How do you promote your book in the age of self-publishing

     The amount of literature and some not so literate, printed material, is amazing. And its multiplying exponentially all the time. What with e-books and more and more of us self-publishing our work, I wonder if there is room for one more book? Since I’ve written one, I certainly hope so.  But with so much out there how does one get the attention of the reading public?

        I know I’m always looking for a new and exciting read.  How do I find these the new authors?  The same way you all do I suppose;  I hear it from the media, someone tells me about a great book they just read, or I happen upon a book on the library shelf.  


          With advent of social media and the proliferation of the Internet the way books are marketed has changed significantly.  The increased percentage of self-published material over traditionally published books has left the marketing to the novice who has little or not money to fund the project.  Social media and the net has become the lifeline for us. However, it isn't easy.  
        
           Over the last six months I've found a lot of information out there.  Some of it has been helpful, a lot of it not.  There are a lot of sites, companies, and individuals who promise to help you for a fee.  Watch out for these.  There are some sites that have really good info for little or no cost.  I found myself flooded with information.  I am still sorting it out.  


             I've begun to use the social media:  Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin.  It's an up-hill battle, and progress has been slow.  I'll tell you  here the steps I've taken and how they've worked or not worked.  


             Let me know your own experience.

Welcome to my Blog

          Hi, my name is Pat Faber and I'm a writer. . . I guess.  I just finished my first novel, anyway.  It’s called “The Maya Prophecy, a novel”.  That was the first step.  The second step was deciding how I was going to get it published.  I decided to go the self-publishing route (more about why later).  After another rather grueling six months of editing, proofing, and more editing, and it finally went to print.  What a thrill to finally hold  the hardcover, first copy of the creation, yes creation, I had labored over for the last four years, in my hands. It's out there now, listed on Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com, in a Kindle and Nook edition.  The question is, what do I do now?  How do I get people to know about the novel, hopefully buy it and read it?  I haven't a clue.  
        
         It has been quite a journey: from the initial decision to write a novel, to the process of coming up with an idea and plot line, the long hours at the computer, and finally to the even longer hours of rewrite after rewrite.  It was much harder than I had expected it to be.  Would I do it again?  You bet!  Being able to say I completed my life long dream of writing a novel, is worth all the work.  


         That sense of accomplishment is reward enough . . . BUT it would be nice to make some profit out of the whole enterprise.  To at least recoup the money I've put into it  would be nice.  This part of the process is all new to me.  I'm starting as a real novice and will have to learn as I go along.  I'll make mistakes, maybe hit upon some great ides on the way.  Who knows. 


          Come along with me while I make this part of the journey.  This Blog is a first step Here, I'll give you what tips I pick up along the way and tell you honestly about all the stupid miss-steps I make (there will be a lot of those I am sure).


           Please join me.  Ask questions, make comments, take the polls.  If you read my novel, let me know what you think and how I might make the next one better.


           Thanks,   P.A. Faber, Author