Tag, You're It!

I read an interesting blog post today by agent Kristin Nelson that you can find here.  The hot topic this week in publishing concerned "discovery."  Meta data key words reflect one way that end users search for books (and other products online). It got me to thinking about my own "meta data," blog labels, and "tags."  In the past, I have just randomly selected some words that I thought people might search and then find my book.

I did not know that tools on the internet existed that track meta data and searches.  If only I had known.  This would effect the words I choose.  Especially considering that on Kindle Direct Publishing they only allow you a total of seven meta data tags.

My debut book, DARK MOUNTAIN, is a thriller/suspense novel that has elements of paranormal/occult and some elements of horror (especially if people actually ingesting blood makes you queasy).  I chose to use meta data tags for "vampires" and "werewolves" but I declined to mention them in the description.  Then, I also have this dark cover with the tag line, "Sometimes evil runs in the family."  My other five tags were, well, embarrassingly bland.  My name.  The title of the book.  "Thrillers," "suspense," and "Oklahoma authors."

I have changed them now, almost 9 months later.  My tags are now, "Stephen King,"  "horror,"  "vampires," "paranormal thriller," "occult," "Lee Child," and "suspense."  We will see if this increases sales.  This will be an interesting experiment.

My newest book, CRY ME A RIVER, is a suspense/thriller with elements of romance, adventure, and espionage.  It takes place in Colombia.  It has an assassin, a rogue DEA agent, a handsome photographer whose family owns a drug cartel and the woman who hires him.  Of course, she doesn't know his past and soon she becomes a pawn in the fight to protect the family business.

The meta data tags I chose for it seemed fitting, but lo, I have only sold two copies since December 6.  I thought with the Christmas rush and the fact that I gave away over 500 copies of DARK MOUNTAIN, that I would get some attention drawn to this book.  I think it has a catchy cover, but I think that maybe the market is flooded right now.  I don't know.  I think it is the better book.  So, I am experimenting with the data tags on this one as well.  I chose "Lee Child," and "Clive Cussler" for this one as well as "romance," and some other tags that have been getting hits.

We shall see.  I will give it thirty days before I evaluate other ways to boost my sales.  How about you guys?  What are the key words you search for when you are seeking your next read?

A Giving Mood

Dark Mountain

I have been in a generous mood lately.  I just wrapped up a three-day free Christmas download offer for DARK MOUNTAIN.  Over 400 people downloaded it this time.  Now, over 2,000 people have a copy of Dark Mountain.  I am excited and humbled. 

 I want to keep spreading the love, so I have been giving away three signed paperback copies of CRY ME A RIVER.  I am doing this via Goodreads.com.  So, if you have a Goodreads account, you can still enter to win until noon Saturday, January 5th.  Click on the link on my website or go to Goodreads and click on "Explore" and then "Giveaways" and then scroll down until you find CRY ME A RIVER.  As of this post, over 400 people have requested to enter for the three free copies.  The giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only.

Cry Me A River

So, now I have concocted another giveaway.  On my website I have been offering monthly excerpts of my writing.  For the month of January, I have decided to run my first Quarterly Reader's Appreciation Contest.  To enter the drawing for a free Scentsy plug-in, simply read the short (less than three thousand word) excerpt and answer the question in the month of January.  Rules and more information are provided as well as book trailers, and previous excerpts to read.

I plan to continue being generous.  My next title, MANIC MONDAY is set to release by the end of February and I will be offering it only on Amazon, at an introductory price of 99 cents!  It is the first of the MONDAY CHRONICLES and I am super excited about it.  Also, I will be offering DARK MOUNTAIN for free 5 times every 90 days, so watch out for those giveaways if you haven't already downloaded it.

Why am I doing this?  I want to expand my readership is the simple answer.  Also, I am naturally generous.  My dream is that every title I offer is read by at least ten thousand folks.  I don't know 10,000 people personally, so I am relying on good old "word of mouth."  So, if you like my writing, or like me, please spread the word.  Thank you in advance. 

Production is King

As I watch the success of fellow self-publishers, I try to maintain a sense of calm.  I have one book, Dark Mountain, published so far and have had a mediocre first two months. I have learned a ton.  Perhaps the biggest thing that I have learned so far is to be patient. 

Failure tends to demand that reaction, doesn't it?  The Colts have a miserable season with Manning in the stands and the ownership flips the entire organization on its tail.  Be patient.  The economy is in the toilet, unemployment is rampant, drug use on the rise, housing prices plummeting, foreclosures skyrocketing.  Be patient.

So, the only remedy I can truly see is more production.  Write.  Write some more.  I wrote recently about a difficult scene in my current work-in-progress, Cry Me a River.  What a bunch of whiny dreck.  I just wrote it.  Powered through it and ate up 15,000 words in three days.  Finished with a 8,000 word flourish. 

The remedy, you see, is to get behind a keyboard and do what you do best.  So, with another productive week ahead (20,000 words should get me to the end of the book), I will get the next book out before November.  And, soon after that, I plan on having the first of a series of adventure/suspense novels, my Jake Monday series, ready for editing.

The more novels you have, the more legitimate you seem as a writer.  It is then easier to cross-market, to brand, to develop a fan base that no longer just reads your books in obscurity but recommends them to friends and family, tweet about them, adds them on Goodreads, and buys the merchandise.

This is truly a wonderful time to be a writer.  We can never lose sight of that.  But, in this new world of publishing, production is king.  Do you find an author with a "long tail" (multiple books published, big back-list) to have more legitimacy, or does this even factor in when looking for that new book for your Kindle/Nook/Kobo/Ipad?