Marketing for Indie Writers? Take a Leap of Faith . . .

Today has certainly been exciting! And you can take advantage of some 150 writers offering (with no strings at all) their cozy mystery books for free in three categories: Contemporary, paranormal, and historical -- including my own art crime mystery, The Seventh Tapestry.

What are you waiting for? You can go to Amazon direct for The Seventh Tapestry OR jump onto the Cozy Mystery Book Club Book Blast page to snag some freebies until midnight tonight.
 

You may already know how challenging marketing can be for a self-published indie writer (that's me). So when I found out about this opportunity from the Sisters in Crime Puget Sound (a regional group linked to the national SinC group that supports and encourages those who love mysteries), to list my cozy art crime mystery, I jumped right in. By the way, my personal Kindle freebie will run through July 29.

What did I anticipate from this Cozy Mystery free book blast that runs once a quarter? Maybe some downloads. Maybe some trickle through purchases or an increase in numbers of pages read. Perhaps a review or two. But most importantly, I'm hoping for new readers who will like my stories.

What did I do to support this Cozy Mystery blast? I set my book, The Seventh Tapestry, free for four days. Sent out a ton of e-mails, posted to Twitter and Facebook, and sent out a newsletter.

So how did I do? Truly, I wasn't sure what would happen. By this afternoon, I heard back from a few e-mails, which was so nice, and I sold maybe 4 books. But the exciting results? Some 1,191 people downloaded their free copy. Even if only a few people go on to read another book of mine on Kindle Unlimited or actually buy a copy, this is the biggest response I've ever gotten on any promotion. So, playing the numbers, if even 5% read any of my other books, that's an increase of 60 people. Perhaps some will go on to write a review, and maybe some will even sign up for my newsletter! 

So, what do you think? The ability to reach new readers is an amazing opportunity -- at least for cozy mystery writers. Perhaps this opportunity will motivate me to write the second art crime mystery sooner!

Happy reading, happy writing, and happy summer! We have a few days of respite here in Spokane, but the sun will be back out with temps in the 90s next week.  Stay cool!

Source: Jenna Sauber, "10 Things You’ll Understand If You Prefer to Stay Inside and Read."