I've agonized over how to promote to booksellers. Linking up to on-line booksellers is so important and so time consuming. I didn't know how time-consuming until I started my research. After all, my experience with them is just to buy a book, easy as pie. It made me long for the days when publishers took care of the messy stuff, like filling book store shelves, publicity, telling the author which foot to put before the other. Not so easy with selling a book. Let me explain.
I spent almost a month researching the online booksellers and the results of all that research showed me that the number one bookseller is Amazon, duh. Good news for me. I like Amazon. I buy almost everything on line from them. (Are you listening, Amazon. I did a lot for you over the years.) No Amazon isn't going to roll out the red carpet. I have to get to know their rules for book selling, and become more intimate with Barnes & Nobles and Goodreads. No one wants Amazon to become a monopoly. Oh, that's right, didn't they just buy out Goodreads. Maybe they already are.
Most of the experts agree you can't wait until you've published your book to become intimate with the booksellers. Intimacy requires time, so I've decided to change the way I buy books on line. Instead of pulling up a book by the author or title, I'm going to search by category, use those tag words we're told is so important. As I do, I'll take note of those tag words that might lead readers to my future books. I'll note the book descriptions and the reviews.
I'll post more reviews, not just those that are asked of me, but as an avid reader. Do you get the part about being time consuming now? I already read a lot of books, but if it doesn't rate at least a 3 star with me I don't post it. Actually, I don't even read the whole book. I've never understood how someone could rate a book he didn't read, but they do. And if you really hate the book that much, why would you read it?
Since I don't have a lot of time, I'm going to have to choose the books I read more carefully, read all the reviews, and make a thoughtful decision before clicking the buy button. Hopefully that will keep me from buying a book I won't read. I have another motive for reading the reviews, however, and that is to get to know what readers, avid readers, like. What are their push buttons? Yes, make more notes.
After reading a book, I'll post an honest review. I really hate writing negatives things in a review. My sympathies lie with the writer. After all, she's poured out her heart in this book and I'm going to tell her it's boring. But from the bookseller's point of view, reviews are for the potential reader, not the writer. So I will be honest, but it'll be painful.
Next I'll research those dreaded social media sites, which will have to be prioritized, since they too eat up precious time. My objective will be to select those that have the biggest payoff.
What are your experiences with on-line booksellers?
