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.”