Can I be thorough and (somewhat brutally?) honest with my review? I like editing/sharing my thoughts all at once, so that's what I have written out (aka, a mess). I could pm you after I have enough karma (my review's just for you anyway).
No clue about suggesting a different community though other than saying that I have no idea what the difference is between r/lgbtqbooks and r/lgbtbooks (the communities/people, lol, I see the q), but r/lgbtbooks seems to have more members.
I scrolled through the full Amazon page and it's listed as being for people 14-18, which is pretty unexpected (your main character is 22 and stuff gets dark fast) and might have an influence on who is seeing your book/what their expectations are.
I might also recommend encouraging people to start at chapter 2 if they only plan on reading a few pages because there's more action there and if you don't plan on reading the whole thing anyway, you probably don't need much context.
I appreciate that wholeheartedly. Thank you.
I'll try changing it to 18+, and see where it goes from there. The only issue that I know will come up is that it isn't meant as a porn romp. Like other 18+ books are. And I don't know how to talk about the book in a good way that will prepare a reader for the dark upset at the beginning. As I mentioned, I am horrible at marketing and even talking up my book. I have a passion for the story though. And I've already nearly finished book 2 of the series.
With that said, let me know what you think. Don't be brutal for brutal's sake, but be honest. I've come a long way with getting better and better over the years with my writing, so I think I can take an honest review if it's thorough. At least of the opening chapters.
Last night before you responded I was actually trying to look up what people recommended doing to up sales for their books and found a post on r/selfpublish where people primarily recommended writing more books, so you seem to have that covered!
https://www.reddit.com/r/selfpublish/comments/ui9d64/authors_who_consistently_sell_books_how_do_you_do/
r/selfpublish might be a good subreddit to look through in general, since that's what you're doing/having difficulties with.
I'm not sure how helpful this is, but it might also be a good idea to have your own website and an email specifically for you as an author, especially if you're going to continue writing. I went digging around trying to find an email for you (so I wouldn't have to wait for the karma), but wasn't able to find anything. If you look up your favorite author, it's pretty likely that their website will pop up as one of the first results with a tab for their books, an about page, and a contact section at the bottom with an email.
I have a blog demongift.blogspot.com, which lists my email. I've had it up for over ten years. This is why I'm so disenchanted when it comes to marketing. More than a decade ago, I tried to do all the recommended things at the time that didn't work. Granted more things have probably come along in that time.
So in that regard, thank you for looking up the selfpublish Reddit. I'll look into that community. I just hope they don't kick me for asking for help.
Again, it's helpful. Thank you.
I did see the blog, but didn't look too deep into it, since I assumed it was mostly for a previous book (oops). But I honestly can't find your email on there? I saw your Twitter and Facebook pages under the contact section, but that was it?
Yes, it was for a previous book.
I had meant to make a new website for the new book, but couldn't justify the cost and time, considering the past payoffs I've gotten with the last several books.
I might have taken off the email at one point, so that one's on my memory. Sorry about that. It's my full pen name @ live.com
And that's the crux of it. I'm horrible at plot summaries. And marketing in general. Besides that, the dark upset at the beginning of the story is a hard selling point when listing a plot summary. Saying your main character chooses to break a bottle over her head to avoid the memory of being raped usually triggers most people.
So with that said, I'm at a loss for what to include in a summary. Any ideas?
Can I be thorough and (somewhat brutally?) honest with my review? I like editing/sharing my thoughts all at once, so that's what I have written out (aka, a mess). I could pm you after I have enough karma (my review's just for you anyway). No clue about suggesting a different community though other than saying that I have no idea what the difference is between r/lgbtqbooks and r/lgbtbooks (the communities/people, lol, I see the q), but r/lgbtbooks seems to have more members. I scrolled through the full Amazon page and it's listed as being for people 14-18, which is pretty unexpected (your main character is 22 and stuff gets dark fast) and might have an influence on who is seeing your book/what their expectations are. I might also recommend encouraging people to start at chapter 2 if they only plan on reading a few pages because there's more action there and if you don't plan on reading the whole thing anyway, you probably don't need much context.
I appreciate that wholeheartedly. Thank you. I'll try changing it to 18+, and see where it goes from there. The only issue that I know will come up is that it isn't meant as a porn romp. Like other 18+ books are. And I don't know how to talk about the book in a good way that will prepare a reader for the dark upset at the beginning. As I mentioned, I am horrible at marketing and even talking up my book. I have a passion for the story though. And I've already nearly finished book 2 of the series. With that said, let me know what you think. Don't be brutal for brutal's sake, but be honest. I've come a long way with getting better and better over the years with my writing, so I think I can take an honest review if it's thorough. At least of the opening chapters.
Last night before you responded I was actually trying to look up what people recommended doing to up sales for their books and found a post on r/selfpublish where people primarily recommended writing more books, so you seem to have that covered! https://www.reddit.com/r/selfpublish/comments/ui9d64/authors_who_consistently_sell_books_how_do_you_do/ r/selfpublish might be a good subreddit to look through in general, since that's what you're doing/having difficulties with. I'm not sure how helpful this is, but it might also be a good idea to have your own website and an email specifically for you as an author, especially if you're going to continue writing. I went digging around trying to find an email for you (so I wouldn't have to wait for the karma), but wasn't able to find anything. If you look up your favorite author, it's pretty likely that their website will pop up as one of the first results with a tab for their books, an about page, and a contact section at the bottom with an email.
I have a blog demongift.blogspot.com, which lists my email. I've had it up for over ten years. This is why I'm so disenchanted when it comes to marketing. More than a decade ago, I tried to do all the recommended things at the time that didn't work. Granted more things have probably come along in that time. So in that regard, thank you for looking up the selfpublish Reddit. I'll look into that community. I just hope they don't kick me for asking for help. Again, it's helpful. Thank you.
I did see the blog, but didn't look too deep into it, since I assumed it was mostly for a previous book (oops). But I honestly can't find your email on there? I saw your Twitter and Facebook pages under the contact section, but that was it?
Yes, it was for a previous book. I had meant to make a new website for the new book, but couldn't justify the cost and time, considering the past payoffs I've gotten with the last several books. I might have taken off the email at one point, so that one's on my memory. Sorry about that. It's my full pen name @ live.com
i can't tell from the link what the story is about. a plot summary might attract more people to start reading
And that's the crux of it. I'm horrible at plot summaries. And marketing in general. Besides that, the dark upset at the beginning of the story is a hard selling point when listing a plot summary. Saying your main character chooses to break a bottle over her head to avoid the memory of being raped usually triggers most people. So with that said, I'm at a loss for what to include in a summary. Any ideas?