Even if you are on the wrong track…if you stay there long enough, you’ll get run over

By Barbara Ann Cerda | Contributing Writer

Or how to make money using my book.

Only the gods know how long most authors wait, yearn, and spend marketing dollars to promote their labors of love.  Trading your book for a dollar is difficult because Marketing trends change so rapidly.  Everyday’s playing fields seem to shift.  Most of us do not always understand what works and what does not.

How often do we sit on the same promotional track waiting for the train to come…that legion of eager readers waiting for our words?  Yes…if you sit there long enough someone will come to read your book. Nevertheless, why wait years before the world discovers your gift for storytelling?  Believe it or not, promotional technology is chasing you…hard.  Your book is like a gold mine, you must become a miner of your hidden talents.

Your work has intrinsic value that transcends the story housed within a title.

Think about it. All publications produced for the masses is genre specific…fiction or nonfiction. In storytelling, we aim to seduce the senses of readers. Can the main characters lend themselves well to anime’ or comic-con?  Moreover, will the back-stories adapt well to short story spinoffs. A character in your book may portray a person who follows a pop culture.  Lend your writing talents to entertainment e-Magazines. Each opportunity taken to draw attention to the storyline of your book draws attention to the book.   Writers get rich not from only book sales (that can be meager).

EBooks, short videos, iPod voiceovers and short story series can all point the way to your main work while earning money.

• Expanding your back-stories to short story eBooks and publishing them on Indie sites draws a different reader….those looking for a quick literary fix.
• Short videos created by Vimeo, Visual.ly and others can not only market your main body of work… but if slick enough can draw a crowd of fans to the hero.
• IPod’s time has arrived – again. It adapts itself well to trending technologies. Online payment or pay per read (a WordPress plug in) allows paid subscribers to view short installments of your work.
• Look for art students eager to exhibit their illustrations. Make a deal to exchange their art illustrations about your book for your website or YouTube channel. It will bring your characters to life and gain exposure for unknown artists.
• Finally publish comic book formats of your short stories or extended allegories. If your tale is a fantasy fiction – attend local comic-con conventions. Like-minded folk gathered under one venue is a perfect place to sell to readers, garner new fans and artists seeking new projects.

It is all about selling a good story and Samsung and Apple are creating new and more wonderful toys each day to support that meme. Technology is chasing your tale.

Filed Under: Marketing, Selling Books