A Freebie for (after)life lessons Readers

Find out what happens when Juliandra Winklevoss and her sister clean out the Winklevoss Tower and receive a glimpse into the life of their mother before Machiavelli’s previous rise to power.  Comment on this post to receive a FREE copy of A Letter from Nashara Winklevoss to Ryan Stone, and I will send you the link!

Enjoy this picture of me reading Nashara’s letter!

Here are the links to the books on Amazon:

The Light of Supremazia: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015M3KJGE

The Curse of the Winklevoss Twins: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077Z9CCW4

The Betrayal of Bloodlines: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NCF6V1H

 

Check out my website: https://www.alanamagbooks.com/

Connect with me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alanasiegel/

Check out the (after)life lessons Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AfterlifeLessons/

Learn about the rest of my books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Alana-Siegel/e/B006O3NOAK

Advertisement

Pre-Order The Betrayal of Bloodlines Now!

https://www.amazon.com/Betrayal-Bloodlines-after-life-lessons-ebook/dp/B07NCF6V1H

Help Name the Characters in my Book

Marketing for self-published books in a saturated market is difficult. In my latest attempt, I have decided to use video content to engage readers. I’m hoping that by including them in the book writing process, I am reminding them that I write books!

I will also be more active searching for interesting social media personalities. Engaging potential readers requires effort. It includes creating content and conversing with others who post content.

My recent video asks readers to help name two characters in the book I am currently writing (book three in a young adult fantasy series). One character is a jovial man from the 1700s and the other is a plump angry man with a monocle. Here’s the video. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Holding a Physical Book in Your Hand

There’s something about holding a physical book in your hands.  People love it.  The pages smell like paper and ink.  It makes the writing more real.  Therefore, I decided to hand out physical copies of my first book in the (after)life lessons series.  Rather than a link or a post that you can swipe past, handing out the book started a real conversation and ignited interest.  

I brought my books to my jazz dance class.  We took a picture with the books.  I posted it and tagged them on Facebook, hoping their friends might see it and vote for the book, too!

I would recommend this book marketing plan!

Nominate my book to be published by Kindle Scout: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/24VKXYPLERGLP

Here’s some pictures documenting the experiment:

What is Kindle Scout? And How do I Vote?

As I request friends and followers to vote for my book on Kindle Scout, I’ve had lots of people ask me, what is Kindle Scout?

Here’s your answer.

Kindle Scout is reader-powered publishing for new, never-before-published books. It’s a place where readers help decide if a book gets published. I posted my book on this site before its available for purchase. Based on the short description, first four chapters, and cover, readers can vote for my book to be published by Kindle Press!

Here’s how to vote.

Once you are on the page: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/24VKXYPLERGLP

Select the nominate option.  It will direct you to log into your Amazon account to complete the nomination.  That’s it!  You will have voted for my book!

My Second Kindle Scout Campaign: Pig Marketing

While surfing the Kindle Scout Forums, I recently read a story about one lucky author’s successful Kindle Scout campaign. She insisted she was the epitome of an indie author, building her grassroots author platform from concept to completion. So how did she manage to gain enough votes to win Kindle Press publishing?

The answer was two words: PIG MARKETING.

I was at a loss for what this meant, but she explained how she leveraged her personal network. She was a member of a Facebook group for pig owners. One picture of Miss Piggy posing with her book was enough to touch the hearts of the group members. Lo and behold, 20,000 fellow pig owners voted for her first novel on Kindle Scout.

I don’t have a pet pig, but for my second Kindle Scout campaign, I will attempt to leverage my personal network. Any advice or suggestions?

Vote for The Curse of the Winklevoss Twins Here: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/24VKXYPLERGLP

Amazon Web Services and Facebook Ads for Books

My husband and I spent our Monday working on our side projects.  As a modern day author, marketing and publicity is just as crucial as writing, so I make an effort to understand the current technology trends.

Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services is the latest rage, and I wanted to get myself acquainted with it.  My husband explained Amazon Web Services is like buying a computer at a hosted location. It has less restrictions than locations hosted by others, and best of all, its free for a year!

My husband and I setup my account, following step by step instructions from a youtube video, and patted ourselves on the back when we were done. Then what?

I had hoped Amazon Web Services would allow me to use Google Analytics for my blog. Google Analytics supplies statistics on who clicks on your site.  Eventually, I would like to use that information to tailor my blog and website to the interests of my readers.

My Fallout with Amazon Web Services

Unfortunately, I came to the conclusion that most sites on Amazon Web Services use WordPress because they are easy and free to build. This was disappointing since free WordPress sites don’t allow free use of Google Analytics.

Another reason to use Amazon Web Services is to manage the computing power your site needs. While I have dreams and hopes of having a highly read website, at this point, WordPress can handle my number of readers.

I learned a lot, but ultimately, I decided not to use Amazon Web Services. I’d be interested in the benefits others are finding for their blog / author website hosted on Amazon Web Services.

Facebook Advertising

I wasn’t going to let my disappointment with Amazon Web Services ruin my day off. I turned to advertising, and where best to advertise but Facebook!

My goal was to determine what type of ads potential readers respond to the best. I created two ads.  One with a cover of the book and one with a witty picture. Both are included below:

Facebook is picky about the amount of characters in the message and the amount of text in your picture. They also require you to create a facebook page for your service or product.  Here’s the link to my book series facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AfterlifeLessons

I setup a campaign for these ads with a budget of $100, and after a week I will go through the data and report back.  In addition to which ad resonated best, I will also see the breakdown by demographics, age, and geography.  Pretty neat!

What other facebook advertising tests are others running?

Recap of The Light of Supremazia Kindle Scout Campaign

I may not have won Kindle Scout, but I learned a heck of a lot about blogging and marketing.  This blog post is recapping my 30 day campaign:

Launch on #KindleScout and a #CoverReveal

Using Real People as #Fictional #Characters – #ArtisticLicense and #TBT

The Proper #Setting for a #MagicalRealism #Book

Made Up Words, the #Language of a #Fiction #Novel

Who would you want as your #art #teacher?

#MondayBlog – Mapping Out Your Novel’s #Fantasy #World

#BookTrailer #BookMarketing and #KindleScout

My #cat Baby Thor is #marketing my #book

What Influences Your #Setting Descriptions?

Write in Your Own Voice

Technology in Literature

#BookMarketing for my #KindleScout Campaign

3 Qualities of a Great #English #Teacher

Ensuring the Proper Sequence of Events for Your #Book

Managing Your Social Media Presence – #twitter #facebook #youtube #pinterest #wordpress #tumblr

A Cast of #Actors for Your #Book

#BookMarketing and #TagsForLikes.com and #Einstein

New York, the City I Love

That Time I Elbowed Jimmy Fallon

GhostFeed and Wikispirit

My Kindle Scout Experience

Introducing The Light of Supremazia on Amazon

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE LIGHT OF SUPREMAZIA!

Introducing The Light of Supremazia on Amazon

“You think the dead we loved truly ever leave us? You think we don’t recall them more clearly in times of great trouble?”

– Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

The Light of Supremazia, book #1 in the (after)life lessons series, is dedicated to those who have passed away, but who’s spirit remain with the living.

The book is now available on Amazon (CLICK HERE!).

About the Book

Think it’s difficult to get into Harvard University? Try Vita Post Mortem Academy, a prestigious high school where John F. Kennedy teaches a class called American Ghosts stories, Albert Einstein grades science tests, and history’s most brilliant and deceased minds make up the rest of the teaching staff. Not a problem for Jules Winklevoss, one of the few who can see spirits.

Getting into school was a cakewalk, but Jules learns not all spirits are engaging and inspiring teachers. Fourteen years ago, Jules’s family thwarted an evil spirit’s rise to power. Now, the evil spirit wants revenge on all Winklevoss’s, beginning with Jules. As if evil spirit problems aren’t enough, add best friend drama, unattainable boy crushes, and homework to the mix, and needless to say, high school is going to be dreadful. Jules is determined to protect her family and keep herself alive, even if that means delving into the world of the dead.

My Kindle Scout Experience

My Kindle Scout campaign for my book, The Light of Supremazia ended this week. Unfortunately, my book was not selected to be published by Kindle’s publishing house.

Stay tuned for another blog post with the link to buy the book on Amazon through their Kindle Direct Publishing website (aka self publishing).

I am sad, but as I mentioned in my first post at the beginning of the campaign, it was a great marketing effort and a way to get supporters involved.

As the days ticked by and I reviewed my stats, I had a feeling I wouldn’t win. The are bloggers out there with tens of thousands of followers. When they post their book on Kindle Scout, they automatically have tons of votes. I’m not saying this is unfair, just a reality. Blogging and writing books isn’t my day job, so I was starting from a few yards behind already.

I also wonder if the cover sells the book on these crowd-sourcing campaigns.  How many people actually read the free excerpt from my book?

Or perhaps September is a bad month to market a young adult book since most kids are back in school?

Kindle Scout is vague when it comes to the actual parameters to “win.” For others who are looking to try Kindle Scout, here are the stats from my campaign: