My story in self-publishing, part III: Publicity and advertising
In principle, you can slap a book onto Amazon, add a few search terms, and then sit back for the profits to roll in. In practice, given there are many thousands of books published each year, you have to gain attention for your book. This is doubly so for self-published authors. And this is the most painful part for me.
It’s one thing to stand before a class or a conference and talk about my research—those people chose to be there—but to tug on the sleeve of strangers or even friends and say, Hey! I wrote a book! Want to read it? is very uncomfortable for me. No doubt my native insecurity has been fed by a lifetime of conversations like this:
OTHER PERSON: So what do you do?
ME: I’m a physicist.
OTHER PERSON: Oh! I really hated physics when I was forced to take it in school.
(awkward silence)
OTHER PERSON (clears throat): Um, so what kind of physics do you do, anyway?
ME: Theoretical nuclear physics.
OTHER PERSON (slowly backs away): My, look at the time! I’m so late…for something. Gotta run!
Of course, there exist people who enjoy science, and they are the ones who might enjoy my novel. But they have to hear about it first.
Some of the advice out there tells authors they need a significant social media presence. I loathe social media, but I did agree I needed at least a web presence. In particular I wanted to make a free copy of the first few chapters available, so that readers could try the story and see if they wanted to continue. I’ve written online essays and blog posts (like this one) from time to time, so I could add that as a bonus. I’ve actually written web pages before, but from that I knew creating a good website was not trivial. Therefore I needed:
- To purchase domain name(s), such as lifefullofquarks.com and variants.
- A site for creating and hosting a website with that domain.
- Optionally, a separate e-mail.
As with everything else, there are myriad options. I purchased several domain names through dynadot, which provides affordable prices. After much searching, I created my website through pub-site.com, which advertises as being aimed at writers. I also set up an alternate e-mail associated with one of my domains, cwj @ cwjsf.com.
The main website I created is the one you are visiting right now, lifefullofquarks.com. On dynadot I set up forwarding so that my other domains automatically send anyone to that site. I also set up www.lifefullofquarks.com to go to lifefullofquarks.com. (There is much discussion online about the importance or not of the www prefix. I am still not sure I made the right decision, which was mostly by accident.)
But a webpage alone is not enough. Advertising and reviews to drive buyers is still needed.
As with everything, there are people who will sell your services. Kirkus reviews are well-known, and they will, for a steep price, review your book. Other places will also review your book, some for a price, some for free. (Paying for a review does not guarantee a positive review, but if you pay, you typically have the choice whether or not to post that review. Or so I’m told. I haven’t gotten to that point yet.). Reedsy, where I met my artist and my editors, offers Reedsy Discovery, where for a modest fee other members can read and review your book. (As of this writing, no one has touched my book.) IngramSpark offers advertising. And so on.
Facebook is a major place for advertising, which is a problem for me since I have studiously stayed far away from Facebook. I am sure I will have to attempt it at some point.
For personal contacts, I made up business cards with the cover of my book and the name of my website.
I plan to place a classified ad in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, one of the premier SF magazines and to which I subscribe.
And after that, we’ll have to see….