My Open Source Low Budget Self Publishing Author Marketing Campaign

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by Sever Bronny

I’m fine-tuning a low budget marketing campaign for Arcane, my debut fantasy-adventure novel from The Arinthian Line series. The aim is rather simple: gather 50 core people that enjoy the book enough to talk about it.

This is a fluid list as I come up with more / better ideas, and will take into account suggestions from others.

What I have so far, in order:

  1. Cover + blurb reveal on kboards (with release date?)
  2. Cover + blurb reveal on facebook / twitter / myspace / my music website / this blog / my email list (with release date?)
  3. Post a 50 page sample (at end of sample give link to buy rest of book – if logistically possible, give discount for buyer)
  4. Announce release date on all relevant social media (and update gravitar / widgets / connect blog to google+, etc. The key is uniformity of message.)
  5. Respectfully solicit reviews on Goodreads / Amazon / twitter / LibraryThing / relevant blogs (emailing a free copy of book). Or maybe just email the book and not ask for reviews; if it happens, it happens. Choose either Goodreads or Librarything (I don’t have energy for both).
  6. Find influencers (regular people, not industry pros) in my genre and give them a free copy to read. Look for ordinary people who can’t help but tweet about their favorite fantasy books. [EG: Search for “fantasy reader” on twitter and add them]
  7. Politely ask other Fantasy authors to contribute an endorsement tagline
  8. Reddit: Been a redditor for 2 years. Only post to r/fantasy after months of spending time there, and only then — so this is a maybe right now, depending on time constraints. For anyone else even thinking about posting on reddit, read THIS first. I’ve witnessed plenty of crash and burns, so tread at your own risk.
  9. Small Blog tour (maybe 2-4 a month). It has been suggested I do more. (Oh, and I still have to learn exactly how to do a blog tour, hehe).
  10. Print business cards of book and give them out like candy
  11. Go to this board and ask these guys where to get the word out. It’s a java based irc applet, but those guys know fantasy.
  12. Paid advertising: ENT, BookBlast, KindleBooks, Bookbub (with enough reviews that is).
  13. Go to the Kboards Tips & FAQ and carefully read and implement all points.
  14. Possibly do a small print run of 50-100 copies and hold a physical book launch in ONE local store and invite ALL my goo friends. I could offer said bookstore exclusivity to sell it in town. (Opinions?)
  15. RELEASE THE BOOK! (oh God, what do I do for release day — get drunk?)
  16. You may post one thread about your book, in the Book Bazaar board (again, kboards). You can use that thread to introduce your book, include a brief review, etc.
    – Price: $2.99 for a 98,000 word ebook (and when three in series are released, make 1st one perma free)
    – Should there be the demand, release a print book and an audio book (will use funds from sales).

The Russell Blake rule: After release, spend 75% of my time writing book four in the series, 25% on marketing.

That 25% will consist of the following:

  1. 90-95% of the time tweeting about my indie publishing journey / things I’ve learned / fantasy / writing how-to’s / advice columns / advice blogs; the remain 5%-10% on my personal book and blog. Tweets scheduled using Hootsuite (I love that app!).
  2. Blog tour / commenting on other blogs I find interesting
  3. Be a little more social on facebook (sigh … I hates FB)
  4. Post photos of the writing life in all it’s glory (don’t read into that you)
  5. Be creative — come up with a video for book (and if you haven’t seen my last video for my music, it’s HERE)
  6. Build email list, only emailing for releases
  7. Blog Once a month (I’m a convert of slow blogging, as introduced to me by Anne R. Allen in this post).

So did I miss something? Have a trick to add to this list? Let me know! And of course, use what you like for your own campaign :)

Thanks to the following for throwing in ideas for this specific post:

Cindy Johnson
Kathryn OHalloran
Pamela Kelley
Joe Nobody
jtbullet
Sandra K. Williams

Published by

Sever Bronny

The Arinthian Line series (complete): Arcane Riven Valor Clash Legend The Fury of a Rising Dragon series (complete): Burden's Edge Honor's Price Mercy's Trial Champion's Wrath I grew up on Dragonlance and probably spent way too much time playing role-playing games. Then came the video games. But then, Nintendo was life in Toronto of '86. As a matter of fact, much of my youth could be considered "wasted" exploring escapism of one form or another. Now I'm a full-time author living in British Columbia, Canada. I have a wife who taught me what it means to love someone unconditionally. Buddha, my grumpy but rumpled-with-love cat, likes to keep watch from a Lego castle near my desk. (Update: said Lego castle has long been dismantled. Now she basks under a sun lamp). I suppose my favorite sagas are Harry Potter, Ender's Game, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and Game of Thrones. I also love true-life survival tales like Into Thin Air, Shadowdivers, and Perfect Storm. As for movies, I regularly re-watch Bladerunner, Star Wars, Highlander, Aliens, Limitless, Edge of Tomorrow, Interstellar, Lost in Translation, and Margin Call. But I've been most inspired by Harry Potter. Seriously, because if it hadn't been for HP, I'd never have dared. I simply stood on the shoulders of a giant. Thank you for writing that story, Joanne Rowling, it was extremely re-readable. I can only hope to capture my readers' imagination as you have captured mine. When I was a kid, I dreamed I could spread my arms as wings, jump off the ground, and fly. My head was in the clouds (and in many ways, still is). It would be fair to say that my love of fantasy began then, steadily refined by movies, video games, and cozy books. As for me, I enjoy talking to my readers, so if you read one of my books, you're welcome to shoot me an email at severbronny@gmail.com. Throw me a question, comment, or just say hello. I blog at severbronny.com when the mood strikes me, and I'm on social media now and then. I don't publish too often, but you can subscribe to my newsletter to receive a notification when I do release new work (newsletter signup is at severbronny.com/contact). (I was also a musician at one time, having released three albums with my industrial-rock band Tribal Machine.) When all is said and done, I know how fortunate I am to be a full-time author. I think about it often--especially when I recall what it was like working the grind. Thus I humbly thank each and every reader for supporting my work.

6 thoughts on “My Open Source Low Budget Self Publishing Author Marketing Campaign”

  4. Reblogged this on Audrey Driscoll's Blog and commented:
    Here is a detailed and ambitious self-publishing plan from Sever Bronny, an author I met when I participated in a program about self-publishing at the Greater Victoria Public Library. Sever provides links to some interesting ideas — I especially like the one on Slow Blogging. Have I done anything like this? Only a fraction, and right now I’m busy bringing out the Herbert West Series on Amazon. Publishing through Smashwords was very useful preparation and I hope the two platforms will complement each other.

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