The most difficult and challenging job of this author is marketing and promotion. Especially when one has many publications, it's not always easy to know which direction to take.
Do I focus on one book or do I talk about 'books' is one question, but there are many. Do I talk about the book's content, its cover, its cost, its author?
I'm always tempted to simply share my Amazon author's page and hope readers will check it out. My author's page is found at https://amazon.com/author/audreyaustin
I like to share photos of my books. Do the covers capture a reader's interest?
I currently have 77 publications available exclusively on Amazon sites. That's a lot of books. 25 of these publications are in paperback & Kindle. Five are also in audiobook format. The balance of 52 are short stories that dare, like Daniel, to stand alone. The short stories are available in Kindle format only and cost only 99 cents.
Amazon offers the promotional avenue of free books. I've used this path fairly often, advertising a particular publication, letting the world know it is free for a day or for a weekend.
Almost daily I receive messages from others offering to write reviews of my books - for a price, of course. I don't buy reviews. I would, of course, love to have more reviews of my work, especially positive reviews, but I will not stoop to buying them. The few reviews my books have received are the authentic sharing of readers and I appreciate them very much.
It is definitely a challenge to market books. There are millions of books available to a reader. An author could easily become like the second-grader forever calling, "Pick me! Pick me!"
A book, a story, is an extension of its author. Reviews are very important. The reviews my books have received are primarily positive. The worst review I ever received was from a reader in England whose short-story length review negatively remarked on almost every aspect of the story, its writing, its story line, its cover - everything! And this reader's response was to a book that she was able to read for free.
Did she thank me for the gift I gave to her? No, she crucified me. Yet, she told me that she did read the entire book.
To me, this was very strange. If I am reading a book and am not enjoying the first chapter, I discard the book. It's not for me. This doesn't mean the book or its author deserves to be attacked. It simply means the book is not for me.
Fortunately, reviews of my books have been supportive and encouraging.
To promote and market books is not easy; at least not for me.
I guess I should take some on-line marketing courses. Until then, I will simply say please check out my author's page at https://amazon.com/author/audreyaustin and special thanks to those of you who buy one or more of my books.
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