HELP! Tips For When Your Books Aren't Selling!

It's release day!! You are excited!! You have taken all the necessary steps to make sure you have a successful release day by doing all the guest blogs, advertising, marketing to your target audience, and throwing the best on-line release party you could!

Sales are soaring! Numbers are up! You are on cloud nine.

Fast forward two weeks later....

Your sales have hit the wall. All of your die-hard fans have bought your book and so have your relatives. Now what?

1) Write!
Don't stop writing. No matter what! With each word you write, you get better and better.
Don't let a day go by that you don't write. Write daily! Even if it's only 500 words. You are 500 words closer to getting another novel out there for your waiting public.

If you don't believe me, go and pull out that plastic tub under your bed with manuscripts you wrote when you first started out. Go on. . . I'm waiting. . .now read the first paragraph.
Cringe worthy? You bet! I told you that with every word you've written, you've gotten better!

2) Start marketing and promoting all over again!
Don't roll your eyes. If you aren't selling, you need to go back to your marketing plan and reevaluate it. What worked a couple weeks ago? What didn't work a couple weeks ago?
Your marketing plan is fluid. You will add and delete tools as you release each book. What worked for one book, might not work for another.

Redo what worked for you a couple weeks ago. Was it a guest blog with your target audience? If yes, then you should still be sending your Facebook and Twitter friends to that site.

Do you have any reviews yet? And are they good? Be sure to toot your horn! You are your book's only advocate in the early stages of a release. It's up to you to get the word out.

3) Reviews
Do you have any reviews on Amazon yet? If you do and they are good, make sure you tell your friends to go in and YES the review. These yes's help your book move up in the algorithms to make your book more visible.

Don't forget to pay it forward to your writing buddies! Go in and YES all their reviews that are GREAT!

Be sure to send your Facebook friends and Twitter followers to your good reviews. Let new readers know that your book is GREAT and worth the purchase.

If you know the reviewer, I know mine because most of them are on my STREET TEAM, be sure to put a public thank you note on their Facebook wall! This gives you more exposure to potential new readers.

4) Luck...plain, dumb luck!
I hate to type that, but sometimes that is just what happens....LUCK!
Unfortunately making big sales are often a matter of time and luck. No one knows the real magic to selling books, but every little bit helps.

It takes most writers years to make a great track record in the selling department. So that's why it's important to write, write, and write more.

What do you do when your sales seem to slump?

Don't Be A Poacher!!

I debated on whether to write this post, but I was so angry that I really felt like a post like this one would help you, the writer.

First off let me say that this blog is for you, the writer. IT'S NOT FOR MY READERS! That is what my STREET TEAM is for.

Lately I have come across some real issues, etiquette issues.

There is still a code of behavior that we writers have to use when it comes to other writers. Most newbie writers (which is most of my blogs target audience) are so excited that they just want to connect with other writers. Not only do they want to connect with other writers, they want to connect with other writers target audience. The problem is. . .writers forget the proper etiquette on how to go about doing this.

Do's and don'ts of asking a blog owner to guest blog and other social media rules:


* You need to comment frequently on the blog you want to guest blog on.  Don't just show up as a phantom follower by sending an email telling the blogger that you LOVE the blog and would love to guest. The blogger knows that deep down you want something....to tap into their audience. BUT what have you done for them? You might have read their blog, but did you participate? I MEAN REALLY PARTICIPATE??


* After you send an email to the blogger to guest blog, give the blogger a few weeks to respond. Don't be persistent and  don't re-send a follow up email. Wait a month until you do send that follow up email. If your blog tour is in a month....you didn't do your job. You need to have your blog tour scheduled TWO months in advanced. 


If you don't hear from the blogger after two requests, then they are ignoring you! Stop emailing them.


* If you are lucky enough to get the guest spot that you so graciously requested, it's up to you to promote your guest post. DO NOT MAKE THE BLOGGER DO ALL THE WORK!!!! 


When I have a guest blogger, I stalk their Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Triberr, every single form of social media to make sure they are promoting their spot on my blog. If they don't, I will never have them on again. This is RUDE! So it's up to you to promote your guest posts.


* Facebook! DO NOT MAKE A PAGE AND ADD OTHERS WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION!! There is nothing more aggravating than getting on my Facebook and getting tons of feed from a group that I didn't join. 


I have been debating about this one because it's getting worse by the day. This is also RUDE! What makes you think that just because someone is on Facebook, they want to be in some group? What gives you the right to put them in a group without asking them?

DO put a status up on your Facebook page that tells your group of friends that you are starting a new group, give a few deets about the group along with the link, and then let them decide.

DO post a nice little invite on your other groups that allow self promotion with a link. LET them decide if they want to join your group.

DO NOT POST A PROMO ON SOMEONE'S FACEBOOK PROFILE OR STREET TEAM unless you ask the owner of the page!! THIS BOILS my blood!!! And it's RUDE!!!

This makes them a POACHER and unlikable!! When another writer posts on any of my Facebook pages promoting their adventures or books without asking me first, I delete it and it makes me mad. They are poaching MY readers that I have worked years to get. Not to mention that my readers aren't there to be POACHED!!
I'm all about helping each other out, but not when I'm taken advantage of and the author thinks she/he has a right to do that because we are cyber friends. It's not only RUDE to me, but it's spamming my STREET TEAM.

On the other hand, if you message the person who owns the page and ask them if they can post on your page, that is a different story. When someone is polite enough to message me and ask me if they can post their book or their new page on my page, I generally agree. I don't let them post their promo stuff on my STREET TEAM, but I will on my personal page and author page.


All in all, use your common sense. Use your manners! OR you will be seen as a POACHER and SELFISH PROMOTER. Keep your image clean and email for the right answers, don't just ASSume that is't okay

Do you have any more etiquette tips to add?

Did you see the new tab at the top? I'm taking proposals for guest blogs! Do you have what it takes? Click on the guest blog tab at the top or right of the page!