Novelist Turns To The Internet For Success

I am currently helping my friend market his novel on the Internet. He has had over 150 rejections and he is now promoting his novel "Miami Red" on the Internet.

http://www.miamired.com

Does anyone have any ideas how I can market this and build word of mouth fast? Some blogs are already talking about this. His aim is to get a publishing deal with this publicity. I think his can really take off for him.

I am thinking of doing a Press Release for him. He has uploaded first 5 chapters of this thriller novel online which you can read for free.

Can this take off?

Opinions guys

 

Well whether or not it can take off will depend quite a bit on whether or not your friend learned anything from the rejections, and used it to improve his work. If he simply thinks it's great, and publishers are all seeing major problems, then self-publishing won't make it "good" or sell well. Maybe publishers are seeing that there's no market for the particular book. If so, then what's he going to do to get around that. Did he do adequate market research first to see if the book has any potential? A lot of people self-publish books and publish them online and make almost nothing. Very few do it successfully, just like with print publishing. If you're asking about the very basics of marketing, chances are that your friend isn't close to being ready to successfully market their own book yet. Your marketing plan should have been researched and in place before posting any sample chapters and such online to begin with. By doing it backwards, you're losing a chance to build as much pre-launch hype.

 

Yes we did a marketing plan and we contacted several newspapers. And it took him 5 years to write the novel, of course he changed the novel several time, took their advice on board and now has the final copy. The novel industry is very competitive and rejections are normal on a daily basis. You have to stand out from the crowd, and I believe he has the potential.

Lets be positive about this now.

Thanks

 

It's not about being positive or negative. It's about being realistic. If publishers won't pick it up, there's a reason. It's very likely they feel there's no market for that particular book. If the market research were done and a serious marketing plan in place, you wouldn't be asking about basic tactics like press releases, because your tactics would already be researched, laid out in a schedule, and budgeted for. I work in marketing / PR, and I'm also a writer. I have friends who are editors, publishers, and published authors, so it's not like I have no clue as to what I'm talking about. You asked for opinions. You have to take the negative with the positive when you ask for that.

 

I agree with you. Well hope it goes well! Thanks for the comments I will have a word with him tomorrow and draw up alternative strategies.!

 

Did your friend upload 5 complete chapters? It was very short and did not feel complete at all. His wordpress blog needs a lot of work.

He studied IT because he could not study English? College has a lot more to offer than IT, had he considered liberal arts? The numerous subjects in that area are unthinkable.

 

In all fairness to Jen and her words of wisdom (because she is for the most part correct), the world of book publishing sometimes has very little to do with how much talent a writer has and simply how much hype is behind a book. Look no further than "Eragon", a book written by a teenager and that was vanity published by his parents at first and sold mainly on word of mouth that a teen had written it.

If your friend believes in his work and feels that he can't develop his novel any better than it already is, then he better be prepared to dismiss all criticism that will come his way starting now.

Go do some research on what Steve Alten did to market his novels and attract the attention of publishers and readers. Find as many blogs as you can written by struggling writers and ask them if they would review your friend's novel. Try and think of something original to make hype for the book, perhaps something to do with the color red or Miami since those words are in the title of the book.

I do believe that there is a publisher out there for every book ever written, be it a bad or good book. It's simply a matter of finding the right one.

Good luck!

 

Thankyou for those positive comments!!!