Getting A Book into the King County Library

So, the King County Library System, the third largest library system in the nation, bought 7 copies of my book, The Alchemist’s Theorem! A friend of mine  asked a friend of hers who works at KCL how I could go about pitching my self-published book. Her friend let me know how to submit my book for consideration and she gave me a couple of tips.

The KCLS really cares about local authors. So being a Seattle author and a graduate of UW Bothell’s MFA program is something she told me to emphasize. Another very important thing she said is to provide published reviews of the book from reputable sources.

KCLS states that “A positive review in one or more of the library review journals will greatly increase the chance of your book being purchased by KCLS.” They give a list of reputable resource: Library Journal, School Library Journal (for children’s books), Kirkus, Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, The Seattle Times. So my glowing Kirkus review definitely helped out my submission.

They say don’t drop in to promote your book in person, use their system for pitching instead. The librarians who review submissions “have only a short amount of time to look at the information, so emphasize the essentials.”  KCLS asks that submissions include a “brief and pithy” description about the book; the intended audience; a list of any qualifications; bibliographic info such as date of publication, price, ISBN, etc; and how to buy the book, libraries prefer to buy from wholesale vendors, such as Baker & Taylor or Ingram.

So, I am a local author and a graduate of UW Bothell, I have a great review from Kirkus, and my book is available for purchase through Ingram. These three things got me into the King County Library System, as well as the Seattle Public Library System. And I’m very thankful for it!

 

 

 

 

 

Overseas Publishing

So in my self-publishing model, I’m not just using digital platforms, I’m also doing my own offset printing and distribution. I’ve invested a good deal of time, effort, and money in promoting my book. To my delight, the book hasn’t come and gone like so many others. It is steadily growing an audience, snowballing rather than melting into oblivion. Self-publishing my book domestically in the U.S. is a task I am definitely up for, however, publishing it internationally is not something I have the wherewithal to do.

I figured I’d eventually look for an overseas agent and publisher, but I never picked a specific time in the process. Over the weekend I decided, why wait? Everything is ready to go. Putting together a pitch/query letter and sample chapters would take no time at all. The book is finished and polished, it has received glowing reviews from important sources, and I’ve gotten really good at talking about it concisely in emails (the only hitch was that Brooks and I password protected the PDF and it took many tries to figure it out, but we eventually guessed right).

On Sunday, I did some searching, found five U.K. agents to query, sent off my letter and sample chapters, and now all I have to do is wait a few weeks and see who bites. It’s all very exciting.

My Self-publishing Model: Marketing Successes & Fails

I very much appreciate when I find info on different marketing strategies written by other authors. So the following is a breakdown of what I’ve tried so far and whether or not it worked for me.

Goodreads self-serve advertising: I threw $20 at an A&B ad campaign that resulted in a handful of clicks and no book sales. It’s still in beta so I reckon Goodreads will improve upon it by letting advertisers target more precisely, but I find that it works a lot like Adwords, which is useless to anyone who doesn’t have a huge budget and can afford to outbid competitors. Also, I’m more and more convinced that internet ads are wholly ineffective.

Goodreads giveaway: When I first launched my giveaway I thought it was super effective. Dozens of people were adding my book to their to-read list. But when I took a closer look at the people who were adding it I found that they had 10’s to 100’s of thousands of books in their to-read list. At first I thought they were virtual hoarders and liked to collect books digitally (I’m a virtual hoarder in the video game Skyrim). Then I read about an author’s experience with a Goodreads giveaway who found that the algorithm selects winners who are active users. When I noticed that a woman joined the giveaway, added my book to her excessive to-read list, and then immediately gave it a 1 star rating, I realized that participants are mostly people who are gaming the system for free books. Out of the 10 books I gave out for free, only one person read and reviewed it while the other 9 are now being sold on Amazon. I will say that perhaps a better strategy is to have a giveaway hosted on various blogs which may result in more actual readers receiving books, but until Goodreads sorts out their algorithm I won’t be doing another giveaway.

Fussy Librarian: I ran one ad with them while my ebook was priced at $5.99 and saw no book sales, however, I did notice that everyone else who was listed had priced their books much lower or for free. I ran a second ad with my ebook priced at $2.99 and saw no book sales. Other authors from other genres have had more success, but my kids fantasy novel doesn’t seem to have an audience there.

Blog reviews: Between December 2015 and February 2016, I received around a dozen positive reviews from various Middle Grade Mania blogs, online magazines, and websites. They have generated no book sales. However, these reviews are still valuable for two reasons. 1) One blogger who rejected my request for a review was kind enough to explain that his traffic came from people who were already searching for a specific book they wanted to read about, meaning that he didn’t have an audience of book readers looking for his own personal book recommendations. So when I do eventually get the word out about my book, and people want to know more about it, they will be brought to these positive reviews in their search. And 2) all of these glowing reviews provide me with choice quotes with which to promote my book. I get to include them in posters and other marketing material. Many of these quotes have helped me get my foot in the door when reaching out to people.

BestFantasyBooks.com review: This review cost me $400. I searched to see if anyone had paid for it before and whether or not it was worth it, but I found nothing. I knew it was a risk so I told myself that if it turned out to not be worth it I would at least let other authors know. It wasn’t worth it to me. Personally, I have to say I really like the guy who reviewed my book. He was great exchanging emails with me, and he runs the site and others himself, which is admirable. Professionally, $400 is a lot of money for a self-published author, so the quality of the service matters. The review was poorly written with typos, grammar mistakes, and redundant sentences. Even though the review is considered overall positive, the reviewer is not a fan or reader of kids fantasy novels (something I did not know) and it shows. Also, there did not appear to be the professional, critical literary analysis that one would expect from paying such a high fee. However, an author of adult fantasy in the GRRM world might have better luck, but I can’t say for sure.

Kirkus review: When my Kirkus review posted on the website and in the February issue it resulted in little to no book sales, which isn’t a surprise since the audience is more industry people than readers. However, despite the lack of sales, this glowing Kirkus review has been the most valuable review. It has given my book credibility and has raised it above all the other self-published books out there. A lot more people are willing to consider my book because of this review. And it was definitely worth the $425. I can tell that a total professional has written it. The block of text is well-written, concise, tight, and still manages to dig into and convey the essence of the story in a thoughtful way. Such a short review is going to go a long way for me.

Kickstarter: My Kickstarter campaign has by far sold the most books, even after the campaign was over. It built up a lot of momentum that carried over into the following months. It’s a ton of work, but a thrill ride too. If done right, it is a rewarding experience.

Gah! The Waiting!

[Update 2/28/2019-The Mugglenet.com review is up and it’s AMAZING!]

So Mugglenet’s review of my book will get posted any day now, but I don’t know when exactly, so the anticipation is making me a little restless. I’m not sure what to expect as far as book sales go.

So far, blog reviews haven’t generated many sales for The Alchemist’s Theorem (though I still believe they are valuable for other reasons). However, it’s Mugglenet, the number one Harry Potter fansite. I can’t imagine what their traffic is, but I bet it’s a huge number. Plus, their visitors are my audience.

Regardless of whether or not the review directly affects sales, it will produce valuable quotes I can use to promote the book. So I’m still plenty excited to see it. I will post the link as soon as it is live!

This Monday, I will be posting about marketing successes and fails that I’ve experienced. It’s good information to have out their for other writers. I’m always Googling for info on different methods and I always appreciate finding posts from other authors who have tried stuff out.

Brooks and I are going on a mini writing retreat this weekend, and staying at a new McMenamins. We are both looking forward to the get away for some productive writing. So have a great weekend everyone!