I have written ‘Glimmers of Reality: The Hope of a Goddess’ available at smashwords as an eBook for free with the paperback version available at amazon and lulu. Still, I haven’t had many downloads. I was thinking of buying 100 copies of the paperback and getting a book shop in town to give them away, one per customer with any purchase, or something like that.
Most book stores will not promote you by giving away your work. Why should they, when there’s nothing in it for them? Maybe they’d do it if you paid them, but then you’re out even more money, and for what? The customers who got the free book aren’t going to buy it. So I’d abandon that idea.
Self-published books and e-books do poorly on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the publisher’s website, the author’s own website, ebay, and anyplace else which is, or leads to, a point of purchase.
Marketing books that are not commercially published is damned difficult. Many of the avenues open to traditionally published authors are not available. Chain bookstores won’t host signings or carry copies (although they will order them for customers). Few independent booksellers are any different. Newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio don’t want your press releases and won’t do author interviews. Libraries won’t accept free copies. Writing- or book-related conventions won’t let you set up a sales or autograph table, don’t want you on their author panels, and forbid you giving away promotional material.
The author’s blog, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other electronic self-promotion efforts don’t increase sales, and often get the author blocked by the very audience he hopes to reach. Most chats and forums delete posts which exist to promote your book.
About the only marketing I’ve seen have any effect for self-published authors is active participation at forums and chats dealing with the subject of your book. Find your niche market and determine where online they hang out. Some sites may allow you to discuss your book *if someone asks about it* (but will ban you for bringing it up more than once). Some may allow a link to a point of sale in your profile, or to your blog or web-page which in turn links to a point of sale.
You’ll sell a few more copies than you might have, but overall, like most self-published books, regardless of quality, total sales will probably remain below 100 copies. More often, the number hovers somewhere around 2/3 to 3/4 of your total number of friends and family members. This compares pretty unfavorably to the thousands of copies a moderately-selling book from a conventional publisher can anticipate.
I’m sorry not to be able to offer much real hope for promotion, but I figured you’d rather hear the truth than sugar-coated lies which might cause you to waste your time or money.
I’d recommend writing another, better book and seeking commercial publication.
SK is absolutely correct. However, I may self-publish anyway. My attitude will be, put it up there, let the Fates decide, accept that it’ll likely only get 100 downloads, mostly from friends and family.
You could try to find a group of other self-published authors who are giving each other reviews.
The only thing I’ve seen in my researches is that are a number of places you can inform when your book goes up for free, as it will in the KDP program. People who want free books can then find it by checking those sites. If your book is any good, those downloads will lead to increased sales through word of mouth. If the giveaway weekend doesn’t lead to sales, it’s a pretty strong statement that your book isn’t any good.
Edit, so I went and looked inside your novel. It’s not as bad as many I’ve seen linked from here, but there are still problems. You’re too in love with adverbs, you use metaphors a bit too often, you have a bunch of unnecessary words (like “almost” and other “tightening” words you need to go search and find a list of, so you can edit them out. Seemed, appeared, just, only, are other common ones). And there are errors in spelling: “…a moment past.” No, it passed. So join a critique circle to get help and find someone to trade beta reads with. Could be a good book, though; it’s just not ready for publishing without another edit.
That might work but they’d probably want to be laid for it. Also, try giving it out to neighbors that like to read, friends, using social networking to keep promoting it – yahoo answers, facebook, tumblr, Instagram, whatever- and maybe, you could talk to the librarian at a local school ( high school, college ) and see if they would take a few copies and put them on an end cap for you?
Why don’t you send a manuscript to an agent or a publisher?
For your question, I think you should do what you want . . . Have your friends help you spread the word for your book, or you could advertise it.
I couldn’t get past the first paragraph. Too much purple prose and you changed point of view in the first few lines. Sorry.