CLOG - Comedy Literature Only Group discussion

Hello all. Ok, I have made the decision to publish The Accidental Scoundrel direct to Amazon and Createspace.

I've done this once before but there was no plan. I just popped the book online and waited for the millions of downloads to start flooding in. This time round I figured I'd make use of this little band of writers I've found myself in and ask for your advice.

So here's my question - Help!?

What is the best way to do this?

Funnily enough I have been blogging about that very subject over the past few days. If you're interested take a look:

https://willonce.wordpress.com/about/...

You would need to go back a few blogs to get to the beginning of the story.

The best advice I can give is that you need a kick-ass cover, an intriguing blurb, good writing inside and then market it using some of the many book promotion sites that are springing up. Having some positive reviews under your belt helps too.

Well, I have the cover sorted I think. It has a sticker on the front that people seem to like. What I'm hoping is people will see the sticker and download the book before they open it and realise it's just full of detailed sketches of my feet.

Seriously though, I'm heading to work now but when I return I'll have a good read of your blog. Cheers Will.

You can see the cover here if you're interested - https://andychapwriter.wordpress.com/...

Will Once has written an interesting blog post about his experience of promoting free giveaways. That would be well worth a read.

(Note: I wrote this at the same time Will was replying. Sorry for the duplication.)

I did a free giveaway early on. The first time round, I think I got about 600 to 700 downloads, and the second time it was closer to 400. The last time, I didn't promote it properly and probably netted fewer than a hundred. Will has managed over 4k on his most recent promotion, albeit that did involve using some paid promotions. As that's well above my personal best, you might do well to chat to him.

Will your re-posted Scoundrel still have all its original reviews? Reviews definitely help - well, the good ones, anyway - so it's worth approaching independent blog/review sites and asking if they'll read it. A good review combined with a decent readership can certainly help push the sales. Reviewers will sometimes take part in virtual book tours, too, or publish 'interviews with the author' - all of which help raise the profile.

The social media approach is also important and you can throw as much time at this as you're prepared to spend. (You'd be welcome to put a guest post on my blog, incidentally.) There are also plenty of threads on Goodreads et al that allow you to promote a new release or a free promotion.

I'll email you a couple of documents that were useful to me.

Awesome Andy, I'd love to have a nice shiny copy of the scoundrel on my shelf.
I am in the very last stages of getting BB ready for createspace. Hopefully by months end.

Andy wrote: "Awesome Andy, I'd love to have a nice shiny copy of the scoundrel on my shelf.
I am in the very last stages of getting BB ready for createspace. Hopefully by months end."

Do we get a sneak preview of the last two chapters?

Don't forget the epilogue!
And yeah,if anyone wants to read them just let me know.

Andy wrote: "Don't forget the epilogue!
And yeah,if anyone wants to read them just let me know."

You know we do...

Andy wrote: "Awesome Andy, I'd love to have a nice shiny copy of the scoundrel on my shelf.
I am in the very last stages of getting BB ready for createspace. Hopefully by months end."

Cool! That's one sale in the bag. I'm nearly a success. I'm quite looking forward to having a proper copy of Bad Business too.

Rob, have you thought about making a paperback version of Unreliable Histories?

I'm going read Will's blog, check out all the websites that help with promotions and launches etc, try and get a some reviews from various people, and write down a proper plan for the launch.

I have a tentative launch date of 1st December. So that gives me about 6 weeks to get everything ready. Please feel free to chuck any suggestions or ideas at me as you like, it all helps.

I am in awe of Will's 4k downloads, that is outstanding.

Rob wrote: "Will your re-posted Scoundrel still have all its original reviews? "

It's never been available before. It was only ever uploaded to Authonomy. So this will be its first encounter with the real world, and first chance to get reviewed.

Andrew wrote: "Rob, have you thought about making a paperback version of Unreliable Histories?"

Yes, but I was waiting until the revised second edition was complete and properly proofed. I'm still finding typos - the little blighters...

Also, I'm not sure to what extent self-publishing in hard copy form deters potential agents etc. Possibly no more than publishing in digital form, I suppose.

Let me know once Scoundrel is online; I'll be happy to review it.