A Little Advice From Terri Reid

I've often been asked about marketing an e-book and what I think are the important steps. So, I thought I would just share my advice (remember, free advice is worth what you pay for it ;)) with all of you, just in case you're interested. 

www.kindleboards.com - Writer's cafe- This is a place where many indie Authors hang out and share their experiences. It is a great place to ask a question and get firsthand experience in your own genre. And, it's a great place to find out about bloggers who are willing to read your book and do a review for you. 

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/ - This is Joe Konrath's blog called a Newbie's Guide to e-publishing. There is a lot of great information there. 

http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/ - This is David Gaughran's blogsite - it is also filled with all kinds of great information and he gives away a .pdf version of his book - Let's Get Digital 

Okay - So from my experience - these are the most important things you can do to market your book:

1. Have a great book! (I know this seems like a "duh" comment - but so many people have thought they could push out an almost perfect book - just to get it out. WRONG! you only get one chance to make a first impression.)

2. Have an author's Facebook page and link to it from your book.

3. See if you can get bloggers in your genre to read and review your book. This will give you more viability.

4. A great cover design is CRUCIAL. Too many times a cover screams -"Look what I did with Word Art and Photoshop." If you have skills - do your own. But, make sure you look at covers of other books in your genre - successful books- and see what they are doing. Emulate them - because you want to look professional. If you don't have skills - pay for someone to create a cover for you. You are a professional now -  don't shortchange your book to save money. In this case a book IS judged by its cover - NEVER forget that. 

5. A website is nice - I have one - but it has nowhere near the hits I have on Facebook. I would say if you can create your own - and it looks good - GO FOR IT. If you have a friend who can create one for you - that looks good, go for it. But, in my opinion, Facebook, Twitter and even Pinterest will give you a lot more bang for your buck. 

Best of luck!!! I wish you so much success!

Terri