tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23771210.post327134140603349724..comments2023-07-11T08:27:49.027-04:00Comments on Hannah R. Goodman: Self-Trust, Self-Publish, Self-PromoteHannah R. Goodmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01844839035830038677noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23771210.post-22419214128242777412009-11-03T11:05:23.892-05:002009-11-03T11:05:23.892-05:00Wow! All of you, with your different perspectives...Wow! All of you, with your different perspectives and thoughts, make me feel very supported and understood. Thank you so much for responding. The support and response is what makes all of the effort worthwhile. To be heard and validated are important as a writer. Thanks again!Hannah R. Goodmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844839035830038677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23771210.post-49797403914298286612009-11-03T09:58:29.621-05:002009-11-03T09:58:29.621-05:00The way I see it, you have a couple major roadbloc...The way I see it, you have a couple major roadblocks to marketing/selling which you didn't highlight. <br /><br />1) You are writing a book series. Most people will not read the third book if they haven't read the first two. <br /><br />2) You have a limited primary target audience. Your books are mostly focused towards teen girls, with some follow-over to teens and possibly pre-teens. <br /><br />3) Teens grow up. The readers of your first book are now moving away from home, off in college, starting families, etc. If they are even aware that another book in the series was written, what are the odds that it will still interest them.<br /><br />Sadly, those things combine to make selling and marketing the third book significantly harder. Unfortunately, unless you have a YA book which can hold the interest of the masses (e.g. Harry Potter) or you are a well-known, published author who also writes YA (e.g. Neil Gaiman), you are going to have a tough time. <br /><br />Your options, the way I see it, are as follows:<br /><br />1) Change genre. Particularly difficult if you love what you currently write, because you should always write what you love.<br /><br />2) Write a new story, outside the series. Depending on how attached you are to your characters, you may have the same problem as number 1. <br /><br />3) Stop self-publishing. A big step which result in you never getting a published book again. <br /><br />4) Take whatever sales you get. It's a potentially costly approach. You need to sell enough to pay your expenses, at least. It might be worth it to hire someone to do your sales and marketing. <br /><br />I look forward to seeing what you produce in the future. I think you are a talented and capable writer.Bill Gauchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23771210.post-64784707519651191512009-11-03T01:53:16.815-05:002009-11-03T01:53:16.815-05:00I salute your hard work for the success of your bo...I salute your hard work for the success of your books. It's a real inspiration to know what you have reflected, that you did not regret what you've done for your book and your family. But it's also a reality that marketing can be real frustrating sometimes. But you know, just like all stories, we need to experience challenge to step into the light of success. You've already made it twice, that's a whole lot of reason to reap success again and again. God bless on your book marketing!<br /><br />Sincerely,<br />BookWhirl.comBookWhirl.comhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Book-Marketing-Services-BookWhirlcom/114852370417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23771210.post-62696444117954728022009-11-02T17:35:25.063-05:002009-11-02T17:35:25.063-05:00I certainly understand your frustration over marke...I certainly understand your frustration over marketing. So much effort feels futile. I recently have come to a similar conclusion. It doesn't make sense to keep throwing money at it with so little return. I find it impossible to keep up my blog, twitter, go to fairs, prepare workshops etc all at once. I find I must focus on each one at a time. First the blog tour, now the craft fairs, next developing workshops. I will keep at it at a pace that makes sense for me until all my books are sold.Margaret Joneshttp://www.notofmymaking.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23771210.post-27062743395757268582009-11-02T17:11:35.485-05:002009-11-02T17:11:35.485-05:00What's that expression? . . . When life sends ...What's that expression? . . . When life sends you you lemons, make lemonade. Here, lemons is a metaphor for the shit that has been thrown at you recently. Making lemonade is another way of saying accentuate the positive. Your list of positive developments is far longer than the list headed by "On the other hand..." so you've already done that here. Speaking of lists, you have children, husband, house, pets, business, and school. You've managed to keep up with all that and still self-publish your third book and devote time and expense to marketing efforts. No reason to feel guilty, particularly when you facilitated that longer list of positive results without support from the farther-reaching resources of main stream publishing. Relatively speaking, you've done a fine professional job of it. Here's another analogy: You planted a garden, fed, watered, weeded, but now other business has diverted your time and attention so you can only devote short spurts of time to tending the garden, with longer intervals between. However, your initial hard work prepared the soil well so your garden still yields the flowers/vegetables that you intended. Glad you submitted to the IPPY and hope you find other competitions for this worthy book. You're right, in some ways this is the best/most important of the three. Love this book!Joanne Carnevalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14773494642346624996noreply@blogger.com