Category The Writing Process

Sharing Marketing Results – Goodreads, Bookfunnel, & Substack

Gary Nilsen Leave a comment

(A video version of this post can be found at: https://www.instagram.com/p/DcpI303PNVM/)

If you’ve published a book either through the self-publishing process or through a small, indy publisher, then you know how difficult it is to make your work discoverable given that Amazon publishes nearly 10,000 books a day. I still shake my head when I consider that number. Four million books a year. It used to be a rarity to find someone who had actually achieved the goal of writing one.

The sick thing is that on one hand it’s Amazon’s fault for creating a platform from which anyone can publish a book ten seconds after they write THE END, and yet they hold the largest market share for selling books. I’ve seen stats that claim Amazon accounts for nearly 70% of eBook sales and almost half of all print copies. It’s extremely frustrating for those of us who polish and polish our work, utilize developmental editors, line editors, and proofreaders before daring to expose our work to the world. It’s getting harder to distinguish the wheat from the chaff.

Your book is now out or about to be released; you figure the hard part is now complete, only to discover the challenge of marketing that book. It’s a labyrinthine nightmare. Building platforms with a website, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok/BookTok, Substack, YouTube all the while swatting away the scores of daily emails from scammers, each with a Gmail account offering to get you recognition and sales. Success requires trial and error using ads and boosting posts, doing promotions and giveaways.

Having said that, I thought I would share some results, or the lack thereof, with a couple of programs that I thought would pan out. I am truly curious to hear back from writers if they have had any measurable success with these.

First and foremost: Goodreads. I’ve maintained an author profile on Goodreads since 2011 when I timidly published my first short story. Then in 2016 my debut novel was published. I did a Goodreads Giveaway then and got some sales and some coveted reviews. Fast forward 10 years, after a writing hiatus, and two more of my books were published. I’ve always considered Goodreads as the go-to place for all things books, the place where readers and authors would connect. I created two campaigns, one for each book, giving away 10 copies of each in print format. I was super encouraged that each book had well over 3,000 requests for the Giveaway. Reviews had already started appearing on Amazon for each and my thinking was that these two campaigns would underwrite a sales drive once the winners were announced. Goodreads maintains that they suggest to each winner that a review would be welcomed by the author – indeed! In simple math, I thought that of 6,798 requests that weren’t winners might pursue obtaining a copy from either Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, or even my own website store – not all, but maybe a small percentage. The actual result? Zero sales and one review. Looking back at my author dashboard, there are 5,642 people who have the books listed as “to-read” and yet only one person seems to be doing so.

Now I get not everyone will like every book every author writes, but both books were being received well – mostly four or five stars – with a couple of awards here and there. Scratching my head, I can only surmise that the Goodreads platform, as it is today, is filled with a number of readers who use the Giveaway program to get free books. If they don’t win, they just move on to any of the other thousands of books that become available. Whatever drove them to request a copy, whether they were drawn to the cover or to the blurb describing the book wasn’t sufficient for a call to action once the Giveaway ended.

Worse still was the feeling of having egg on my face for my response to the winners. For one book, the first in a new series, I sent the book with a bookmark and a thank you note.

The other book, since it was the second in a series, I went so far as to send a free copy of the print book along with the book they won just to enhance their reading experience.

The total cost for the two programs which included printing, mailing supplies, bookmarks, thank you cards, postage (rates to Canada are horrific), and the Goodreads fees (you have to pay for a Giveaway promotion) came to $741.76. Return on Investment? Zero. The disappointment is palpable.

Another attempt at marketing was opening accounts with Bookfunnel and Substack. Bookfunnel is a platform to help independent authors and small publishers in delivering eBooks and audiobooks to readers. First you create a universal book link for each eBook title you upload. From there you can engage in promotions of which there are two basic kinds: sales promos and newsletter promos. Promos for sale are created that might include specific genre references you can join. Newsletter promos are to help in establishing and building an email list by having someone get a free copy of your book in exchange for an email address. Each kind of promo requires an entrant to post their participation at least once by linking the promo in their newsletter or blog. Hence my new account at Substack, a well-regarded platform to send posts, podcasts, and videos to your subscribers. The email addresses from your Bookfunnel promo can be loaded into Substack to grow your audience. At first, I thought this was working well. My books were being downloaded from Bookfunnel, and I was gathering a subscriber list. On the sales promos, my books were averaging 4% of the promo clicks and nearly 12% of all the views. Even if there was a percentage of a percentage of viewers who went on to purchase a copy of the book(s), I would have been happy. Sales results? Zero. Frustration #1. Over to Substack. To date, of the 57 new subscribers from my Bookfunnel promos, 14 have pulled their email off the site – that’s 25%. Frustration #2. Thankfully Bookfunnel is pretty cheap. The Mid-list Author Monthly plan only costs $20 per month.

Once again, I can only conclude that many readers jump in looking for free copies and then disappear again. That’s 61 books given away instead of 61 book sold. AND, not one review.

You may think that I’m sharing this information like sour grapes, but that wouldn’t be accurate. My hope is to accomplish two things. First, my fellow writers should be aware of what some realistic expectations might be if they haven’t so far and if you have, again, I’d sincerely like to hear from you about your experiences with Goodreads, Bookfunnel, and Substack. Second, if you are a reader and buyer of books, then please take a moment to acknowledge the work that a writer puts into their creation by offering a review, especially on Amazon since their algorithms seem to respond to verified sales and reviews – and remember it doesn’t have to be a “good” review, just a review. Negative reviews are as valuable as good ones.

I’m not giving up. I will continue to explore the benefits, and there are others, with Bookfunnel and Substack.

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Mental Health: The Dark Side Of Creativity

Gary Nilsen 1 Comment

photo-1496188757881-c6753f20c306Photo by Andrik Langfield on Unsplash

When I first established a writing blog, the intention was to offer commentary on the journey of being a writer. After a lifetime of doing everything but writing, I felt my path was clear, especially after the wonderful experience of securing an MFA in fiction. It wasn’t that I needed a degree in order to write, but the entrance to that creative community meant everything.

Emboldened by the confidence in my understanding of craft, and two completed manuscripts waiting to be revealed, I continued writing blog entries and working on four other novels. I blamed my lack of writing from birth to age sixty on the notion that life gets in the way. It can and it does, but I thought I’d garnered the tools to succeed going forward.

I was wrong. I underestimated what I was up against.

Just when I thought I’d secured a lock on life and had set my feet on the path; LIFE reappeared, wagging its bony finger and whispering: “Au contraire.”

May is mental health month, so it seems fitting to pen something about the subject from within the community of writers – as a representative of the larger community of artists. Yes, it’s cathartic, but it might also serve as a warning label that by proceeding, it’s fair to expect some level of anguish in your future or possibly as a reminder you’re not alone in the quagmire. It should never mean the path is to be avoided, but each of us must find a way to use our mental state to an advantage – as J.K. Rowling created Dementors as a metaphor for the depression she suffered. It’s easier said than done, but that’s why she’s J.K. Rowling.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that, as a percentage, creative people are more prone to mental health issues than the general population. I personally believe it stems from an enhanced sense of empathy and a greater sensitivity to worldly conditions. Everyone has major problems in life. For me, it was a succession that consisted of the collapse of my career and financial world following the sub-prime mortgage crisis, mounting debt, a personal bankruptcy, losing my home, being hauled in front of the NYC District Attorney’s office to give information about a former employer, the draconian measures of the New York State Income Tax Department, the IRS, having to rely on supplemental food programs, and working to rebuild a world decimated by faulty choices and horrific karma. When prone to depression in the first place, that kind of life mimics the torture endured by Theon Greyjoy at the hands of Ramsay Bolton. Through it all, I’ve tried to write.

But, perseverance comes at a price.

A writer strives to overcome life’s obstacles while they write, query, read, edit, and write some more. Precious few are fortunate to garner a book deal, land an agent, or find some modicum of success through self-publishing. Perseverance though is risky, because weighed against all other complications, creativity is the one thing that stems from passion, the essence of the creative mind, which makes all else, can I say tolerable? The inherent risk of such doggedness is the possibility that self-perceived failure in your creativity spreads like poison, and at the very worst – as has happened to me – results in the death of passion. It’s as if passion is the muscle, the source of strength, used to keep pace, but endurance is not limitless. When the moment you recognize that loss arrives, it destroys all vestiges of one’s sense of purpose; depression metastasizes like an unchecked cancer. I say this because every artist who ever lived has faced that moment when they consider their creations worthless. You’re left feeling directionless and without the will to bother getting out of bed.

In the past three years, I’ve read only two books – even though I worked quite a while in a book store to make ends meet. I struggled to complete a third novel as the sequel to one I had published, but it was by rote. I felt like a car rolling slowly to a stop after running out of gas. I mourn the loss of those moments when my brain would visualize, with startling clarity, the nuances of a story idea, the exchange of good character dialogue, the satisfying connection of one plot point to the next. I still yearn to tell stories; much like a body tries to breathe. My greatest hope is that my sense of passion returns someday, a well-rested muscle ready and able to create new work. At the moment, it seems hopeless – a major side-effect of depression. The cycle is perpetual and ultimately diminishing.

I’ve read many articles that appeal to writers about never giving up, about finding the method that works best to succeed, to write even a little every day. There’s NaNoWriMo to encourage everyone who aspires to communicate by the written word to sit down and do it. These are all valuable and inspiring, but every once in a while, a reminder is necessary of what the dark side has in store. Mental health issues, especially depression, are a common disease amongst us, and you need to understand it will lurk in the recesses of your genes, ready to blossom at an unsuspecting moment. Forewarned is forearmed, and being forearmed is to put a support system in place.

I cannot stress in strong enough terms the requirement to seek out people who can appreciate the subtle differences between those with creativity at their core with those who aren’t. People with no exposure to the ways of the artistic mind are likely to brand one who is as introverted, weird, stand-offish, even snobbish. We’re difficult to put up with; we’re nearly impossible to endure on a daily basis. I’m fortunate to have a significant other who gets it, and I experience unrelenting guilt over the fact she does endure it. The argument could be made that I might have stopped drawing breath but for her. Help is mandatory, as expressed in all warnings about depression and suicide awareness campaigns. It doesn’t have to come in the form of a wife, or husband, or partner – it can come from connecting with others in our community, but the support system must exist in some way.

Protect your passion, for us it’s our life-blood. If you’re new to this, be prepared. If you suffer like I do, remember you’re not alone.

Writing: Give yourself permission…

Gary Nilsen 2 Comments

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…an odd piece of advice, to be sure. Why would you need permission to write? Because you won’t succeed unless you do.

At its very core, writing is a solitary function. Not so much once you’ve completed a novel; at that point you will be sharing your work with beta readers, editors, proofreaders, agents, and hopefully a publisher. It won’t be so solitary at that point. The project itself, however, is a relationship between only you and your keyboard or, for some, a notepad. The permission you need to give yourself is to take that time away from friends and family. It means saying okay to feeling guilty about doing something for yourself, and not to be so vigilant about doing laundry or vacuuming or getting the car washed. Be a little selfish about understanding that anyone can get the chores done because only you can do your writing. I’ll repeat that: only you can do your writing. The expression of art comes from within; it is unique to the individual. Often, it requires taking that permission one-step farther, and it’s one of the hardest. You must learn to say no: no to invitations, no to watching an extra episode of a TV show, and no to friends and family on occasion because you must be faithful to the process of getting words down on paper.

I have also encountered another form of permission I needed to give myself. Story ideas circle like mad in our minds. While they’re tucked away up there, they remain safe. You remain safe from people thinking you’re a little bit touched in the head (face it – we are). Writers become fearful about bleeding their stories onto the page, as it becomes the evidence of our madness. Give yourself permission to write them anyway. I had a dream when I was about ten years old. Two of the characters in my dream were girls from school, but in my imagination they had morphed into leprechaun-like creatures, hell, they were even dressed in green. They virtually kidnapped me and brought me into their world. I still wish I could remember what went on during that part of the dream, but I distinctly recall them bringing me back at dawn and leaving me in the sunlit hallway of my house. I was frantic they were going to go away, because I wanted to go back. I woke up angry about losing my grip on the dream. I tried desperately to go back to sleep, but it was no use. That dream has haunted me most of my life. While it didn’t provide a distinct story idea, it did give me a sense of wonderment of the paranormal. Forty-odd years later, I did have a story idea, one that involved fairies and elves, but I felt ridiculous wanting to write it. Many people either love or hate the Twilight series, but I owe particular thanks to Stephenie Meyer. While reading her series, I recognized it was okay to put paranormal-esqe ideas into a novel. I’ve not felt funny about writing or sharing any subject since, because I gave myself permission to allow my imagination to produce a completely new world.

There are a gazillion forces and reasons, which prevent writers from writing. Be true to your inner passion and give yourself the permission to do whatever it takes to answer that call. Not every writer is destined to have a book or a short story published, but that has nothing to do with what’s inside. If you truly have the passion, if you actually feel resentful or annoyed when you’re prevented from getting those words out of your head, then write a permission slip to yourself and get to it. It’s the empowerment you need.

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World Building: An exercise in creativity…

Gary Nilsen 21 Comments

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Perhaps the most fun I’ve had in terms of writing have been those sessions where I worked to create a different world or a world within a world for a novel. For Flashback, a story where an historian tries to prevent an assassination in the past, I needed a way to deal with time-travel in a convincing way. When you write science fiction, if you don’t base your premise on plausible science, you’ll lose your audience before you start and receive countless notes on how you got it all wrong. The challenge, as an accountant by training and profession, was to learn several theories of quantum physics relative to the creation of an artificial wormhole. Physics anticipates their existence, but how do you make a credible one up? This is where the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of genius comes by. Men and women with an amperage of brainpower I will never possess have actually discussed how to get this done. I adapted the methodology into the framework of my story, created a few rules that the plot would have to live by and voilà; I had a secret world known to only a few dozen people and a science-based platform from which to launch my characters. In essence, the science (as science fiction requires) became something of a character in itself. As went the wormhole, so did the stakes for the characters. One of the lasting joys of that exercise – which took a month of reading and re-reading texts on quantum mechanics just to warp my brain around the concepts – was that I now have the foundation for an unlimited number of sequels.

My second novel, Alfheim, a story of a boy who is actually an elf (think more in terms of Legolas and not one who works for Santa) was a whole different challenge. Like a Harry Potter or Twilight, I needed to create a completely coexistent world to our own. I spent hours and hours in the library, reading and soaking up elements of mythology that suited the ethereal images that existed in my mind. Like an architect who chooses from a diverse spectrum of building materials to create the physical embodiment of his creation, I found threads of folklore that inspired me to flesh out the characters that were slowly coming to life in my head. Each discovery of some fascinating morsel forced new questions as to how or why that would work in the world that was emerging. This is the crucial point where it’s imperative to start writing down the rules, the parameters that will govern your world, for once you begin to write, everything depends on those boundaries. If you violate these rules, you will anger your reader and unwittingly introduce a deus ex machina along the way, something to avoid at all costs. In the exercise, I borrowed from Tolkien, from sources on Fairy and Elfin lore (Celtic and Scandinavian), Medieval shipbuilding techniques, Medieval clothing styles, castle structures, ancient Celtic names and words and their meanings and pronunciations, Irish history, American history, driving through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, but never once reading a book of similar genre until the book was completely done. Often, the advice is to read heavily in the genre you are interested in writing. Counter to this, I avoided it. I wanted the mythology and world building to be completely free of any other writers’ notions of what a fairy world is like (and there are many writers in the field).

The important things to remember in doing world-building are these: Create the rules for your world and stick by them, violate them only with a really good reason, make them as plausible within the expectations for the suspension of disbelief as possible, don’t be afraid to let your imagination run totally wild, and for heaven’s sake – HAVE FUN!