So, the eternal question facing all indie authors: how do you stand out from the mad crush of other books and attract readers without spending your life savings?
Our first idea was to get professional assistance for the launch, push really hard, and try to catch a ground-swell of interest that would carry the book to – if not the top – at least into the profitable realm. After all, books do make on Amazon, and my books are at least as good as most of the ones out there. This was our approach on Pharaoh’s Mountain. It was my first book and had been carefully groomed and re-written a dozen times, it was about an instantly recognizable feature in the Great Pyramid, and it had come within a hair’s-breadth of being published back in 1985. Result of this initiative: less than two dozen reviews (though mostly very positive) and not enough revenue to cover the advertising costs.
Second idea was to create an audience by peddling the earlier works. So, we’ve been putting the two high fantasy trilogies up for free (or mostly free) for about a year, and while the reviews have been nearly non-existent, we actually made some money that at least partially defrayed the cost of the advertising. We are continuing to see some sales of all of my works without new ads, and that suggests we do indeed have a small but interested following. Hasn’t manifested itself yet with the new Behind the World trilogy, but then again, the third book won’t go up until January. We’ll get a final answer then.
That leads me to the third approach: win contests. Yes, this amounts to playing the lottery (which is said to be a tax on the mathematically challenged), but there are two factors in my favor: first, this is a much smaller population than the public lottery, and second, I’m able to fudge my ticket by writing a good book. I’ve also decided to opt for contests that offer feedback on the book, not only proving they at least read it but giving some insights into the works’ strengths and weaknesses. So the first series was directed at the Reader’s View Literary Contest for 2025, a legitimate if not huge venue with some reasonable cash prizes for the various winners. The early results for far show:
Black Jack: Behind the Waves 5-Stars 98 out of 100 points Move on to finals
Mortimer: Behind the Walls 5-Stars 97 out of 100 points Move on to finals
The Conductor Awaiting Results
So, while the resulting critiques aren’t top notch (the editors are, to be fair, reading a LOT of books), it is clear that the books are appreciated and are being moved on to the much more competitive finalist round. More, we have now received the 5-star seal for the first two books which we’ll plaster everywhere to show we are a few tiny hair-strands above the competition. Hey, grab any advantage you can get.
The effort does add a little excitement to what is a dreary part of the writing process, even if the odds are about the same as the Pittsburgh Pirates winning the World Series. But again, the real reward for an author has to being the act of creation, in loving the craft of writing and the resulting work. As I have said (all too often), if you are writing to get rich, you are doomed to disappointment. If you’re writing for the joy of it, you get a big paycheck with every completed volume.
I’ll keep the blog updated as results come in, good or bad. Final winners are announced in March, 2026.
Leave a Reply