It's hard to believe Fifth Season will be released in two weeks. I uploaded the hopefully-this-is-final digital version last week to Amazon and Draft 2 Digital. I ordered a second proof copy to double-check formatting before approving the paper version for sale. One thing I haven't done much of, though, is marketing. I've been very busy at work, and I'm slowly but surely working on the climax of Summon the Seasons, the final book in the Season Avatars series. This is what I have so far for marketing for Fifth Season:
1. Announcement to my newsletter subscribers when the paper version is available.
2. Placing ads. I applied for one ad yesterday, so hopefully it will be approved soon. I have to check a few other ad spots to see if they have openings, especially for new releases.
3. Organizing a Rafflecopter with other authors. We already have several authors lined up, but I haven't had a chance to do much with this yet.
The problem with marketing Book Four is that no conscientious reader will want to start the series there. They'll want to start with Book One, Seasons' Beginnings, but it doesn't have a lot of reviews, which makes advertising difficult. That means I have to go with a Plan B. Once I finish the rough draft of Summon the Seasons, I can work on a short story collection I plan to put into Kindle Unlimited, at least for the short term. Hopefully the collection will entice readers to seek out the rest of the series.
If you write series, how do you market later books? Do you do anything with them, or do you focus on the first book and hope readers will continue with the series? Even if you're not a series author, feel free to comment.
I marketed my second and third books the same way. Most do want to start at the beginning, but either of those books could be read on its own. My first one certainly sold enough for a fan base, so I just played off that. My publisher also did a couple sales, which helped.
ReplyDeleteBesides, by the time I was promoting the third in the series, I was really proud of it. Still the best thing I've ever written.
Sounds like good ideas.
ReplyDeleteMaybe put the first book on sale to entice readers.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, the few times I've come across a book I like that's in the middle of a series, it didn't matter to me. I was going to get that first book.
Ugh! I can't remember the author anymore, but I found one of her later books in a series. I loved it but it was disjointed in parts--leaving out big chunks of backstory. I was aggravated to learn it was book #2. The publisher did not label them well.
Sounds like it worked out really well for you, Alex!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pat!
Maria, the first book is perma-free. Hopefully at some point it will start to accumulate more reviews so I can do more advertising. There should be some places that will promote it as is; I just need to contact them.