English: Ancient Volpaia map (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I took a webinar the other day about marketing new books and the one takeaway for me was the idea that the tablet will eventually be the most popular medium for reading ebooks. Not the e-reader. I thought that made perfect sense, since so much of what we do these days is on our smart phones/tablets. As much as I love my Kindle, I realized it was time to branch out. I took two of my works out of Kindle Select (after the three-month exclusion period was up) and published them on Smashwords. It’s another new learning experience for me, figuring out how to format for a different publishing platform, but this self-publishing business has definitely sharpened my ability to take the initiative. That is certainly a valuable gift. I hope I am always open to learning something new.
I’m not sure what the move to Smashwords will do for my sales; right now, it feels as if I’ve dropped my books like stones into a lake. However, another great piece of advice I got from a marketing expert was to try something new every day. Publishing on another platform is just another way of realizing my goal to reach more readers: today, I sent a stack of print books of A Deconstructed Heart to a book review party in Connecticut and I reached out to five literary review blogs in the hopes of spreading the word; one reviewer has already replied to say I’m in his queue.
I think in about three years I’ll be a whole lot smarter and have this process down. Stick around with me, and you’ll be able to say that you saw it happen.
For now, you can see The Well-Tended Garden and The Dust Beneath Her Feet at Smashwords:
Coins in the Well 