Promoting yourself can be a very daunting task as an unrepresented Author. I personally use social media for my promoting. I am on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a few other sites that help promote my works. What I am finding, is this......
It is very important as an Indie Author to promote your work daily all day everyday. It takes a lot of time and effort to make any kind of profit. I admit I don't do this very much anymore. Why? Here is my answer.
I go out of my way and give out hundreds of free copies of my books. This is a great way to get your book read and your name out there. BUT, it is also a steep pitfall.
People love something for nothing. They also will not give in return. Is it so hard to give a rating? No not really it is just a simple push of a button that may only take you a minute of your time, where as a writer it took months, or years to put out that book that they just got for free. What is one minute compared to years.....nothing.
In turn, how hard is it for someone that got that free book to pass it on to another person who loves to read? We are social creatures ( well most of us are, I admit I am not the in person type of social person ), by nature we talk about things that we enjoy or don't enjoy. I find it hard to believe that between book lovers, there is no conversation going on about a book you just got for free and whether or not you liked, loved, or hated it.
I know Authors who share and support their fellow Indies, religiously. This to is a pitfall. Only a small percentage will do the favor and give you a "share" on their own page. Here is the thing about writer's, we are NOT in competition with each other!! We all started out unrepresented, and we all scratch our way to the top with hard work. We all have wonderful stories to tell and we all love to write. It is born of passion for story telling and delighting other people with our work.
How in the world do you imagine to get ahead, if people refuse to give a rating, or review or use their social media to help promote you. It can not be done. This is why I no longer give out free books and I have stopped promoting the majority, of those I used to support. I did a lot of work to promote them and I got nothing in return I know I am not alone in this matter.
If you are going to take that leap of faith and write that first book, be prepared and do not be disappointed when you see that after you give props to fellow authors, and free books to reader's you get nothing in return...
This should NOT be happening! We need to stick together and support each other, if I give you the decency to promote you or give you a free book , I (or we) should get a minute of your time to at least give a rating or a share. It really does make all the difference..
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