In my last blog post I wrote about how I was going to be trying a number of different marketing options for Laura the Explorer, and in true random fashion I went in this month with the holy-grail of indie author book marketing activities – with a BookBub Promotion.
These promotions are not easy to get (according to other Indie authors), and after submitting my book to their editorial panel for review I was delighted to be offered a BookBub deal across Australia, Canada, India and the UK. For anyone not aware, BookBub sends curated emails to its subscribers letting them know about great book deals in their chosen genres. My deal was scheduled to go on the 31st March (although it didn’t go until April 1 in Australia – possibly a time-zone issue?) and the ensuing sales resulted in my book hitting #2 on the Amazon bestseller list for Romantic Comedy in Canada, and #15 in Romantic Comedy in Australia! Cue celebrations! If this doesn’t sound like a difficult achievement, bear in mind that right now there are over 9,000 ebooks listed in Romantic Comedy in Canada, and over 100,000 in Australia… so hitting #2 and #15 respectively is pretty amazing!
Above: The BookBub promotion email featuring Laura the Explorer
I also organised some Facebook and Instagram ads to tie in with the promotion, and the email + posts combined resulted in a huge spike in sales. I’m now so happy to think that Laura is out in the hands of so many new readers who hopefully will read and enjoy her story! I recently read in the acknowledgements section of a book, that a writer’s words are brought to life by being read – and I couldn’t agree more.
Now I just need to hurry up and finish the sequel, so Laura’s story can continue!
What I’m working on
This month I changed tack and decided to get my Kalileia manuscript (which is a YA fantasy) up to scratch so I can submit it out to agents and publishers. I would love to be able to keep publishing the Laura the Explorer series myself, but hopefully try and pursue a traditional publishing contract for Kalileia. I now know just how much of a time commitment it is sending a manuscript out on submission - think: months and years of researching agents, compiling lists, writing cover letters and the perfect pitch, submitting and then waiting to hear back, revising pitches, revising chapters, hopefully getting requests to see the full manuscript etc. With this in mind, I’d like to start the process of this with Kalileia and getting the manuscript in its best shape possible is what I’m focussing on right now. I’ve booked in a manuscript assessment with a fantastic editor for May, so I’m finishing off a final draft of Kalileia before I send it off for review.
Once I hit send on that email, I will be back into working on Laura the Explorer book 2!
What I’m reading
This month I’ve read:
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder – a YA fantasy which I highly enjoyed and am looking forward to continuing the series
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland.