FREE Book Promotion #2

#indieauthors #writerslife #amwritingromance #RomanceReaders #paranormalromance

The news from the dream, my Twitter account was hacked. Apparently it contracted the corona virus and digitally pooped on my followers. I likely still need a lot of digital toilet paper to clean up that mess. But I reported the situation and changed my password. The good news is that I avoided Twitter quarantine and life will go on. For all of you who follow me on Twitter, I apologize for the recent rash of direct messages. I did not authorize them. Please delete and do not respond to them. I am really all about the books. Other messages are never mine.

Having said that takes me to the topic for today, which is more free book promotion. I use social media a lot. I have mentioned before that I have used paid advertising on Facebook and Pinterest, but I also use Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and to a lesser extent Tumblr. I have never paid for advertising on these sites however. I simply promote my books one impression at a time. I also still use Facebook and Pinterest that way as well. For example, If I advertise The Dark Gift on Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram, I simply place my link, add a tagline like "One bad dragon meets a broken vampire. Fixing her could see him executed. Will he risk everything?", then add some hashtags, and post. Hashtags are important. It also matters that you spend a few minutes scrolling through the news feed and liking things you like. Follow other people who post things you like and they will begin following you. Soon you will have lots of people seeing your promotion, liking and commenting on it. Remember the 7/11 rule. Readers need to see your brand seven times before it registers. They need to see it at least 11 times before they will consider purchasing. 

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But you can't just spam people. No one likes that. You have to post once or twice a day and let it be viewed and marinate so to speak. Then post something new but related. Like this excerpt from Synner and Sainte. I might post the book cover in the morning then the excerpt with a link in the afternoon. Sort of like pinning to Pinterest. It works best if tended to everyday. But like growing vegetables in a garden it takes time for social media efforts to bear fruit. You have to watch out for pests and weeds at the same time you have to be able to leave it sitting in the sun and the rain too. With social media, you have to follow others, add friends, like other things, and leave comments to build up a following and make your presence known. But you must avoid the negative pitfalls as well. This takes time. Remember there is no overnight success. It's a business. You grow it. 

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With Twitter, you can post three or four times a day, retweet other tweets, like a few things, and chat a few people, then move on. With Facebook and Instagram, posting once or twice a day is better because the posts linger longer there, especially if you are guest posting in groups. Be considerate and don't spam the group with repetitious posts. I post to over 150 Facebook groups. I post a few each day so I can post the same book in different places all week without spamming everyone. (You must request permission first and build up a list of places you can promote.)  Pinterest needs to see you active and pinning daily, but the pin will still be active for weeks after you left it. Eventually, you build up a following and have a lot of posts, pins, and tweets that new followers can see. Be sure to use hashtags and links to let more people see your promotion. ​For my new short read miniseries, Dread Allies, I have even pinned a tweet that everyone who visits me on Twitter can see and hopefully retweet so the book gains exposure there.

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You want to write. No one wants to market and promote all of their life away. Especially if the gains are small and take forever to happen. That is why you need to schedule your time. If you don't have time to promote, you might need to spend some money and let someone else promote for you. I highly recommend keeping a google docs link list for your books, your social media, hashtags, book taglines, and your author sites as well as your website. That way they are easy to copy and paste wherever you are. Setting yourself up before you launch a book is crucial. I wish I had. But if you want to write and choose to Indie Publish as I have, choose one social media site at a time, build your pages and boards with your art, words, and videos. Set up the behind the scenes and begin a life that involves a little time scrolling through social media. Promotion is how you let the world know that you have something that they need to see. I never want to be a carnival barker. I don't want the eyes on me. I want them on my story. That is why I am constantly offering a FREE book from Opheliakee.com. It is why I list my books for FREE with Kindle Unlimited and debut my books at a discounted price. It is the story that matters. But someone must hear it or read it for it to be the escape that it is meant to be.

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I would be remiss if I did not promote Dragon Masters the twelfth book in the Draoithe series. The saga continues as Blue and Torch find themselves in the precarious position of needing to collar institutionalized slaves as their Valkyrie. It is launching Mar 23 and is currently available from Amazon as a preorder. It is a full length novel and like all my novel debuts, it will be listed at $3.99 which is 20% off of the regular price. It will be made available and FREE with Kindle Unlimited. So if you are a Kindle subscriber mark your calendar. As always if you read, please be kind and leave your review. It matters.

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Be Careful!
Happy reading,
​Ophelia Kee