Month: February 2015

Paid Promotions Experiences

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

With my newest book I’ve expanded  distribution beyond Amazon and invested in a few paid promotions. I’d like to share my experiences, so far, to assist other indie authors.

My book published on all platforms on February 10. It was available for pre-order for  approx. three weeks before that with about a dozen pre-orders.

I had a guest blog on Gemma Halliday Publishing’s blog, Laffinated Ink, on the release date, and had 5 sales that day.

My promo with AskDavid (supporter pack cost $15) began on February 14.

I listed my book with the RaveReviewsBookClub on February 15 ($25 annual membership)

On February 17 my promo with Digital Book Today began. (DBT cost me $30.)

I had 5 sales on the 10th, 1 on the 12th,  47 sales on the 17th, 31 on the 18th, 10 on the 19th, 7 on the 20th and  3 on the 21st.

These are strictly sales of The First Ladies Club. I’m not counting any sales or borrows of the other four books on KDP Select.

As you can see, the 17th, with the three overlapping promos had the greatest sales to date.

I spent $70 on promotions and had 98 sales since the promos began, more than paying for the cost of the promos.

This is the first time I’ve ever paid to promote my books, previously relying on Amazon giveaways and Kindle Countdown promotions. These are the best first month sales I’ve ever had.

My experiences with all the above promotion sites were pleasant. The contact people were courteous and helpful.

I have a week-long promo with BuckBooks of my first book, Hollow, running concurrently with a 99 cent Kindle Countdown from March 2-9.  BuckBooks is free for books 99 cents and under, but like the RaveReviewsBookClub, requires some cross-promotion on the author’s part.  I’ll let you know how that one goes.

Book Review: The First Ladies Club by J.B. Hawker

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

Whether living in a rectory, manse or parsonage, life married to a small town minister calls for faith, hope, and charity; plus heaping helpings of tact and the skin of a rhinoceros. New to this life in the small coastal town of Bannoch, Oregon, Naidenne Davidson turns for support to her fellow ministers’ wives of The First Ladies Club. The women share sympathy, friendship and tips on dealing with difficult church members, but when tall, shapely Naidenne catches the eye of an escaped killer, the Club goes beyond mere friendship. Step into the quaint parlor of the drafty Bannoch Community Fellowship parsonage, nibble a Snickerdoodle, sip your tea from a chipped china cup and share the adventure. Although some scenes may be too intense for the traditional cozy, rest assured, Gentle Reader, evil gets its just desserts and good will prevail. Part-time realtor and full-time pastor’s wife, Naidenne Davidson, is too busy coping with life in a small town church parsonage to think about her beauty, let alone imagine what sort of jealousy, envy or desire she is inspiring in the hearts of those around her. Distracted by efforts to fulfill her new duties as unpaid pastoral assistant, Naidenne

via Book Review: The First Ladies Club by J.B. Hawker.

Fifty Shades of Earl Grey

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

I belong to a support group of independent authors whose writing, whether  romance, mystery or thriller, falls roughly in the general category of Cozy. We eschew foul language or gratuitous sex and violence.

Currently there is a lively discussion about the book and movie, “Fifty Shades of Gray.” Naturally enough, the comments are pretty scathing regarding the subject matter, but I was surprised, since I did not read the book, at the criticisms of the author’s writing ability. It seems that in spite of poor editing, syntax and plot development, the salacious nature of this book made it such a success it has now been made into a near-pornographic movie glorifying the sexual abuse of women.

This is so frustrating for those of us struggling to improve our craft (which we love) and learning the daunting skills of marketing our work (which we hate) in order to raise our sales ranking  and someday make a modest living as full-time writers.

It is tempting to think all we need to do is write books filled with dangerous bondage S&M practices and other graphically violent sex acts set in a pseudo-sophisticated upper class milieu in order to become best-selling successful authors.

However, as several in my group implied, even thinking of slithering through that slimy world makes us feel in need of the mental equivalent of a hot shower to cleanse our minds.

One of the tenets of becoming a successful writer is knowing one’s target audience and writing for each of them.

I thank God that my readers are much more interested in reading about an afternoon sipping Earl Grey tea than dipping into Fifty Shades of depravity.

 

 

On Tenterhooks, Once More

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

My new book, hopefully the first in a new series, went live last week on Amazon for the print copies and this coming week in digital on several platforms.

Now comes the really difficult part of being an independent author…waiting for reviews.

I was fortunate with the first series to have early favorable reviews and readers asking for more. That first book was never planned as the start of a series, so my expectations were low and I was pleasantly surprised.

During the writing of this new work, I felt as though my craft has been improving, so my hopes and expectations were correspondingly higher. The feedback from my editors and beta readers has been mostly positive amid the constructive criticism.

Now that the book is “out there,” I am biting my nails awaiting the first reviews.

Fiction writing exposes authors, not simply for our writing skill, but for our personality, opinions and world view. It asks for the evaluation and approbation of strangers, making us vulnerable to criticism and rejection. Like toddlers offering a finger painted masterpiece, authors hold our breath to see if our creation is proudly displayed on the refrigerator or tossed into a drawer.

If you should happen to read and enjoy my latest, The First Ladies Club, please offer your honest review.

Remember that silence, for the insecure author, is interpreted as rejection.