The Winds They Are a-Changin'

 My last post was in desperation. I could no longer continue beating my head against a brick wall—trying to promote my books with success.

Yes, I garnered seventy-eight reviews with an average rating of 4.40/5 for Awen Rising. That is no small feat and an excellent rating, especially for a new and unknown author. I am proud of that. But the sales have not followed.

My Amazon KDP free promos were modestly successful. But only if I poured money into ads to get the promo in front of prospective readers. Even coupling that with discounting Awen Storm to $.99 during the same periods, I nowhere near recouped my expenses.

Not even once.

Photo by Stefan Keller

As an entrepreneur, I know that every new business takes time and money to get off the ground. But I've been spending so much time on marketing and promos, learning Amazon ads, building a platform, creating a website and a newsletter, keeping up with social media... it's exhausting!

So much so that there is little time and energy left to do what I love most—WRITE! And I've been told by the experts that the best way to sell books is to write more books. I have a trilogy to complete. A prequel to finish. And many, many, MANY more stories to write.

Lately, the universe has been telling me that "the grey clouds covering my life are about to be sent away by a warm and vibrant spiritual wind." 

I believe it has arrived.

Yesterday, after seeing patients and attending our office holiday luncheon, I sat down with my laptop to once again research book promotion companies. Lo and behold, I found mine.

Photo by Stefan Keller

Through their (modern and up-to-date) website, I "chatted" with a fellow named Michael in Dallas, Texas. For two hours, we talked, me asking questions, him answering. He sent me Amazon links to current clients' books, links to videos the company had created for their books, newspaper and online articles they'd garnered for books they were promoting, and more.

I perused the links, including the TrustPilot one with positive reviews for the company. I watched the excellent book trailer videos they created. I researched their authors on KDP Rocket and found that a couple are bestsellers in my genre. And I kept going back to that guaranteed ROI (return on investment) which states that if my results do not meet the guarantee, I get my money back.

That clinched the deal. I pulled the trigger. I invested heavily in my business.

Photo by Enrique Mesequer

Now it's time to sit back and let a team of WAAAAAY more qualified people manage my book SELLING business so that I can get back into the book WRITING business.

My marketing strategy meeting with an assigned project leader will be sometime on Tuesday. After that, I'm not sure of the timeline. But I should start seeing resulting sales within the month. 

And that is something, isn't it?

Y'all keep reading, and I'll keep writing!

That Rebel, Olivia J. Herrell, writing as O. J. Barré

O. J. Barré is the author of the Awen Trilogy, a pre-apocalyptic urban fantasy set in 2042 Atlanta. Steeped in current, ancient, and future history twists, Book One, Awen Rising, debuted July 2019. Book Two, Awen Storm, released May 2020. Book Three, Awen Tide, is on preorder and will be released in 2022. All are (or will be) available in both paperback and ebook.

O. J.'s Awen Prequel novelette, The Druids of Marduk, Part I, is available as an ebook for purchase on Amazon (or free by signing up for her newsletter). The second installment, The Druids of Marduk, Part II: UnderEarth, is an ebook novella also available on Amazon. Part III: AboveEarth, is scheduled for a 2022 release.