I recommend giving away something other than a book. If you give away what you're trying to sell, who's going to buy? NY publishers spend thousands of dollars giving away books on shows like Today, Good Morning America, Ellen, and so on. If you don't have that kind of budget, what can you do?
Some authors hold Rafflecopter contests, but not every reader will sign up for them (I don't like them and won't sign up for one) and some authors don't like them. Even if you do use it, what are you going to give away?
Deleted Scenes Mini Book
Did you cut some beloved scenes from your book? Put them together, write a brief explanation for the reason you cut it, and create a mini book. Even a few pages are fine. Format it well. Include: an image of your cover, the blurb for the book, buy links, links for your social media and newsletter.
Remember when including social media this way -- if you're on Twitter, this is not the place to use @kayelleallen -- clicking that does nothing. Use the full URL so it becomes an active link. http://twitter.com/kayelleallen Save the document as an rtf if you plan to share it online, or better yet, as a pdf.
Puzzle Booklets
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| The Last Vhalgenn |
I've had success with giveaway puzzle books. I like Word Search puzzles myself, and discovered a site that lets me make and download them.http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp After creating it (choose the text option), copy and paste it into your word processing program. Be sure to copy the solution page as well. I have a free app that lets me turn that into a pdf, and I can use the puzzle as a giveaway. I created a set of puzzles for each book, and combined them to make one big puzzle book. I also have pdf puzzles for each individual book.
Create an Inside Peek Booklet
Another thing I did for my book The Last Vhalgenn was create a booklet about the book itself. I included trivia about the story, the cover, pictures (make sure they are licensed and/or royalty free), an excerpt, and buy links. I also added my social media links. Click here to see the finished product. http://is.gd/vhalgenn_peek
I hope this has sparked a few ideas. I'd love to hear your creative solutions. Please post them in the comments.
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Kayelle Allen is the founder of Marketing for Romance Writers. She is a multi-published, award-winning author, and the owner of The Author's Secret, an author support company. Her unstoppable heroes and heroines include contemporary characters, futuristic immortals, covert agents, and warriors who purr.
Homeworld http://kayelleallen.com
Unstoppable Heroes Blog http://kayelleallen.com/blog
Twitter http://twitter.com/kayelleallen
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Thank you for sharing this, Anita! You rock!
ReplyDeleteA variant of the deleted scenes booklet is a short story booklet. In the case of the Dragshi Chronicles, a legend from the world's past appears in each volume. I took the few lines or paragraph, expanded it to tell the full story, added a cover and there is a handout to introduce people to your book. It works equally well if there is a strong secondary character who you want to showcase in a work of their own without going to a full novel.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you want to print out the booklets at home without using quantities of ink yet still have a color cover? A ten-cent photo pasted onto heavy cardstock provides heft and consistent print quality without smearing.
Magic and Steel - Mt'wan Comraich - a novella of duty and honor, love and adventure from the Chronicles of the Dragshi. More info at http://ow.ly/JtCd2