I was just thinking: "Now HERE'S a question that should be asked!"--only because I noticed that on one of my author groups; all it has is contest promos, give aways, and downloads.
And I was just wondering: How does this really impact a first-time author? And is it really a *necessity*?
2007-06-19 18:57:57 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
The only contests, give-aways, and free promo downloads I know of were for self-published books. There may be legitimate publishers that do this, too, but that's not normal marketing.
And it doesn't appear to increase sales.
I won a writing contest in which you finished a scene. I was happy to take the money, but the author also sent me the self-pubbed book featuring the same character. I read a couple of pages, realized it was garbage, and forgot about it.
However, escaping her mail and email grasp proved much harder. She included me on a newsletter, promotional mailing lists, free downloads, contest notices, etc. from a dozen different free email addresses and sent flyers and stuff through the mail. Although I never replied to anything, it went on for many years.
I happened to see her name--it jumped out from the page at me--in an online discussion in which she was saying that she'd given marketing her work everything she had, in terms of both time and money, will little or no increase in sales.
Too bad she didn't spend the time and money learning to write better, eh?
2007-06-20 01:46:36 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sometimes having give-aways attract readers to an author they wouldn't ordinarily read. If they like the book, they are more likely to buy and read others by that author. There's actually a number of experiments where publishers provide books on line for free. The one I know best is the Baen free library - they publish mostly science fiction. For more information about the costs/benefits, go to their web site, and read the section called Prime Palaver by Eric Flint.
2007-06-20 04:17:17 · answer #2 · answered by kt 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That depends on the contest. Many of them are scams and most people in the know advise you not to enter contests that charge money. There are of course rare exceptions. Preditors and Editors has a list of contests that they recommend and those they dont recommend. There is also information on contests at Absolute Write Water Cooler. The best answer is that you have to advocate for yourself - and that means searching for the answer that works best for you. Do some research. Pax - C
2007-06-20 02:04:28 · answer #3 · answered by Persiphone_Hellecat 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Yes it is free word of mouth , if ur a first time author , it is hell trying to break in the business. I am a struggling writer myself. I have seen contests , help promote writers, it has never hurt .
There are tons of writers who could use the word of mouth or publicity that contests bring .
2007-06-20 15:43:54 · answer #4 · answered by cdog61 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋