OH NO! My Novel is Loose in the Universe…by Keri Kruspe

This the final entry in a series on the Strange and Confusing Road to Getting Published series by Keri Kruspe: “OH NO! My novel is loose in the universe…” Enjoy!

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Well, I did it. I launched my debut novel in October of 2018.  My lifelong dream of becoming a published author has finally been realized.

How did I do it?

Softly…slowly and with little fanfare. I wanted to cuddle my book like a baby ‘cause the very thought of letting it go terrified me. What if no one liked it? Or *gasp* what if no one wanted to read it?

No…no, that couldn’t happen. I had only to let people know it was out there and they’d want to read it.

So the first thing I did was email all of my contacts, post it on my personal Facebook, and tell everyone at work. I asked several folks to take my book out for a “test” run (hey, it’s only .99¢!) and see if my automatic emails worked and that it downloaded correctly. By the way, the fellow employee I told you about was the first one on Apple to get my novel.  It worked great and she’s enjoying the narrative!

How did it go?

Within the first week I had sold 26 copies – 25 on Amazon and the one on Apple. I was jazzed to see one was sold in Canada and the UK! *Gulp* Yesterday someone signed up for my mailing list I didn’t recognized. Now my baby was swimming away into unknown waters…

Then I worked with Beth on the Facebook party  she hosted from the “Writers Fun Zone.” It was the first time I tried that venue and I admit I was nervous. When the day arrived, and it was my turn, just my luck my computer froze as I tried to copy and paste my posts. A big “thank you” for everyone’s patience. While I’m sure I got no new “fans,” I gained the experience I needed in this profession.

When Beth and I were going over what promotions to do next, I’m remembered what my main goal was: To get my name out there to increase my mailing list and build my fan base.

To do this, we discussed several options. Here are some things I’m working on:

AMS ads: While Beth hadn’t work with Amazon and their ad generators, I took it upon myself to do research and discovered they have “sponsored” and “display” ads. I’m doing the sponsored ads for a two-week stretch. I started the campaign on 10/28 with a daily budget of $10.00. So far, I’ve spent $25.86 with direct sales at 3. But, I’ve sold 35 books on Amazon since I launched on 10/13. I’ll let the campaign run a full week before I decide to either change or cancel it.

LoveRomanceReads: A friend of Beth’s sponsors this site and she recommended I try them. While authors can post their books for free – for $35.00 you can have your novel sponsored for 30 days on their front page as “Just Released” or “On sale.” Using “Canva,” I created an ad to put on their front page announcing my 0.99¢ sell.

Goodreads: I’ve been a member of Goodreads  for a couple of years as a reader (read 100 books last year!) and joined as an author (you have to be published to do this.) This is new for me, but I plan on placing an ad there soon.

MeWe: On Beth’s advice, she suggested I follow a fellow sci-fi romance writer (Lea Kirk)  and noticed she was a member of this new social media. I haven’t worked on this yet, but I signed up and plan on looking around.

Amazon Author Page

I completed my Amazon Author Page so folks can “follow” me.

Facebook Page: I created an offshoot of my personal Facebook profile and created Keri Kruspe Author on the site.  I’ve joined several FB groups that cater to romance writers and specifically sci-fi romance writers. (There are more out there than I thought!) I’ve announced in their groups about my debut novel. Haven’t decided if I will advertise on Facebook or not.

Yahoo Groups: I joined several writers groups in Yahoo in my genre. Announced my launch there.

Blog Tour: Beth couldn’t express enough how important a blog tour was in getting my name out there. Since I’m “social media challenged,” I’m looking into an online company to help me with this. There are several out there and I’m researching who might be best fit for me. Beth stressed while my ROI may not be great, the thousands of “eyeballs” seeing my stuff is well worth getting out there this way. (Editor’s note: We do teach authors how to run their own blog tours here.

Twitter: I opened an author Twitter account – but have done nothing with it yet. It’s on the back burner for now.

So…what’s next?

I will continue to work on my marketing strategy. My goal is to spend four hours a week on marketing, with a hard goal of getting 100 names for my mailing list within 30 days. I have 14 right now – only 86 more to go!

I will also continue getting the next two books in my trilogy ready to publish. While both have been written, the second one must be at the editor’s final review the week of the seventh. I’m hoping D’zia’s Dilemma will be ready to launch by the end of the year. The third book, Ki’s Redemption should be ready for my beta readers by the first of December to be on target for a March 2019 release.

Whew! So, to recap – my goal is 100 new signups within the next 30 days. With everything coming together at this time, I’m concluding this phase of “Adventures Into Publishing” – but never fear! I’ll keep you updated on how things worked out sometime in December. Meanwhile, I’d love hear from you! Let me know if these articles have inspired you in any way. Please visit my website and drop me a line.

Hey…while you’re there…don’t forget to sign up for my mailing list!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Keri Kruspe has been an author since the age of twelve and has always been fascinated with otherworldly stories that end in Happily Ever After. Her current works, An Alien Exchange trilogy will have its first release by Winter 2018. The trilogy conclusions — D’zia’s Dilemma and Ki’s Redemption — will soon follow by the first quarter of 2019.

As a native Nevadan, Keri now resides with her family in the wilds of Northwestern Michigan. An avid reader, Keri enjoys good wine, good food, and watching action/adventure movies. You can find her most days immersed in her fantasy world of writing or traveling with her hubby in their RV, discovering intelligent life here on Earth. Don’t forget to visit her website at www.kerikruspe.com. Leave your feedback and sign up for her newsletter!