC book giveaway. By the time the novel was published, close to a thousand
people marked it ‘to-read.’
I submitted it to
professional review companies, like Kirkus Reviews, Readers Favorite, Reader
Views Kids, Young Adult and Teen Readers, etc. to gain creditability through
their respected opinions. Then I started to send queries to book bloggers and
book clubs, humbly asking them to accept a free hardcopy of my book in exchange
for an honest review. When I ran out of books (you have to watch your budget),
I offered free e-books. Truth be told, hardcopies were more popular than
e-books.
In the meantime, I bugged
the life out of my already existing Facebook friends and fans with news of my
upcoming hot release. Surprisingly I received positive feedback. The number of
my fans started to increase, so I began to post giveaways, funny posts,
romantic posts, etc., aware that I’m not really good at connecting with fans
through social media sites.
With the growing
awareness about my book on Goodreads and Facebook, I started to receive
five-star reviews from professionals.
The big day came. Fields of Elysium was published. Knowing
my former sales numbers, I was very pleased to see the first monthly report.
But my job was not nearly done. I reached out to other authors in the same
genre; we did author exchange reviews, along with promoting each other’s work
and exchanging information.
I’m still new to the
business and I learn something everyday, such as how effective book blast and
blog tours can be; how important it is to join forces with similar authors and
do joint promotions; and even how to price your book right.
I have learned over the past two years
that building your author platform takes time and it’s necessary for
traditionally published and indie authors equally. Visibility and proven reach
(number of fans, comments on your posts, reviews, target-audience posts and
interactions, etc.) are what agents and readers look at first before they
invest in you. You have to be open to new approaches, reach out and help fellow
authors, open Facebook, Twitter, Google+ accounts, set up a Goodreads page to
increase your book’s visibility. Create a trailer, join book clubs as a reader
not a writer, reach out to bloggers, reading communities, and above all never
give up.
I still have a lot to
learn, but I never stop browsing the web for new ideas. After every book I
published I learned something new, and I do better with each book launch. Today
I know that it’s not enough to start building awareness of your book two months
in advance, because receiving reviews and organizing book blasts and blog tours
take months.
I hope you will learn
from my mistakes, and will be patient and won’t rush into publishing your book.
If you plan to write a series, I highly recommend finishing the second and
third books before you publish the first one. You will still have time to
polish them, or rewrite parts between publications, but that’s still less work
than trying to write an entire novel in a timely fashion while you spend
six-teen hours a day on the computer to promote your first book.
And I leave the most
important thing for last. It doesn’t matter how much money or how many hours
you spend on building your author platform if your book doesn’t talk to the
readers. All successful authors – fiction or non-fiction – have one thing in
common: they were all able to strike an emotional chord in the readers; and
their books were most likely well edited and proofread as well. It’s not an
easy thing to do; otherwise every book would be a bestseller
A.B.Whelan is a Hungarian born, American writer. She currently lives with her husband and two children in Southern California.
While
growing up in a wealthy Eastern European family, she had a chance to
travel Europe. Later as an adult, she visited Africa and the Middle East
and lived in Ecuador and in Crete.
Website * Facebook * Twitter
$25 Tour Giveaway
Ends 5/15/13
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer
http://www.iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The Circle
Calum Ranson is sure of three things: his cousin Finley is alive, Calum will find him, and no one knows Calum and his family are Sidhe. No one until Laurel shows up at his mother's bookstore wearing a dark clan's mark. When Calum learns the details surrounding the disappearance of Laurel's brother, he suspects the evil Hobayeth clan. Calum and Laurel work together in the Realm of Man and the Otherworld to rescue her brother - revealing a connection between Calum and Laurel that may cost Finley his life.
