Like Glass: Now Available For Free
Alright, here’s the deal. I’ve been fighting with this book for over a year now, trying to get people to read it. I self-published it thinking that would make it easier to get an agent or a publisher, when it only made things more difficult in an industry that’s already near impossible to get into. I’ve tried spreading the word via various social networks, tried interviews, the book’s gotten great reviews, and still nothing.
I’m tired of it. I’m not any kind of marketing specialist — I absolutely abhor trying to sell anything. It goes against my nature. I hate asking people for money, even in exchange for something. That’s just not who I am, and I’m sorry for all the damned spamming I’ve done over the past few months on Facebook and Twitter. I wish I could justify it in any way, but all I can say is that I get impatient watching the visit counts stay flat on this stupid site.
So, without further bullshitting, I hereby give anyone who’s willing to read it a free copy of Like Glass. You can download it here; I’m going to try and put up a side-bar item for future downloading as well. I hope you enjoy; drop me a line if you finish it and let me know what you thought.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=52b66083-dc6a-4a99-ac85-918df562d15e)
Some Book Promo Tips
I’m still new to the whole book marketing thing, so I’m in no way any kind of marketing guru. That said, I’m trying some stuff out and I figure it wouldn’t be a bad idea to share it. Feel free to give these a shot, or comment on them if you have better suggestions.
Social Networking
This is the big buzz word that’s on everyone’s lips these days, and odds are better than even money that, if you’re reading this, you found out about it on something like Facebook or Twitter. That right there should be proof enough to you that they work 
Here’s my first recommendation: go to http://ping.fm/ and sign up for an account. Add all of the social networks that you’re a part of, and join those that you’re not part of. You don’t have to spend a ton of time getting them set up and making new friends, but give each one an honest effort. The more “friends” (or equivalent) you have on each site, the better, because when you use Ping.FM to update your status, each person on each site is one more potential reader who may try and find out more about you. Then, when you make a new blog post, use Ping.FM to post a link and you’ll have just broadcast your new post to lots of people who hopefully are interested in it.
I probably should explain Ping.FM real quick here. It’s really simple: instead of going to Twitter, making a post, then going to Facebook and updating your status, and going to MySpace and updating your status, etc. ad nauseum, you just make one post at Ping.FM and it’ll take care of all the networks you have registered on it. Pretty cool.
One thing to keep in mind though, there’s people on the other end of the networks. They aren’t just robots ready to click any link you post. Take time every once in a while to actually talk to them – if nothing else, because it can actually help out in the long run. For example, on Twitter the other day, a person was asking a question about using the drums on Guitar Hero World Tour. I actually knew the answer to this, so I responded; she thanked me and I went on about my business. Later in the day, I was fishing for people to grant an interview, and she offered to do one. Now, she isn’t exactly CNN or anything, but it’s still one more spot on the web where I’ll get a mention. And I never would’ve made her acquaintance if I hadn’t paid a little bit of extra attention.
I want to single Facebook out right now because it’s a pretty useful site. Aside from the friends/status posts mentioned above, it also has different things you can do, like set up groups and pages. If you know how to use these right (and I don’t claim that I do), these can be killer marketing utilities. Personally, I’m not terribly big on pages, so I can’t really say much about them. I have one, but I’ve never been able to get anything accomplished with it. Groups, on the other hand, are great.
With groups, there’s two primary purposes it can serve. First, and most obvious, is that it can serve as a discussion forum. People can post questions or comments, and you (or other group members) can respond. If you’re good at sparking discussion, this is wonderful.
The second benefit to groups is that they serve as a kind of mailing list. It’s possible to send a message to all group members, and they can opt out much easier than if you were trying to manage your own list server. Just don’t over do it – maybe a weekly newsletter, or an occasional “Hey, here’s a special event; come check it out!” message. But eventually you’ll start losing members left and right – trust me, I speak from experience on that.
One other thing to keep in mind about Facebook over the other social networks. Facebook doesn’t move quite as fast as, say Twitter, so you might not want to attach it to Ping.FM. It’s a toss up. I was using Ping.FM to update everything, but I was mentally focused on Twitter – Twitter moves pretty fast (in my experiences with it, at least). Then, the other day, I got an email from someone saying that my profile looked like a sad, desperate attempt to get people interested in my novel – I had probably twenty status updates linking to different posts on my blog. In Twitter, it wouldn’t have been noticed quite as much, but in Facebook it looks pretty bad. Just keep that in mind.
Blogging
Alright, these days just about everyone has a blog. If you don’t, get one. They’re really easy to start up, and there’s tons of free services out there, like WordPress and BlogSpot (or is it Blogger.com?). Your blog is your primary marketing tool, no if’s, and’s, or but’s about it. This is your gateway into people’s minds and hearts, and with a little bit of luck maybe even their wallet (hate to be so blunt about it, but that’s something that we can’t really deny now, is it?).
One of the most important things to do with your blog is to post regularly. You don’t have to post a 200-page treatise every day, but a few paragraphs here and there, maybe every couple of days. It’s definitely worth it. You aren’t going for the immediate sale here, so don’t get disappointed if you don’t see your numbers skyrocket in a week or two. You’re trying to build up a steady reader base, people who get familiar with you and your writing. In the long run, that translates to sales.
Freebies
Now, this is a touchy subject. No one likes to just give their hard work away. But you need to figure out where your goals are. If you’re just trying to make a quick buck, then giving anything more than a chapter or two away probably isn’t a good idea. On the other hand, if you’re in it for the long haul, and like me you don’t have a publisher and can’t afford a publicist, consider giving away copies – even digital copies – of your book. If you haven’t already gone through some of my previous posts about giving away Like Glass, here’s what I’m doing; maybe you can do something similar to it.
First off, I’m considering Like Glass a wash. It’s not going to sell, at least not at the moment. I’ve accepted that. But, I have a sequel that I’m editing right now, Shattered, that might be able to have a better future if I play my cards right. So here’s what I’m doing: each week, I’m releasing a chapter of Like Glass, for free on my blog. I’m asking people to post comments, and the following week, when I release the next chapter, I’m going to pick at random one of the people who commented and give them a free digital copy of the full novel. When I post the last chapter, I may have a “grand prize” drawing and give out a few hardcopies; I haven’t decided yet.
Now, at first it sounds like I’m just wasting my effort in giving the novel away. But, if everything goes well, then by the time I post the final chapter there’s going to be a lot of people wanting to know what happens next. The free digital copy draws them to the chapter, they read the chapter and (hopefully) get drawn in. Then they come back next week for the next chapter. When I’m ready to release Shattered, I already have a decent reader base.
That’s the plan, at least
Take a Break
Marketing a book is a damned tiring endeavor, and is definitely harder than writing it in the first place. You need to step away from the computer every once in a while, or else you’ll just drive yourself mad. Trust me on this one, I know from my own experience 
I try and take a smoke break at least once an hour to get away from the screen, and every couple of hours I’ll lay down on the couch and rest my eyes for about ten or twenty minutes. I’m not saying you need to do either of those (although I strongly recommend the resting-of-the-eyes), but get away from it, let your mind wander on to other topics for a little bit. Then you can get back in on it full-force.
Okay, hopefully those made sense to you. I’m sure I’m leaving out a ton of stuff, but this was supposed to just be a quick little list of some of the things I’m trying out. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share them – I’m sure everyone would love to hear them.
Catch you on the flip side.
–Matt
New Social Network Locations
I’ve recently added a few more spots you can keep up with everything at, so be sure to check them out as well:
Facebook Group: Fans of Matthew Cory — Composer and Author
Bebo: Like Glass and Matthew Cory Music
Be sure to stop by and join those groups (or whatever they are) and leave a message! I’m still trying to figure them out, so anything you can say to help would be most appreciated. Feel free to share them with others, too.
Catch you on the flip side.
–Matt
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=1f58c342-0ac3-4ee2-a2ad-74491d7c6bb8)
Weekly Wrap-Up 12/29/08-1/04/09
I thought I’d give a little “digest” here on what happened this past week here on the blog. Lots of things are changing, so if you missed anything, it’ll probably help to keep caught up. We’ll see how it works out.
Posts
Quick Post: New Site Section
– Opening up the doors on the “Music” portion of the site for the first time.
Social Networks
– Some of the other places you can find me online.
A New Year’s Resolution for the Arrogant
– My first official “public” New Year’s resolution.
Better By Degrees
– Some thoughts on the importance of college degrees.
Plans for Shattered
– A tentative plan for Shattered, the sequel to Like Glass.
Late Night Thoughts
– Some thoughts on publishing Shattered, as well as perhaps a new CD.
Short Stories
The Baby
– A new Vanishing Point story.
Music
In the future, I’ll add updates here as well; this time though, there isn’t a point — it’s all new You can check it out at http://matthewcory.com/music/.
Okay, I don’t believe I missed anything important. Hopefully these will be useful to some of you out there.
Catch you on the flip side.
–Matt
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=dba0c2b8-1ef9-4766-af98-8bcde645b0f4)
Social Networks
I’m working right now, so I can’t write too much, but I wanted to drop a quick line to let everyone know which social networks you can find me on. Odds are, you came here from one of them, but maybe you’re missing one or two. I’m always open to new friends/followers/whatever-it’s-called-on-a-given-network, so make sure you hit me up.
Here’s a couple, even though I’m “on” quite a few (well, I use ping.fm to update quite a few). If the one you regularly use isn’t here, leave a comment and let me know which one it is — if I’m already there, I’ll be sure to let you know where I’m at.
Facebook Profile
Facebook Page (always looking for more fans!)
Twitter
MySpace (I don’t check this one out regularly at the moment, but if enough of you are on there I’ll start paying it more attention.)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=eb523705-81c9-48b2-a86b-fd2de87bdb14)
Networked Blogs (on Facebook)
