by Jim
Hello, Jim–
I’ve followed your postings for a while through WordPress, and was wondering if you had any advice for jumpstarting crowdfunding for publishing a novel.
I currently have a novel-length project on Unbound.com that, despite some initially generous support from family and friends, has been stuck at the 20% mark for months, and the well of (ideally free) options for promoting it is dried up, or so it seems. I used to provide regular updates that included details about the characters and backstory, but I feel I’ve reached the point where I can’t share anything more without spoiling the novel, and I wasn’t getting much of a response anyway. One thought that’s come to mind (thanks to your writing playlist posts) is to include Youtube lyric or music video links to songs from the multiple playlists I go through when working on a project (Random Mix, Soundtracks, Classical, etc.). Has the playlist posting approach worked for you in terms of drawing attention to your project(s), and if so, would you be bothered if I adopted a similar method? And what other venues or sites would you recommend for trying to reach more readers and donors?
Sincerely,
Hi Mark,
It’s an age-old problem to be sure. How do you attract an audience. Well to be honest there are a lot of ways. Your crowdfunding page certainly caught my attention, but really word of mouth is everything. For starters, I would update your kickstarter listing. Offer autographed copies as a perk. Collectors (like myself) love that sort of thing. We eat it up and… given how much I spent on a Lady Mechanika #1 that is autographed by the writer and artist (no I will not give a dollar amount), we’re willing to spend more on them… even if the artist is start up.
Second, I would update the kickstarter to include “advertising” as to where the funding goes. If you’ve really exhausted all other options, then you are going to need to put some money into advertising whether you like it or not. Fortunately there are plenty of advertising companies that can help you for fairly cheap. Amazon is really a great place to do it as many of their ads show up on Audible and that’s often how I find new books to read.
So I also took a look at your page as well and I don’t mean this in a negative way, but I found it wanting. What I mean by that is that you have no footer, nowhere on there other than your Amazon page where people can interact with you or get updates other than WordPress… This is very important because… most readers typically don’t have wordpress accounts. They come here for the articles, but most won’t be writing anything.
Go into wordpress, got to ‘My Site> Configure> Sharing.
If yours doesn’t look like mine (yes I know, I need to update the Linkedin one), then you’re not doing everything you can to advertise your work or yourself. Sign up for an account on each of these and spend a few hours here and there reaching out to people. Comment on the things they post, off your opinion, and/or offer help (like I do here). This is how you build a community and gain yourself a following.
A few weeks of doing this gained me a few thousand followers and a considerable boost in traffic to my pages.
The playlist has definitely gained me a following, mostly of writers looking for something to listen to while they brainstorm, but it has helped. This isn’t a method I have copyrighted or anything, so if you feel like it could help you, go for it.
Anyway, I hope some of these ideas help, but let’s open it up to the community;
Readers, do you have any ideas that could help Mark spread word of his new book??
Thanks,
Jim
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have multiple published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.
Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:
http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU
Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!
-Jim
James Harringtons Creative Work 