by Kellemora » 23 Jun 2014, 09:42
Hi Icey
I'm getting very close to publishing the first in a series.
Way back in January, we were shooting for a June publication date.
Trouble is, the editor did not say in which year that June would fall, hi hi...
Currently, I'm hopefully in my second to last rewrite.
My NaNoWriMo winning Novel is doing better than I thought it would, considering it was not yet professionally edited.
One of my friends is the marketing director for a major publishing company.
He has developed a very sensible strategy regarding how digitized books should be marketed.
Provided they are as best one can make them to be without wasting a lot of money on a book that may never sell well. He covered several important topics, and gave averages based on thousands of examples, which solidly proved each of his points.
It simply boils down to making your book the best you can make it, utilizing beta readers and critiquers.
There is enough garbage placed on resellers like Amazon, and pile is getting deeper.
If the story is good and gains enough readers to warranty a stage 2 professional edit. Get a professional edit which carries it to stage 3 and republish digitally.
If sales continue to climb, get another professional edit of your work, and republish a third edition in both digital and paperback, using a POD printer.
If sales continue to climb, perhaps a Trad publisher will pick it up and give it a high gloss shine before publishing in mass printing.
One of his points was simply. Why spend two grand or more on editing services, if the story is not going to attract attention. Then too, there is the pitfall of over polishing a story. Making it too perfect is detrimental also. Humans are not perfect, a reader expects a few minor mistakes, it brings the author down to their human level. Only the grammar Nazi's and top critics complain. This is good! If a top critic sits up and notices your book and takes the time to write even a bad review. By then who cares? A bad review from a top critic means you are already smiling at the bank teller each time you deposit a check.
I have a phrase I say quite often. I look forward to being bashed by critics some day.