In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* Topic: Promotion — Read This Post
* Of Interest
Quote of the Day
“Adam [Croft]’s book, The Indie Author Mindset, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FZ3X349/ is a MUST-READ for any indie who intends to ‘make it’ in this biz.” Garry Rodgers
Topic: Promotion — Read This Post
From a promotion standpoint, this might be the most important post I’ve ever written for the Journal. I mention several invaluable resources below. But be forewarned: reading about the resources or even reading the actual resources themselves won’t help unless you actually do what they recommend. Good luck.
My post yesterday seemed to strike a chord in several folks. Seriously, I do appreciate the concern and even the advice, but I’m not looking for either. My hope is that you will focus on yourself and on writing and proting your own fiction.
One helpful young man emailed to say that covers are important. (Yes, of course they are. The cover is the first thing the reader sees.) He continued with, “If I had $70 and a choice [to either] spend it on an advertisement or for a great cover, I would spend it for the cover. Because a great cover is an advertisement itself.”
Again, the second part of his reasoning is sound. A great cover is indeed an advertisement itself. But the first part of his reasoning is flawed: You don’t have to spend any money at all to get a great cover. You only have to study and learn and know what you’re doing.
The secrets to designing a great cover are these:
1. Use illustrations, not photos, for fiction covers. That’s it. (With some free programs, you can turn photos into illustrations by applying different effects.)
2. Make the title and the author name big. Remember, the first time the prospective reader sees your cover it will more than likely be in thumbnail size.
3. The font color of the title and author name should be captured from somewhere in the illustration.
4. Sense (or study) how to place the title and author name most effectively. Study best selling covers. It will help.
I write a lot more than westerns, but for just two examples, the best, most professional covers in my 12-volume Wes Crowley series are the covers of Book 11 (In the Cantina at Noon) and Book 12 (The Final Chapter). Both are illustrations. (The cover for Book 11 includes two photos but the overall cover is an illustration.)
Anyway, to fill in a little more info for you, I entered “promotion” in the search box on the Journal website and found the post I was searching for. Back in June of 2021 (a little over a month before I was no longer able to write fiction) I talked about promotion and included a link to a post I wish I’d read years ago. Here it is again:
See “How to Develop a Marketing and Promotion Plan as an Indie Author” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/how-to-develop-a-marketing-and-promotion-plan-as-an-indie-author/. And be sure to see PG’s take.
Also see “TKZ Marketing Survey – Part 2” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/05/tkz-marketing-survey-part-2.html.
There are links to more articles in today’s “Of Interest.” I hope they help.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Top Ten Tips for Amazon eBook Publishing Success” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/09/top-ten-tips-for-amazon-ebook-publishing-success.html.
See “Kobo — A Truly International Indie Publishing Platform” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/10/kobo-a-truly-international-indie-publishing-platform.html.
See “The Secret to Being a Successful Writer” at https://killzoneblog.com/2022/03/the-secret-to-being-a-successful-writer.html.
See “This Is the Most Bizarre Grammar Rule You Probably Never Heard Of” at https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/grammar-bizarre-weird-rule-adjective-order-matthew-anderson-mark-forsyth-cambridge-dictionary.html.
Disclaimer: In this blog, I provide advice on writing fiction. I advocate a technique called Writing Into the Dark. To be crystal clear, WITD is not “the only way” to write, nor will I ever say it is. However, as I am the only writer who advocates WITD both publicly and regularly, I will continue to do so, among myriad other topics.