We're very happy to have Rachel back! She's a repeat guest poster, and you also probably remember her from her amazing stop motion and WINNING A-Z Promo video. Without further ado...
The A to Z Challenge Helped Me Promote My Books
The great thing about the A to Z Challenge is that we always get to "meet" a whole lot of new people. So I thought ... wouldn't it be great if I could introduce all these new people to the series I'd just begun publishing? Well, I thought it was a great idea! But how to link my A to Z theme to my Creepy Hollow series ...
Well, by fiction, of course (I am, after all, a writer)! Violet, the main character in the series, is one of an elite force of faeries training to become a guardian. Guardians protect humans from dangerous fae creatures that find their way into the human realm. Sooooo, as a background to the Creepy Hollow series, I decided to do 26 flash fictions about 26 different assignments Vi's been on in the past, involving 26 different fae creatures.
And that's where my theme, An A to Z of Creepy Hollow Fae, came from. Some fae creatures were those that people recognize (like elf, goblin and kelpie) while others were completely made up (like canttilee, flimsickle and nascryl). It was fun (though a lot of work), people enjoyed the stories, and it lead to them clicking through to download copies of my books :-) In April I sold more than double the number of copies I sold in March. A coincidence, perhaps, but I like to think it was because I was sharing more of my story world every day with new readers.
The Creepy Hollow Series
Amazon | Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Book Trailer
Rachel's Links
Thank you, dear A to Z Challenge, for giving me the
chance to share my story world with new readers
:-)
If you're an author, what unique methods
have you used to promote your books?
Please give us your feedback about the A to Z Video Contest. See the post from Monday May 28th and leave your comments.
Oh that's a good idea. I might try this next year if I have something written by then. Great post :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your flash pieces! Good to know it helped move books.
ReplyDeleteI bought your book for my Kindle. However, I have about 7 blog-buddy books inline before yours...I loved this idea about promoting your book, and I'm very intrigued by your fantasy world crearion.
ReplyDeleteTina @ Life is Good
Post A-Z Road trip!
I don't care what anyone says, I still think a blog is a fine way to promote one's books.
ReplyDeleteYour flash pieces were amazing, as are your books.
ReplyDeleteI discovered your blog and your books because of the A to Z.
ReplyDeleteFor me that is the best reason to participate, to get connected with other cool bloggers.
And if sells some more books, then hey. That is cool too!
Tim
I missed your flash stories, I will go back and check them out. They sound very much up my street. Glad they helped you sell books, if I like your short stories I may well end up being another customer.
ReplyDeleteAnna - It was a great exercise to write so many flash fictions in a month, and I'm certainly glad I did it, but it was a little exhausting!
ReplyDeleteAlex - Glad you enjoyed them :)
Tina - Thanks! I definitely have more than 7 books waiting for me!
Karen - If I had never started blogging ... Jeez, I have NO idea where I'd be right now!
Kittie - Thank you, as always :)
Timothy - Definitely the best part is "meeting" new bloggers and blogs.
Jo - Well, if you turn out to be a new customer, that would be super ;-)
PS - Thanks for letting me guest post here!
that's so great--congrats!
ReplyDeleteIt was a brilliant idea! I'm glad that your sales improved. Your story deserves it. :-)
ReplyDeleteSo far, I haven't had to do any promoting yet. So glad that the A-Z was a great thing for you!
ReplyDeleteAn excellent theme, and it's good to hear that A-Z helped in the promo for the books :) To be fair, with over 1000 of us, success was on the cards :)
ReplyDeletePleased the challenge helped your books. Enjoyed your post today.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
That was a brilliant idea, Rachel! I certainly enjoyed reading your flash fiction.
ReplyDeleteThat's great, Rachel! :D
ReplyDeleteI would have bought your stories anyway but I'm glad you did the A-Z - I enjoyed reading about Vi's crazy assignments! :-)
ReplyDeleteI have, so far, bought all three. Have read the first one and enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteAloha Steven,
ReplyDeleteVery kind of you to stop by and leave a comment - I appreciate that and yeah, I read the same thing re. the WWII plane... did you see the video... amazing...
There's a story there - for sure :)
Thank you for your support, commenters!
ReplyDeleteThat's such a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThe A to Z Challenge has helped with my traffic, and I am glad to hear of all the success stories with this. Also, I have found some cool new blogs I never would have known about.
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