How you can help us (or, any author!)

Hello all!

Today's evening blog update is quite possibly the most self serving one we've written. It's all about how you can help an author out. We're not on Amazon yet (but see point 1 re early review copies) so for now it's a generic 'how to help an author' but once we publish this page is also our 'call to action' help us page.

New authors start from a dead start. We have no fan base, no readership, and no real marketing budget. As an indie we have even less than debut print authors, so we need your help to drum up interest in Dead on Demand.

So here is a short list of the things you can do to help us (or, any other author).

1.       Give us a review in exchange for a free copy. We'll supply a copy in pretty much any digital format you like if you agree to give us an honest review posted at Goodreads and Amazon. If the idea of a free early look at our debut work floats your boat, leave a comment and we'll get it sorted.  [Only valid until we put the book on sale.]

 

2.       Buy the book - You might not fancy an advance copy (which is still subject to further edits, and proofing - my twitter friends I gave copies to last night will have spotted a glaring typo on the second page of all places. Thankfully 'refuse' is now 'refuge' as intended!). I'm going to be pricing Dead on Demand at $2.99 in the US & £1.99 in the UK. I think this is the fairest price for the work - it is a full length novel, and if went below this we'd drop to the 35% royalty rate which would make it hard to recoup costs etc. Plus you're buying into two of us. How's that for value?

3.       Tag the book. On Amazon you've probably noticed a section halfway down the page that says: "Tags Customers Associate with This Product."

This is the where tags can be entered. It's free to do, and only takes a moment. Amazon uses these keywords to match our work up with other ebooks. Then it suggests titles to their readers based on the commonality. So by adding to our keywords, and voting them up you'll help us reach more readers.

4.       Review the book. Love it or hate it, we'd love to know. Honest reviews help other readers make better buying choices as they know what they'll be getting. It's also the only way we'll be able to improve our craft to suit you, so please do let us know what you think.

5.       Tweet about it, link to us, Facebook us, share us and badger your friends to try us out. We're less than a pint of beer, so it's a low risk read. Plus, Amazon will let you return it within 7 days for a refund if you don't like it.

6.       Tell us if you spot a typo! We've proofed Dead on Demand numerous times, and roped in our friends to do the same. Despite that it's certain we missed something. If you do spot something dreadful, please let me know - and I will update it. The beautiful thing about digital files is that it isn't all set in stone. Those who've purchased already can simply re-download the file to get the updates.

7.      Share us, like us, digg us, +1 us, and all the rest of it. Social media is a huge  promotional tool, and could really help us reach more people.

8.       Include us in your Listmania lists. Amazon lets you create lists of for example crime books you've read. If you've got one, we'd love to be included as this increases the likelihood someone will stumble upon our work.

Listmania lists can be create at http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/richpub/listmania/createpipeline?_encoding=UTF8

The 'ASIN' is Amazon's own unique identifier. It's in the link for the book after amazon.com/

I could probably natter on, but you've all got the gist. Reviews and word of mouth advertising are the lifeblood of indie authors, and we can't make this project a success on our own. I'd like to say a massive thank you to those of you that have agreed to take a review copy, or tweeted about us or will do so.  It's hugely helpful to us, and we really can't thank you enough.

We can't offer you cash, goods etc in return for your help - it would be immoral. However if you let us know you've helped in the comment section, we'll try and remember to thank you in the next book (assuming we do one!).