Kathryn Gauci writes gripping historical novels set in Europe, with a particular focus on Greece, France and Turkey. She researches her work in great detail, often travelling to the regions in question, and picks up many online awards. She posts regularly on Facebook and Instagram, and has racked up thousands of reviews and ratings on Goodreads. She is an excellent example of the value of persistence, networking, participation in the online communities relating to her genre and cross marketing of her books.
Marion Hughes, author on the move...
Marion Hughes, author of the tense and well-written thrillers Watch Your Back and I’m Back has kindly written an account of some of her recent and upcoming promotional activities…
In 2022, I conducted author talks at the following libraries:
Hastings Library Tuesday April 5
Foster Library Thursday Sep 1
Mirboo North Library Thursday Sep 1
Rosebud Library Tuesday 13th Sep
Belgrave Library Saturday 26th November
2023 booked in for:
Langwarrin library - Libraries after dark Thursday 4th May
Wednesday 30th August Wodonga Library
Wednesday 30th August Albury city Library Museum
Thursday 31st August Shepparton Library evening session
My talks incorporated an overview of my background, discussed my writing journey, and offered insights into how I write and my motivation for writing. Included was an outline of the plots, characters and themes of books one and two of my trilogy, 'The Dark illusion,' selected excerpts and anecdotes that helped shape my writing and time for audience questions at the end.
A selection of audience feedback comments:
A fascinating look at the writing process
I loved the talk and will definitely be reading your books
A captivating author talk! Great to hear about the writing process and inspiration for the books
Feedback on Watch Your Back: a fast-paced thriller with a cleverly worked plot and stunning surprises. A can't put down read.
I particularly liked hearing excerpts from the books.I enjoyed participating in the discussion at the end.
Writer Event with Francesca Di Pietro
Author of Life with a Psychopath Francesca di Pietro will be speaking on a writers panel at Carrum Downs Library, Thursday, 16 February 2023 | 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM
“Each author from different genres, coming together to discuss their latest works, as well as answer questions about how they came to be writers, the publishing process and where their passions lie.”
“Franca DiPietro:
Francesca Di Pietro was born and raised in Melbourne where she continues to reside with her family. Francesca completed her Bachelor of Arts Degree with majors in Professional Writing and Editing and Communication Studies.
Francesca has a passion for storytelling, especially tales which highlight the dark side of human nature, manipulative and aberrant behaviour. Francesca is a night writer which is when her creativity shines.
Franca will be talking to us about Life with a Psychopath, her first full length novel.
Books will be available to purchase on the night. “
The author also has an account on Instagram.
Life With a Psychopath Talk with Franca di Pietro
Franca will be discussing her thought-provoking novel “Life With a Psychopath” at Mornington Library.
Details as follows:
Recommended for adult audiences
Francesca Di Pietro has a passion for storytelling, especially tales which highlight the dark side of human nature, including manipulative and aberrant behaviour.
Her debut novel, Life with a Psychopath tells the story of a young Italian woman, who enters into a relationship beset by racism, manipulation, and physical and verbal abuse with the charming and charismatic Shaun.
Carmella will not be beaten by Shaun’s behaviour and brings female empowerment to a new level. A compelling and gripping story of triumph, highlighting how victims of violence and abuse can overcome adversity by reaching out to those around them.
Join us at Mornington library where we are supporting 16 Days of Activism to end gender-based violence.
Tuesday, 29 November 2022 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Mornington Library, Vancouver Street, Mornington, 3931
The talk is free. Bookings here.
Art of Conscious Balance by Santosh Nambiar featured in newspaper article
Australian publication The Indian Sun recently ran a feature on author Santosh Nambiar and his excellent book The Art of Conscious Balance. Santosh’s book is a calm and wise exploration of issues relating to life balance and mastery over mind. The book description is as follows:
'With awareness of my thoughts, I was able to have power over my mind, and therefore it no longer controlled me.'
When Santosh Nambiar found himself in a life-threatening health situation, he realised that something had to change. He was regularly grappling with emotions of anxiety, anger, fear and jealousy, and was negatively driven by ambition and success. Somewhere, somehow, he'd lost himself.
The Art of Conscious Balance follows the tumultuous and inspiring story of one man's journey to discover conscious balance in his life. It explores the conflict between our conditioned self and our true self, and how Santosh gained freedom from his own conditioned behaviours to realise the absolute truth and purpose of life, finally allowing him to move from a place of pain and confusion to one of love, clarity and peace.
An honest and evocative memoir, The Art of Conscious Balance is transformative in its gentle teachings and soothing in its message that anyone is capable of finding their inner compass as Santosh did to understand oneself and one's place in the universe more deeply and truly.
The Art of Conscious Balance is available from Booktopia and other outlets.
Naturally Supporting Cancer Treatment by Jenny Graves
Author Jenny Graves has just released a very well written and meticulously researched book (Naturally Supporting Cancer Treatment, available here) on supplementing cancer treatments with “evidence-based ways to help prevent cancer formation and and recurrence, and assist treatment”. Jenny plans to promote her book in various cost-effective ways, and emailed us with the following specifics:
“Because of the subject matter, I’m targeting other naturopaths, some of whom don’t have much knowledge about treating cancer patients, and also for them to stock in their dispensaries to sell to their patients. I’m contacting the universities offering naturopathic degrees to see whether they would suggest it to their students as associated reading or even as text books.My local health food store has told me that they will stock it in their two stores locally, but the manager is also on the board of the company (Go Vita) and I’m hoping that they will stock it nationally and publish an article in their magazine to promote it. I have a Business Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NaturallySupportingCancerTreatment and my website, www.naturallysupportingcancertreatment.com.au is due to go live shortly, with plans to produce blog articles regularly on it and a regular newsletter containing those articles to be sent to those who sign up on the website. I have an author page on Books2Read, https://books2read.com/b/3LwPzN?edit=maybe-later and their Universal Book Link, https://books2read.com/NaturallySupportingCancerTreatment. I’m toying with the idea of using a media publicist if I can get over my terror of speaking in public. 😊 I’ve also got plans to submit articles to various websites for them to publish as a Guest Author. I may put my toe in the water with Facebook and Google ads, but I believe that they can be something of a money pit unless you get them right, so I’ve been doing training courses on those.”
Steve Nurse Discusses his New Book "Cycle Zoo"
Steve (right) with Jesse Heath, OzHpv Challenge 2021 Photo John Hagan
There is a saying in recumbent bike manufacture, “The best way to make a small fortune making bikes is to start with a large fortune” and the same thing can be said about self-publishing a book. Its hard to rely on self-publishing to make money. It might happen, but don’t bank on it! In the first instance self-publishing should be about wanting to get your message out.
To get to my book story, I have been building and designing bikes since about 1987, went on the first long-distance rides on bikes I’d built around 2000, and wrote the first version of my Cycle Zoo book in about 2009. Back then I wrote, edited, illustrated and laid out the whole book, and supplied finished pdfs to Publishing Solutions. They then organised the ISBN and printing of about 1000 copies.
After that it was up to me to sell and distribute the books but that was difficult. Sometimes I’d take books to bookshops to sell, and they’d never pay. It was impossible for me to sell all the books, so I still have boxes of books in the back of cupboards at home. However the first edition of the book helped with entry into an industrial design master’s degree which gave me paid work designing bikes for 2 years. Putting it out was worth it just for that.
I’ve stayed in touch with a couple of the contacts I made after the first book. I designed a cycling board game and Anki Toner put that on his cyclingboardgames.net website. Link here. And I was interviewed by Chis Starr at 3cr. I usually attend local recumbent bike gatherings and this didn’t stop. As well I’ve kept on building bikes, and became the editor of the Australian Human Powered Vehicle Magazine Huff.
Somewhere along the way I got the urge to write a book came again, and I had enough new material to add to my previous book so set about rewriting Cycling Zoo. Fairly early in the process I got editor Neil Conning and book designer Luke Harris on board. I conversed with and interviewed a few people involved in cycling to broaden the book’s appeal, and I’m happy how the stories came out. So Adam Hari about spoke about speedbikes, Gayle Potts about refurbishing bikes for refugees, Nell Sudano about electric bikes and teaching cycling, and Alyson Macdonald about boardgames and her cycling.
Publication for the new book is by print on demand, so the book is available anywhere in the world, and is printed in quantities as small as one in the nearest printing centre including Melbourne, the UK and the USA. I have ordered and sell or give away copies for myself, family, friends and reviewers. Normally I will give away books to reviewers. An example is Chris Starr who volunteers for and runs the Yarrabug Cycling show on 3cr.
Where to buy Steve’s book:
After a phone interview with Chris, she mixed the show and put up a podcast page for the show, a resource I can use to let people know about the book. She deserves at least a free book for her efforts. The weblink is here .
Anki Toner really only wants to document every cycling board and card game no matter how obscure, and a lot of these are based on European races such as the Peace Race, Tour de France, Vuelta D’Espana and Giro D’italia. An example is here, analysis of the games is well researched and concise. But he was happy to showcase a new game I had developed and put online, called Cycle Challenge. He’s included a link to my book page in his excellent coverage of my game which is all you can ask for.
Adam Hari features in my chapter about speedbikes, which are fully enclosed, highly aerodynamic cycles designed to break speed records. I was happy to mail him a book at cost, and he was happy to publicise it on his Instagram, showing a video of the book pages involving him and his machines.
Coming up in early October I will be part of the Laidbackbike report Youtube series but meanwhile I will continue improving websites, contacting potential reviewers, contacting those mentioned in the book, and working on ebook versions. I put a book poster on the side of one of my bikes yesterday and have already been asked about it (a mum and her kids caught up to me on their electric bike and were chattering furiously) so will work on improving that too.
Have fun promoting your book. Selling oodles of copies and making money might be your initial aim but you might come away with something more valuable..
Leaning trike with poster.
Inspired by a Greek Island
Local author Tony Whitefield has just simultaneously launched both his mythical tale “The Queen of Limnos” and his historical saga “George’s Cafe” at Golf House Hotel in Ballarat. Both books draw upon the history and culture of the beautiful Greek island of Lemnos. Tony and his wife usually spend several months a year living in Lemnos, and will no doubt continue to do so once Covid 19 abates. Both books are available online.
Ebook version: https://www.booktopia.com.au/george-s-cafe-tony-whitefield/ebook/9780645100853.html
Print on Demand: https://www.booktopia.com.au/george-s-cafe-tony-whitefield/book/9780645100822.html
Also available from Amazon, Dymocks, Book Depository and other outlets.
Marketing Your Book in a Flooded Market
Author G. W. Lücke writes about his experiences marketing his excellent fantasy Relevation series of books (book two is out shortly):
“I focussed on book reviews from well-known critics (e.g. Kirkus) early on, and while I received good reviews, they didn’t translate into book sales.
A few reviews from bloggers also did nothing much — a couple of books sold.
I read the David Gaughran book on how to use BookBub and followed it to the letter. I’ve sold the most books through this — but the bottom line was that I was paying more for the Bookbub ads than I was getting back in book sales (all sales of the eBook at 0.99c).
Such an approach is not sustainable.
“Given I’m new to all this — my objective opinion about the whole publishing business is the book market is currently flooded and selling books is bloody hard. ”
Given I’m new to all this — my objective opinion about the whole publishing business is the book market is currently flooded and selling books is bloody hard. Way too much choice for people. Global best-selling authors sell their eBooks for $1.99 on Bookbub — why would readers try an unknown author given they can get known authors so cheaply?
There are lots of sites claiming to help you develop marketing plans — but I doubt any of them work. And I don’t have the time to do all the social media marketing. Writing is my hobby, not my job. I do it for the love of it.
Selling lots of books was way down my priority list when I started this journey. It still is.
I’ve had the most satisfying experience selling to friends and their friends – sold about 50 hard copies via word of mouth alone (and I get a much bigger margin from this).
Selling directly to people I know or made contact with via email, also means I get feedback from them when they finish the book. I think I’ve had over 50 formal and informal reviews of the book via various channels.
Out of those, I’ve only had one negative review. So most people who read the book like it – which is all I could ask for.”
With review quotes like this, hopefully interest in this series will gradually build:
“When Darkness Descends' follows multiple narratives in the fictional world of Enthilen, with particular focus on the (human) protagonist Tom Anderson as he battles to uncover the mystery behind his grandmother's death when he finds himself lost within this mysterious world. G.W. Lücke's storytelling is absolutely captivating, and had me hooked from the very first page. The characters and plot line have been very clearly carefully constructed, with the author able to find a perfect balance of authenticity in character personalities mixed with the complete fantasy of the setting they live in. The novel has been left at a frustratingly exciting end point, leaving me (and I'm sure other readers too!) desperate to see what comes next! Highly recommend to older teenage readers who enjoy fantasy and adventure.”
How to Promote Your Book—5 Strategies for Authors
Guest article from Chloe Harris
Books with compelling content are often passed over due to ineffective promotion. Convincing people to read a book is quite different from convincing them to buy clothes, cars, and houses.
We’ve gathered a few useful strategies to promote your book:
Choose a Professional Book Cover
The old saw runs “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But people do judge a book by its cover. A 2017 study revealed that a whopping 52% base their decision on the jacket artwork.
Work with professional book cover designer in conveying the right message, attracting the right audience. Your ideas will be the basis of the design, while the artist manipulates the elements to arrive at a professional, attention-getting result.
Author-designed covers run the risk of potential readers identifying the work as self-published, and therefore passing over it.
Use Social Media Effectively
“As of January 2020, over 3.8 billion people are using social media. This means that by simply introducing your book through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, you could stir the interest of many. However, you will have to optimise social media use for this happen.”, said Alistaire Clare, Credit Capital’s business consultant.
Social proof is vital in earning recognition. With an official page, it will be easier for potential readers to find your book. Make sure to include the following:
A high-resolution photo of the book
A photo of yourself with a short biography
A snippet about the book
Some testimonials from those who’ve read your book already
Facebook ads are also useful in reaching specific targets in terms of location, gender, age, and preferences.
Organise an Event in Local Bookstores
Avid book buyers visit local bookstores to hunt for old and new masterpieces. So, make sure not to miss this fanbase. Here are 21 charming bookshops in Australia.
Many local bookstores regularly feature new authors. Often, they also have a relationship with local book clubs that could review your book.
Prepare a good pitch, explaining how the bookstore can benefit from your book.
Ask if you could display promotional banners and posters.
Plan an entertaining presentation
Hold a live Q&A
Sign books for free or hold small contests
If things go well with local bookstores, you might contemplate further events in larger venues.
Reach out to Book Reviewers
It’s essential to gather as many reviews possible, mainly if you’re selling online. Books with more reviews get more visibility. They also create an impression that the content is promising.
Search for book reviewers who are interested in your genre. Ask them to leave an honest review. You might have to send a free copy, but that’s totally worth it, especially if the reviewer has a large following. Here are some great choices:
Aussie Reviews
Booktopia
Ragamuffin Books
Readability Australia
Lost in a Good Book
Goodreads
Also. try sending a letter to Australian Book Review. ABR is an independent, non-profit magazine that publishes book reviews.
Are you an independent author who wants to have a professionally-designed book? Working Type offers design, layout, and print solutions that can transform your manuscript into a best-seller. We also assist in e-book publishing and digital and print promotions. Contact us now for more information!
Good News with Mal Walden — Book cover
Right in the middle of the Carlton Readings shop window, Mal and his book (Good News) do leap out at one somewhat… stand aside Walter Isaacson and Carole King. Published by Brolga Publishing, cover design by WorkingType.
Running a Facebook Ad Campaign to Market Your Book
Author promotional guru David Gaughran conducts a detailed run through of Facebook advertising when used for book promotion. Gaughran’s writing on the topic is always realistic and accessible, without some of the hard sell and rah rah on comparable American sites.
Author Trish George and her website
Independent author and outright character Trish George has an author website up, and it is quite well done. An inveterate traveler, Trish has been all over Australia and promoted her work along the way. Along with her works of fiction, she has also written several travel books and is quite a raconteur.
Authors Who Blog
Authors Cathy A and Cathy T Wilson maintain an informative blog (related to their book series “Lions and Lilies” set in medieval England and France). They post about the historical background to their books. A good resource for their readers and a useful promotional tool.
Selling Your Book Online — An Expert Speaks
Irish writer David Gaughran has plenty to say about maintaining an online “author platform” and driving online sales. Some of his pithier quotes:
“As well as promoting my own books, I’ve run giant campaigns for huge authors over the last couple of years, launching multiple books into the Top 100, running major backlist promotions that generated tens of thousands of sales during their foray into the charts, and million and millions of page reads, as well as multiple Kindle Unlimited awards. Some of these campaigns can generate extraordinary profits.”
“BookBub is the most famous, obviously, and is significantly larger than all the other sites combined with millions of genuine book buyers on its lists. There are no sure things in marketing, but a BookBub Featured Deal is the closest you’ll get. Authors typically report making the cost back in twenty-four hours or less, and then enjoying a significant increase in visibility and sellthrough and email sign-ups and reviews. ”
“Before the “do you not VALUE books?” crowd get warmed up, let me say this: those cheap deals are used to pole-vault us into position to shift even more books at full price. A springboard, if you like. I don’t focus so much on prices anyway, these things are all tools to me. I prefer to look at monthly income. Running price promotions increases it greatly. ”
Bookbub's Effectiveness — A Report from an Author
In the latest news from the independent author front , Kathryn Gauci reports back on her recent Bookbub promotion:
“Bookbub was OK but didn't set the world on fire. I think some of that had to do with it being for the UK, AUS, NZ, Canada and India and NOT the US. The US is generally the biggest market. It also adds more to the deal in the first place. The real difference has come with it lifting my profile and follow on orders plus the page reads have more than doubled per day. So hopefully the momentum keeps up. I also put it up on a few other sites for a couple of days at the same time — Fussy Librarian etc, which I think helped. My friend, Barbara had one the week before and spent more on extra promo. Same Bookbub deal as me. She just recovered her cost but the follow-on has improved. Another friend had the US market as well and doubled her money.
It was worth it though. And the extra reviews and ratings are starting to come through also.”
Book Reviews and Amazon — a battle royale
Reviews are a key signal used in the ranking of online books. The more reviews, the higher the book ranks and the more books are sold. Of course, given this logic, reviews have been widely gamed by authors and publishers, to the point when they are sometimes not reliable guides as to a book’s quality and popularity. Authors round up their friends to review their books, or pay other services to generate reviews, or review other authors’ books in the hope of reciprocal reviews. Amazon has been fighting back against this degradation of the reviewing signal — the outlines of said epic struggle are described here, along with the latest strategies for independent authors.
What Every Author Seems to Hate — Writing Blurbs
Authors will happily spend months or even years writing their book, carrying out immense amounts of research, rewriting, proofreading and structuring. But when it comes to thinking about one or two hundred words on the back of their book, their collective minds go blank. A feeling of panic descends. The author knows instinctively that there is something different about a blurb. How can they possibly encapsulate their work in such a tiny container? The typical response is to write a synopsis, giving away practically every plot point in the book. The best blurbs are an artful compromise between disclosure and withholding, suggestion and explanation. The blurb is a key marketing tool, both in actual bookstores and online, and it merits quite a bit of time and thought. Here are three perspectives on writing a great blurb, packed with plenty of useful advice and practical suggestions.
Rosa in Ldjahkion Book Launch
Janet Doyle’s fascinating book was launched at The Book Wolf, a charming bookshop in Maldon which also hosts discussion groups and music events. Guests enjoyed readings from the book, performed by John Curtis, Mike Smythe, and Janet herself. Musician John Curtis performed two pieces of music written especially to evoke the mystical town of Ldjakhion in which the novel is set. The audience asked many questions of Janet, and were particularly interested in aspects of the background research and the choice of names for the various characters. Signed copies of the book were sold on the night. We will post a sales link to the book shortly.
Joe Darling Book Review
A book we designed last year has come to the attention of a popular cricket site. In addition to saying many positive things about the content, the writer also touches upon the design:
“Joe Darling, lived a full life, not just in a cricketing sense, and his story is a fascinating one. Thankfully it is told thoroughly and entertainingly by Whimpress and Ryan. Add to this some great production values and this is a great read. It should be in the book collection of all cricket fans. ”
