Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Jamie's Children: Adventures in Book Marketing

Jamie’s Children

Most indie writers whine a lot about marketing. There are many thousands of us who keep flooding the vast Amazon Book Jungle with our work, and it’s tough to stay positive sometimes. It’s a thrill to sell some books. Heck, it’s a thrill to sell ONE book!

There are many, many “experts” on an equally vast number of websites who claim they can help us sell books. Who knows what works? Who has any money to spend on marketing, anyway?

Okay, enough whining. I want to make you aware of my new book, entitled Jamie’s Children. I have a few reviews up on Amazon already, and this one really thrilled me:

The kids are alright, July 18, 2016
By 
This review is from: Jamie's Children (Paperback)
This is powerful material. I couldn't put it down. I was given an ARC for a review and I could only honestly say WOW!

The story opens as the musically talented son of a well known opera singer crashes under the weight of a debilitating mental health disorder. What follows is a powerful story about the dynamics of an emotionally unbalanced family and the power that music holds over them.

One of the things that really impressed me was the way the music found its way into the story and yet I found myself imagining it.

The story is quite intricate whilst the characters are as beautiful as they are flawed. I believe some existed in a previous book and i would be curious to read more. As it is I would recommend this book, and have done to my partner already, as it is a thoroughly good read.


An “ARC” is an Advance Reader (or Review) Copy, and this reviewer is from the U.K. Sending out ARCs was a new venture for me and I only sent out a few. I’ve read (free) online sites that recommend sending our seventy-five(!). I’m not sure how to go about that. The theory is that if you send out that many you’ll get maybe twenty-five reviews. I can’t address that.

Something else I tried was setting up an online book launch. I’ve only done one book launch party, and of course when you’re live and have a stack of books right next to you, friendly people who show up generally come with money in hand to buy a book. Online is very different: they can come and check over a post, and MAYBE order a copy. I used a Facebook event and I’m posting it on this blog in hopes you might check it out. I have some giveaway items for people who leave a comment/question that includes a “magic word.” So far, no one has won a free Kindle copy of Jamie’s Children. Or a $5.00 Dunkin’ Donut gift card. See, I have a teeny marketing budget, that’s one of my problems.

But these days, I live to write. So every book sold is a round of applause. And every review is a standing ovation. Check out my online book launch! What have you got to lose? And you might even win one of those fabulous prizes!


cover by Tristan Flanagan


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