Keys to a Million

Guest Post by Douglas Misquita

When I received sample copies of my debut novel and held the first book in my hands, I realized the implications of the sentence “over a million copies sold”. I realized that a million people had to buy what I was holding in my hand for me to get that branding on my books. At that point I could not fathom how other authors had reached that staggering as-far-as-the-moon-is-from-the-earth figure! But there had to be a way and I began to think about how to attain that end goal. No easy task because I was going to have to fund all this on my own.

The easiest and quickest thing to do was tell everyone I knew about the book. But all those ‘viral uplifts’ don’t amount to anything if people don’t click ‘Like’, and you cannot put a gun to people’s heads and say, ‘Click like!’ (though I can recall at some points I was very dogged about it with whoever I caught online) but there’s no other way. Persistence is key!

But even among my online friends, a subset of them ‘Liked’ the social page I created for my book and even they had not read the book. So how could they enthusiastically recommend it? What next? Move beyond friends. Quick Google searches found me reviewers within the country who will give publish an unbiased review. Here’s where the anxiety comes in because this is the first acid test. You’re opening yourself to someone whose credibility rests on how objectively they review your book. But there’s no other option: you’ve run out of friends and it’s time to step into the big bad world. After all these are the real ‘million’ fans you could have. Courage, belief in your work, and an objective reaction to criticism are key!

Meanwhile, I was traipsing around LinkedIn and joined a number of groups and found out that while a few ideas were good, and there are some ostensibly knowledgeable and extremely critical people on those forums, many of those groups amount to debutants trying to campaign their books which doesn’t work. I mean all we’re doing is one telling one and another about our books but no one is contributing to a sale or review. But all said and done, those forums did prompt me to get a book video created and some of the people out there are really nice and encouraging. I did make some good online friends who I think I will turn to for advice and tips in the future. Extracting what works for you on a forum and being humble is key! It sets you apart; people will remember that you weren’t just a vulture.

After my LinkedIn days, I listed my book on goodreads.com and even tried online advertising. Advertising is something that I was very finicky about because of the return on investment, especially if you’re not in the US and once again how many times do you click an advertisement when you don’t know the product or the product owner? Anyway, advertising is important and so I decided to dabble in a small campaign just to see what it would return. Conclusion: unless you’re already famous or you spend like a million bucks (exaggeration) advertising isn’t very helpful. But at least I know now, where I should put my money next time. At about the same time after a lot of debate I signed up for a discounted virtual book tour. This was my most expensive investment because shipping books internationally (one reviewer was from the Bahamas!) will definitely lighten one’s pocket. But the good thing here is that I exposed the book to an international audience and it worked well with them, so I know that my style of writing is internationally accepted and my stories are good and entertaining and I know that there are great discounts happening during the year! Trying out everything is key!

And then my publisher stepped in. And I don’t know why – I’d like to attribute it to fate, divine intervention and the fact that perhaps they saw what I was trying to do for the book. One day they said, ‘Douglas, go ahead and get reviewers, anyone willing to create a buzz around your book, doesn’t matter if it’s bad. Get those people; we’ll ship copies of the book to them.’ Freed from financial constraints I went on a head-hunting spree and also got bold enough to list a giveaway on goodreads.com. And bang! Suddenly a lot of people were interested in the book. Freebies are key!

I know I need to tour and have book signings but I will do that when I’m confident I can draw a crowd on my own and don’t need a celebrity to launch me. That’s what’s left. There are lots of videos of famous authors at signings and on talk shows. Watching and learning from the greats is key!

So here I am 1 year of experimenting with marketing my book. I’ve learned a lot and am confident that I now know exactly what to do with the next books in terms of spreading awareness. I may not hit my million (so soon) but I know that I’m doing the right things and am on the right path. Knowing that a million will not come overnight and you need to fight for it is key! 

Douglas Misquita is a thriller writer from India. His debut action-thriller Haunted has been well received by fans of the genre. When he isn’t writing or playing guitar with a rock-n-roll band, Douglas works in the wireless communications industry. Find out more at http://www.douglasmisquita.com