Last week, after attending a neighbor’s birthday celebration, I got right onto my Amazon account and ordered the Kindle version of THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW by Jonas Jonasson. Why did I do this? The sole reason was that five of the women at the party were discussing the book and commenting about the great laughs they were having while reading it. I immediately felt left out of that conversation; in fact, I had never even heard of Jonas Jonasson (Swedish author) and was certain that I was missing out. I rest my case, books sell because people are talking about them- the power of the word of mouth.
Yesterday, I had a call from a friend in Vancouver who works in office admin at a Private School. She told me that she had talked to one of her colleagues at work about my Frenchie series and how the novels had made her laugh reminiscing about raising kids and dogs. This woman ordered both books from http://www.redtuquebooks.ca (my Canadian Distributor). Apparently, she just loved the books and is looking forward to the third in the series, Frenchie Diva? Really?- Follow the Blog.
This leads me to what we already know about promoting our books. It is one thing to make our books available all over the world, both digitally and in print, but it is another to help people find them. My books are classified as Middle Grade novels which means that they are meant for a 9-13 year-old readership. The problem with this is that it limits the potential people who might enjoy these reads. My experience so far has been that Middle Grade readers don’t find the books online. Young Adult books are more inclined to be read in eBook format. The only way to get one’s books in the hands of MG readers is through schools and libraries. This tends to leave out the readers who love their pets, and the parents and grandparents who can relate to the story of a single, working mom with a devious 13 year-old son who will do anything to have a French Bulldog. Of course Ethan’s quirky, eccentric grandma plays a major role in this on-going family drama.
My message here is that word of mouth and having readers motivated to write short reviews on Amazon is key to the success of reaching potential readers. Nothing is more powerful than being immersed in a book conversation and hearing others’ reactions and endorsements of books being read and enjoyed!
What are your thoughts? Do you write reviews or comments about books you’ve enjoyed? Do you join Book Club discussions? What makes you decide to purchase a book? Please leave a comment, I’m keenly interested in your thoughts and suggestions.