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On May 26, 2009, I had the good fortune to interview #1 New York Times bestselling suspense author Lee Child. It's remarkable how much I learn through doing an interview like this. With Lee's interview, for instance, I came away with the realization that the lifestyle, personality and work-ethic choices a writer makes totally affects the quality of the relationship with his/her publisher. Every little thing you do matters, and all of your choices over the course of a decade or more will reflect itself in the degree of success of your career. Enjoy this, our June/July Video of the Month.
Tuesday June 30, 2009 Well, it is officially the end of June and I have had the bestselling month of my life. I am up to 2,024 copies of CLAWS and The Colorado Sequence for the month of June alone. Add to this nearly 800 books sold in May, and I am creeping toward 3,000 units total sold in a month and a half. This is so far beyond my expectations, I am fairly astonished.
The books just finally found a receptive audience who has embraced them. I've gotten nearly 25 reviews on Amazon from readers, and I can barely stay on top of all the emails and phone calls.
This is what a "break through" feels like. No doubt.
Friday June 26, 2009 Hey, folks, I am guest blogging today at Roberto Scarlato's blog where I did an interview. Thanks so much, Roberto, for the excellent questions and for having me at your place!
Also, I am guest blogging at Mitch Wallace's place, where I reflect a little bit on the past 5-6 weeks and how the book has been doing on Kindle. Thanks, Mitch, for the opportunity!
Also, did an interesting Skype interview with author Holly Christine:
Sunday June 21, 2009 My blog tour rolls onward today with a visit to bestselling author Diane Chamberlain's blog. Diane is the author of nearly 20 novels and has a large and loyal readership. If you haven't checked out her books, I definitely recommend Secrets She Left Behind.
Thanks so much, Diane, for the opportunity to write at your place today!
Specifically, I talked about three different interviews I did yesterday; one was a text interview posted to a blog (much like this post), the next was a Skype video call, and the third was a telephone call-in Blog Talk Radio discussion streamed Live to the web.
Tuesday June 16, 2009
Hey, everyone, my blog tour cruises into the docks of mitmoi.blogspot.com today where I discuss the launch of my new website onlinebookreview.org
Come check us out!
Sunday June 14, 2009
Hey, folks, I'd like to welcome guest blogger Dawson Vosburg to staceycochran.com today. Dawson is a fantastically talented young author of the novel Double Life. Enjoy!
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Thanks for having me on the blog, Stacey.
First I would like to introduce my book. The title is Double Life, and it’s an exciting science-fiction young adult adventure that takes place in an imaginary secret government agency called the BLUE. It follows Josiah Jones on his mission to defeat the evil crime syndicate, the RED Agency. It’s available in print and on the Kindle on Amazon.
Print: http://www.amazon.com/Double-Life-Dawson-Vosburg/dp/1435724283/
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Double-Adventures-Josiah-Jones-ebook/dp/B002BH4H3Q/
Today I’d like to discuss with you podcasting and blogging, two words that have started to become ubiquitous if you hang around the Internet a lot. I’ll give you a brief explanation on each and tell you how they can help you market your book in today’s Internet-oriented book market.
Blogging is something more and more people are doing. Millions of blogs are out there and more and more are popping up every day by the thousands. You should probably know what a blog is, otherwise you don’t know what you’re reading.
A blog can be very helpful because it can connect you directly to your readers in a personal, conversational, and sometimes even deeply emotional communication. If people read your blog and say “Hey, I agree with that guy,” or “That was a well-written post,” or “This definitely makes me want to read that guys’ book,” then you’ve accomplished your goal as a blog—to convey emotion or information to someone who could potentially buy your book. Even if they don’t, forming a connection with your readers can never be a bad idea.
Podcasting is basically chunks of video or audio information recorded an episode of a time and released out to the public usually in a regular manner. It’s basically a blog, except audio or video. Today I’m going to talk mainly on audio podcasting, since I’m not an expert with doing video blogging.
Audio podcasting, sometimes called Internet radio, has become very popular with authors because it connects with your readers like a blog, but it connects more at a human level because you can hear the voice talking to you and you can hear their tone as they convey ideas, emotions, and information. It’s also a useful tool because if someone else needs to be promoted and is less known, you can set up an interview with that person and get dual exposure.
Another option to consider is to have your show co-hosted with another expert in your field or just another author. I started this with Stacey Cochran last night and it was much easier to play off of his answers and thoughts than to just sit with a cell phone on Blog Talk Radio, hoping someone will call in.
A useful site for audio podcasting is www.blogtalkradio.com. Stacey and I used this site, and it was extremely good at handling everything, though if you live outside of New York, you might want to host your show in your cell phone plan’s evenings or weekends so you don’t have to pay pesky long-distance fees.
I’m glad to help authors market their books, and good luck with your reading and marketing!
Dawson
Saturday June 13, 2009
Hey, folks, the blog tour rolls on today with a guest blog post about how I met my wife and my worst dating mishaps. Come join in the fun of watching me reminiscing in my pain and awkwardness!
Thanks so much, Jim Born and fellow NakedAuthors.com folks, for having me!
Friday June 12, 2009
Hey, folks, my blog tour rolls on today with a visit to podioracket.com, where I discuss some of the contributing factors to my Kindle success the past few weeks.
Thanks so much, Rhonda and Heather, for having me!
Monday June 8, 2009
While out of town in Indiana today, I am guest blogging at First Offenders for my 25th day of the blog tour. Read and enjoy!
Friday June 5, 2009
Day 22 of my 45-Day Blog Book Tour for CLAWS finds me answering questions in an interview at Megalith's Blog. Thanks so much, Megalith for the interview. You did a great job!
My Kindle sales seem to be holding steady. In less than two weeks, I have sold 1,048 copies with very minimal (and certainly inexpensive) marketing strategies. I have no idea if I can maintain this pace; that's the big unknown right now. But if I could, that'd be somewhere in the neighborhood of 35,000-40,000 Kindle copies sold per year. That's a lot of readers for a self-published author.
Really, the name of the game at this stage is establishing your base. And even if the numbers turn out to be half that (or even a quarter of 40,000), that's still a very solid base to work from should my books ever be picked up by a major and my name starts showing up in bookstores around the country on paperbacks or hardcovers. It's all about building a career, and the Kindle has given me an opportunity to reach an audience like nothing I've seen before.
A lot of newbie authors want a book deal. But 9 out of 10 debut authors tank and don't break even. And if an author tanks like this, there's a huge chance his/her publisher will not ask for more novels. I've seen this happen over and over with debut author friends who are dead in the water before their careers even get started.
Part of the reason why 9 out of 10 debut authors can't break even is that these debut authors have no base (having 50 friends and family buy your book is not a base, but having 20,000 Kindle readers who have bought your book before is a base). What the Kindle is doing is helping to construct a framework for writers on the verge of their first major book deal to build a base readership, name recognition, and hopefully fans who will buy an author's book and write reviews, when it comes out from a major book publisher.
Monday June 1, 2009 The blog tour for CLAWS rolls on...
Today (Day 18) I'm at Murderati discussing the worst haircuts of my life! Come join in the hilarity....
Saturday May 30, 2009 Hey, folks, I am pulling into Day 16 of my 45-Day blog tour and I have definitely started to break out on Amazon Kindle. Over at my good friend Dusty Rhoades' place I discuss how I've sold over 400 copies of CLAWS and The Colorado Sequence in the past 3-4 days.
Dusty Rhoades is the author of the Jack Keller Series of crime novels, as well as the author of the outstanding stand-alone Breaking Cover.
Thursday May 28, 2009 Day 14 of my blog tour sees me visiting my good buddy Dawson Vosburg's blog. Dawson is an extraordinarily talented young suspense writer whose debut novel Double Life is available from Amazon.com
At Dawson's place, I discuss a recent surge in sales for my books on the Amazon Kindle.
Check it out! And pick up a copy of Dawson's Double Life.
Wednesday May 27, 2009 Day 13 of the blog tour to promote CLAWS sees me visiting my wife Susan's blog, where I reflect on the strength of our relationship (and healthy relationships in general) and how some of the core attributes of a healthy relationship are also essential to a sustainable writing career.
Tuesday May 26, 2009 Today marks day 12 of my blog tour to promote CLAWS, and I am visiting my friend Heather Hummel's excellent blog. At Heather's place, I discuss some of what I've learned from doing a blog tour so far, and I assess the effectiveness of a blog tour. Heather is the author of the book Through Hazel Eyes, which is available from Amazon.
In other news, my Amazon Kindle versions of CLAWS and The Colorado Sequence have suddenly taken off in the past 12 hours... earlier this morning CLAWS hit #24 overall in the Kindle Action-Adventure category, #28 in the horror category, and #100 in the Kindle suspense category. It was ranked overall for all 285,000 Kindle books at #1,266
There's several factors contributing to the sudden interest in both books, and I'll be sure to post about it later this week while guest blogging. I've never had a book just take off like this, and so it's very exciting to watch.
Take care, folks, and thanks for reading!
Stacey
Sunday May 24, 2009 Day 10 of the CLAWS blog tour, and I'm still breathing! Today, I am at my friend Sarah Weathersby's blog. My post describes the background and motivation I had for writing CLAWS.
Saturday May 23, 2009 Day 9 of my blog tour sees me visiting my good friend Barbara Quinby's blog Weave and Sew Dust. At Barbara's place today, I decided to talk a little bit about the TV show I work on in Raleigh, how the shows work, how we get guests, and some of the things I've learned working there the past couple of years.
Also, we've got another 5-copy buyer of CLAWS Julie C. Thanks so much, Julie, for your support!
Thursday May 21, 2009 Day 7 of the blog tour sees me interviewed by Carol Denbow on her blog A Book Inside. Thanks, Carol, for the great interview.
In other news, it looks like I've got another Skype interview lined up for Sunday, this one with PeopleTalk of the UK.
Wednesday May 20, 2009 Day 6 of my blog tour sees me at my friend Anthony Policastro's blog and another friend Marcus Sakey's The Outfit. Today is going to be a busy day. In fact, the next 48 hours are going to be very busy.
We just have a lot of stuff going on in Raleigh. Take care, folks. And buy your copy of CLAWS.
Tuesday May 19, 2009 Day 5 of the blog tour sees me visiting my good friend Eileen Batson's blog. At her place I discuss a Skype interview I did just last night for an online podcast author-interview program called podioracket.com
I realized in discussing CLAWS on the Skype interview just how important the subject of the novel is; you live with a novel long enough (some five years in this case) and you forget how heated a discussion wildlife management, conservation, and real estate development can be. It's funny because I intended the novel to generate debate and discussion, but it wasn't until I was in a Live call-in interview last night that I realized how this book can really spark debate on these issues.
This was a pleasant realization, and it makes me want to send out press releases to get other interviews to talk about the book. It's a charged topic, which makes for very good discussion on a radio program. I had kind of forgotten that.
Monday May 18, 2009 Day 4 of my blog tour. Today I'm visiting my friend Henry Hutton's website publishandsell.com. At his site, I discuss thirteen points of my marketing campaign for CLAWS. I also made an accompanying video in which I discuss book marketing and publicity. I'm attaching the video below.
Sunday May 17, 2009 Day 3 of my 45-day blog tour sees me visiting my good friend Alice Osborn's blog. At her place today, I discuss the background and motivation driving the writing of CLAWS.
Yesterday, I was able to line up another interview. This one will be a Skype interview to air at podioracket.com. For those who haven't tried Skype yet (yesterday I made my first Skype call), it's essentially a way to make phone calls using your computer. Basically, you just talk into the internal mike on your computer to the person on the other end and they speak back through your computer's speakers (note: this is the non-technical definition).
It's really pretty neat. So what the gals at podioracket.com are doing is an audio-interview call-in show with authors who publish their books at Podiobooks.com
It's an inspiring programming model.
Saturday May 16, 2009 Today marks Day Two of my 45-Day Blog Tour, and I'll be visiting my good friend Elisa Lorello's blog Kairos Calling.
Elisa is the author of the poignant and hilarious novel FAKING IT, which I recommend to anyone who liked the movie When Harry Met Sally.
So how was Day 1? Fun... and very, very busy. I've never done a concentrated tour like this before, and am now realizing that it can take up seventeen hours of a day to keep everything moving along. I suspect things might slow down a bit in a few days, but for now, I'm just embracing the attention and trying to get the word out about CLAWS.
Thanks so much, everybody, for all of your words of encouragement yesterday. The ten free review copies were gobbled up very quickly (within an hour actually) and e-mails kept coming in all day and night from many others. The ten fastest e-mail replies promising to write reviews for CLAWS came from (in order):
1) Doug S.
2) Anthony P.
3) Mary S.
4) Martha G.
5) Robert W.
6) Mickey B.
7) Barbara H.
8) John & Bren P.
9) Alice Osborn (whose blog I'll be guesting at tomorrow, in fact)
10) Pat C.
Thanks so much, folks. You guys are the real deal, and I appreciate your enthusiasm and support.
Two other good signs that the Blog Tour is working: 1) My Amazon.com ranking cracked the top 40,000 books yesterday hitting the #38,073 spot. This is actually the highest I've ever seen one of my books ranked at Amazon (keep in mind they have over 5 million books in their database), so thanks so much to all who bought a copy; 2) I received one request for an interview from someone who read Jeremy's blog yesterday and so am adding Megalith's Blog to my blog tour for June 5. Thanks, Megalith!
So I guess the bottom line is that the tour is working so far. It'll be really interesting to see how this experiment works over the next 6 weeks.
Jeremy is the author of the awesome action-thriller novels The Didymus Contingency, Kronos, Raising the Past, Antarktos Rising, and the soon-to-be-published PULSE. Do yourself a favor and buy his novels now. He is going to be a New York Times bestselling author very, very soon. I guarantee it.
So, I am doing a 45-Day Blog Tour to promote CLAWS. I need folks to write reviews of the book, host me for an interview on your blog, anything you can think of to help spread the word.
Here's what I'm offering. Anyone who writes a review on Amazon.com will get a free signed copy of CLAWS from me. I will mail it to you postage paid.
Anyone who buys five or more copies of CLAWS at Amazon, I will do a phone interview with you about your writing, your book, whatever you like, and I will broadcast this interview on my TV show which airs on YouTube (keep in mind that my most "viewed" video on YouTube has been seen over 130,000 times, folks.)
Just let me know that you can help. The more creative you are, the better!
I'll be posting daily updates here at staceycochran.com and at my site howtopublishabook.org which alone is seen by some 2,000 "unique" visitors every month from around the world.
Take care, folks. See you tomorrow!
Stacey
P.S. Special thanks to Kerry M. who has already sent me proof of purchasing five copies at Amazon! (I'll post updates throughout the day if there are any others.)