Thursday, April 7, 2011

Redundancy and Self-Promotion: Now with Coupons!

*Bottom Feeders (print) is good to go. Check the bottom of the post.*

Twitter. Forums. Facebook. This blog.

I've kicked up a little extra self-promotion of late, and, like many authors, fear I've talked about my "stuff" too much. But have I? Who knows. I hope you, dear readers, will tell me if I'm being a boar. Really.

What I do know is that, when marketing, one must put something in front of potential buyers for them to know about it. Most buyers must see a product several times before they purchase. I haven't mentioned Violent Ends on the blog yet, but I am now. Yes, it's another e-book endeavor, but this time I'm pricing it $1.99 (after much soul-searching and self-debate). Of course, the coupon code WY56K will score 50% off at Smashwords. Violent Ends is also available for Kindle at Amazon.com. This is part of the big experiment. This is about planting seeds rather than leaving them in their little paper pouches (see Monday's post).

These are some of the most...well, violent of my stories. Three of them are brand new/never published before including "The Hustle", a story originally slated for an ill-fated anthology. I hope you enjoy.

The Bottom Feeders is ready to purchase in print (at least through Createspace--Amazon will take a few days to list the book). I've put a fairly reasonable tag of $7.99 on the dead tree edition. Of course, you can buy a copy directly from Createspace with a 15% off code: 7Y2MQK7E. Here's the site: https://www.createspace.com/3588544

Thanks for your support. Now go hug a writer.

15 comments:

Doug Murano said...

I wouldn't worry too much about overpromotion. One of my mentors used to say this about marketing, "As soon as you're sick to death of delivering your message--that's when they're probably just hearing about you." For whatever that's worth.

Aaron Polson said...

Doug - That's a really good point. It's hard to judge with one's internal compass.

Tony said...

Aaron, you're fine. I worried about the same thing when I was promoting UPROOTED, and look how that turned out. :-)

It felt like every tweet and blog post I wrote was talking about the same thing over and over again. I think it really only crosses the line when you start getting near "spam" levels, meaning you start sending people personal e-mails or DMs about your products.

Otherwise, you're good. And hell, your work deserves to get read!

Jarrett Rush said...

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who worries about this. I try to retweet and engage in conversations with people to ease my conscience. But I'm still afraid that I come across as someone who only talks about his book.

Katey said...

For myself, I come here hoping to hear about what you're working on and what you've written that I can get hold of. I mean, this is a writer's blog, right? Yeah, we all commiserate over our trials and the like--but we want to know the good stuff too.

I love this cover. I bought my copy already. Brilliant.

Aaron Polson said...

Thanks, Tony.

Jarrett - I'd bore myself if I only talked about my books.

Katey - Thanks. (I know the guy who painted the cover. He lives in my house.)

Daniel Powell said...

Such an awesome, pulpy cover. Looking forward to it, brother!

Barry Napier said...

What Doug said. I heard that exact same bit of info somewhere in the past.

Also, another great cover.

Fox Lee said...

You are nowhere near becoming a boar. Carry on!

Aaron Polson said...

Thanks, Daniel. I always go for pulp.

Barry - You businessy types get all the good info. Thanks!

Natalie - Carrying on.

K.C. Shaw said...

That COVER, aieee! I love it! :)

Mercedes said...

That's a very engaging cover! You have my attention.

Self promo is really difficult. It goes against everything that we're taught, but you definitely haven't crossed the line in my opinion. Promote promote promote! :D

Cate Gardner said...

You painted that cover! Bloody hell, you are twisted and uber talented ;)

Promoting is never easy, but you seem to have achieved a nice balance.

Anonymous said...

Your self-pubbed covers remain the BEST of any I've seen. Holy crap.

Aaron Polson said...

Thanks, K.C.

Mercedes - Will do!

Cate - I am twisted, Cate. Like a long strand of rusted barbed wire. ;)

Milo - Thanks. The art teacher used to help me with layout decisions, but I think I've internalized some of the "tricks".