promotion

PD Alleva

/ Kris Wampler

PD Alleva has used self-publishing to craft his vision of what science fiction and horror should look like. Read about the trial-and-error approach to marketing he recommends for new authors.

1. Tell me briefly about your latest book – what is it about and what motivated you to write it?

My latest novel was released in October. It’s a dystopian science fiction thriller titled The Rose Vol. 1. It’s the first in a new series that features a sophisticated although ravaging species of alien vampires. The story begins after the end of World War 3 and follows an unsuspecting safety camp survivor, Sandy Cox, who’s been thrown in the middle of a human and alien war most human beings are unaware has existed. Sandy quickly discovers the vampires’ diabolical plot to turn human beings into easily controlled zombies in an effort to take control of the planet and achieve interstellar domination. The human elite are on the side of the aliens and have turned the military against their own people.

My motivation for writing The Rose was twofold: write a book that was intelligent,
mythological, mysterious, and action-packed; and, satisfy my creative itch while paying homage to the science fiction novels and movies that I’ve indulged in over a lifetime.

2. How have your sales been?

Sales have been really good.

3. You’ve chosen self-publishing.  How have you liked it so far?  Talk about some of the positives and negatives you’ve encountered.

I enjoy self-publishing and the freedom that comes along with it. I don’t have to be concerned with whatever narrative or cookie cutter stories traditional publishing is attempting to push. I work at my own schedule and enjoy connecting with other indie authors. Continue reading →

Ben Baker

/ Kris Wampler

Ben Baker is a prolific writer who has learned a few tricks throughout his career. He explains how authors can find and exploit their niche.

1. Tell me briefly about your latest book – what is it about and what motivated you to write it?

My latest published book is A Dog Named Nekkid. The title comes from one of the columns in the book. Imagine naming a dog Nekkid. Think of the fun. Put the dog outside. Company comes over. You get tired of them. “I gotta go outside and get Nekkid. Y’all wanna come?” So many variations on a theme.

That also marked my debut as a freehand cartoonist. I did editorial toons in college for the university newspaper, but drew those on a Macintosh. My daughter also drew some of the toons.

I have several others in the works: a science fiction/fantasy novel, memoirs, and a how-to book on dealing with an estate when you are the executor.

2. How have your sales been?

Poor. This is my fault. While I am good at sales and marketing, I do not enjoy it. Good? Yes. I have set new positive sales records for the places I worked in sales. I just do not like it. If I invested into the marketing, my sales would be excellent. I am somewhat like Nikola Tesla in that regard: lemme work and let someone else handle the business end.

This is why I love writing for brokerage sites. They handle the maths (maths is evil; the plural is correct), the marketing and the business. I write. I did have one client steal my stuff and leave a horrible review. I reported it with evidence of the theft and got paid. The client got banned. Dunno if the review is still up, nor do I care.

3. You’ve chosen self-publishing. How have you liked it so far? Talk about some of the positives and negatives you’ve encountered.

Self-publishing is great for me. I am also a graphic artist. Each week I produce a newspaper and a few times a year I produce a slick magazine. Layout and design for books is something I can do in my sleep. I’ve done books for several other people who did not have the know-how to design and format. I’ve done so many, including ghost writing, that I wrote a contract to spell out what I will do and the prices.

Because I can do layout and design, I control every step of the process. I pick the font, size, page size, count and quality. I keep all the rights. I set the price. I keep all the profits. My only out-of-pocket expense is printing the books I buy to resell.

Self-publishing is not for everyone because so many people think they have a great book (they do not) and it will just fly off the print-on-demand press to be a bestseller (it won’t). The last report of the POD industry I read said the average POD book sells fewer than two copies.

Marketing is what sells books. If you can’t get your butt up, moving and selling books everywhere and every chance you get, including forcing some chances, you will not make money. Continue reading →

Morgan Amos

/ Kris Wampler

51nKIGsVA0L._SX311_BO1,204,203,200_Mystery/thriller author Morgan Amos has learned many things – both good and bad – during her self-publishing journey.  Find out the one mistake she made starting out that can be key to a book’s success or failure.

1. Tell me briefly about your book – what is it about and what motivated you to write it?

“From the Killer’s Eyes” focuses on the small town of Somers and takes the reader into the life of Bradley Beckington and Katie Caldwell. Katie and Bradley meet and fall for one another, but what Katie doesn’t know is that Bradley has a sinister past that threatens to tear them apart, and if Katie isn’t careful she could wind up dead. The motivation for my book stemmed from watching a lot of Lifetime TV movies and seeing what they were producing. I tend to read a lot of thriller and mystery books also, and I am into true crime, so I got the idea to write my book from that.

2. How have your sales been?

Being honest, my sales haven’t been great. When I first released my book back in 2014, my dad helped me to sell copies, but once that stopped so did my sells, unfortunately. I promoted through social media and word of mouth, and I continue to, and it’s definitely been a process.

Continue reading →