The Plan:
Last year, I had the idea to promote one of my published stories each month this year while offering the eBook on sale for 99 cents. I'd create pretty and cute graphics with some of the best quotes from my stories to post on Instagram and Facebook. I'd even planned to create a couple of reels, too.
(I love it when authors I follow do this. There's been many cases when I've added a book to my TBR list or bought it because I continued to see their posts and enjoy the teasers they shared. My hope was to generate the same outcome.)
The Plan Ruined:
Well, my plan immediately unraveled when my publisher said that they no longer mark eBooks on sale for 99 cents UNLESS the author is doing a big advertising push and paying for advertisement during the sale.
Look, I'm single. I live alone. I'm on a budget. I cannot afford to pay for advertising.
Hearing that was such a HUGE disappointment.
I'd already created a lot of graphics for my stories, so I thought I'd still go ahead with my plan, minus the sale.
The Outcome (so far):
In January, I started with 30 Seconds, my romantic-suspense novella. The first few days, the engagement was decent. Then it dropped.
Lesson Learned: DO NOT do a month-long spotlight. LOL! I had too many quotes that I liked that I'd wanted to share, but that was my mistake. I should've parred it down to two weeks of content, four days per week.
February, I moved on to 30 Seconds Before, the prequel to 30 Seconds that can be read as a standalone. I thought the engagement would be decent, again, like how it started out with 30 Seconds, but it was well below par.
March through September I spotlighted a story a month for the Disaster Crimes series. And that was just...brutal. *sigh*
Lesson Learned: Promoting an older published and completed series is HARD, especially if you're promoting each book separately. I honestly have no clue how to promote my series now.
Instagram's Sucky Algorithms:
Now, I know this problem is not just with me, and it's how Instagram's horrible algorithms bury our content and never show us posts from accounts we follow. Ever.
My posts now get a handful of likes. (Don't get me wrong. I am grateful for all of my followers, although I'd prefer it if IG let them SEE my posts, and I am grateful for the likes I do get.)
Sometimes, though, I get just two or three likes no matter what I try.
And I've tried it all: more hashtags, less hashtags, different hashtags, same hashtags, trying to hit high engagement days/times, Canva graphics, photographs, censoring words that romance authors use a lot so that I don't get put on some naughty list, but nothing makes a difference.
Instagram just hates me.
It is incredibly discouraging, and I know I'm not alone in this.
Some Content for Fun:
Because my posts weren't seen by many, I thought I'd share a few of my favorites for 30 Seconds and 30 Seconds Before in this post. They are hyperlinked if you'd like to visit the post on IG.
30 SECONDS:
30 SECONDS BEFORE:
It is past disheartening to go to such efforts only to receive a meager harvest. I hate to hear it. I am the best kept secret on the internet it seems. I continue writing and publishing because I am too stubborn to quit. :-) May the rest of this year find you with higher sales. https://rolandyeomans.blogspot.com/2024/10/deadly-harvestan-untold-tale-of-son-of.html
ReplyDeleteIf only there was a formula for getting books in front of readers' faces. Sadly, I think everyone struggles. I follow some authors on Bluesky, and they tend to post about other things besides their books most of the time. Then when they post about their books, it's like, "by the way, I'm an author, too". I have no idea if that works.
ReplyDeleteFor a finished series, I've seen authors make the first book free to entice readers. Then, sucked in, they read the rest of the series? I don't know. Maybe make the whole series a bundle that can be bought at once?
This series was traditionally published, so there’s only so much I can do. I can’t offer the first book free. As it is, it’s a novella that’s only $1.99. Nor can I offer a bundle.
DeleteYou have my sympathy, for what it's worth. I keep telling myself there are keen potential readers out there somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI definitely struggle with IG as both a poster and a viewer (I don't know if that's the right word). I have such a hard time finding the posts of the people I follow. They're buried beneath layers and layers of "suggested for you" stuff that I generally don't have any interest in.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have the same problem with getting engagement from my posts. I've done some half-hearted experimentation with hashtags and time of day and such, but I really have no idea how to make the algorithms work with me and likely never will. :)
Great quotes! I have no idea how to promote my backlist. I have never gotten an Instagram account, so at least I'm spared that aggravation!
ReplyDeleteI've been out of the promo phase for so long, I dred even trying again. I appreciate your honesty and sharing your experience. I hope things turn around next year. I adore your published works and hope others discover them.
ReplyDelete