At last – I launched a marketing campaign for each of my non-SF books, “Twists & Turns” and “Roads Less Travelled”. I watched a series of webinar videos by AMS – Dave Chesson marketing for books via Amazon. Found it a. Very understandable, relevant, American, fast-paced verbally and in screen movements. I had to keep stopping it and going back, taking notes, and re-reading them, then re-watching sections. The host’s intention is to sell his program that does a lot of it for you, but I prefer to do it myself so I can understand it better, and vet the results more closely. If you’re thinking of publishing anything – it’s definitely something to watch – maybe 2.5 hours total time.
One of Dave’s big things is the keywords we wave round to attract people to our sales page. Amazon allows 7 on your set-up page; Most authors think up 20 or 30 relevant to their book, and can use them on a marketing campaign. I did. Dave and other aficionados recommend 1000. Huh? For Twists & Turns, I followed his suggestions and guides, and came up with 344 keywords appropriate to the book. For Roads Less Travelled, I found 668. Now I have to wait a week or two and see what the reading public’s response is – could be expensive.