Happy, Marketing, New Year! by Michael Gonzales

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

Wow, 2018, and still no flying cars.

I missed posting last month, I was celebrating my twenty-fifth wedding anniversary with my beautiful bride, Katie.

We went east to lovely Cape May, New Jersey, where we stayed in a B&B that was built in 1863!

Cape May is right on the beach, and is better known as a summer vacation spot. But in December they decorate the nineteenth century village to look like a Christmas Card. It was magical!

I want to talk briefly about marketing. I’m new to this so, I’ll not be offering a silver bullet that will bring your work to the attention of millions. Sorry, but if you know where the Lone Ranger

may have dropped some of his precious ammo, please, let me know.

What I have learned thus far is that marketing is difficult, expensive, and dangerous.  

“Dangerous?” you ask, “Mike, how is it dangerous?”

Being expensive, marketing has its charlatans. There are people out there who will offer you thousands of book buyers, and hundreds of positive reviews, for a given price.

Some will even openly sell you reviews. The more you pay, the better the review. Then they publish it to their website, which, they claim, is seen daily by tens of thousands.

Sound to good to be true? Well, just remember grandma’s advice, “If it sounds too good to be true…”

Thankfully, Cheryl, of PRP, has steered me away from a bunch of these.

I am sure there are legitimate individuals, and companies, out there who will effectively market for you.

I am also sure it will not be cheap.

The trick is to avoid the bogus, and then select from the real marketers, those that will provide the best bang for the buck.

I’m sure that, like me, you get dozens of unsolicited emails daily with marketing offers, and other writing/publishing related deals that are guaranteed to put you and your book at the top of the NYT best seller list, and keep it there for weeks.

My guess is that 99.99% of all that is garbage.

After giving this problem considerable thought, I have figured out how to actually accomplish all that; thousands buying your book, hundreds of positive reviews, and eventually, weeks at the top of the bestseller list.

That’s right, a jewel of wisdom for certain success…and for only $29.95!

No, just kidding.

But there is a method, it’s not easy, in fact it may be the hardest way of all.

The secret is…write a good book.

                               Be the best writer.

To do this you have to go back to school, you have to learn the art, the trade, the techniques. For many of us this means a return to basic English. Not all of us, mind you, I am well aware that some of you are masters of the English language, to rival Winston Churchill himself.

Anyway, that’s my advice, gleaned from my limited experience thus far.

I would dearly love to hear from others. What have been your experiences, have you had success marketing your work, if so, how, who did you go with, if you went with anyone?

Did you attend any seminars on writing that other might seek out? How about online courses?

Well, there’s my rant. I hope it starts a discussion. Post your comments here so that we might all help one another.

Speaking of marketing, I would be remiss were I to fail to mention the pending release of my third novel, Across a Sea of Stars. If you like action, adventure, space opera, and romance, I believe you’ll love number III in The Unborn Galaxy series ― Across a Sea of Stars.

Again, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Read books I and II of The Unborn Galaxy -- before the release of book III, Across a Sea of Stars.

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Moon-Rising-Unborn-Galaxy-ebook/dp/B01CBNSAEG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/Battle-Broken-Moon-Unborn-Galaxy/dp/1540645681/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Web site:  http://www.mikegonzalesauthor.com/home.html

Follow me on Face Book:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010275572869