When I first started publishing my stories in 2010 the formula was simple. Publish more books. I did great. But, in the fast moving, ever-changing landscape of digital publishing the rules change. I didn’t do any marketing, I just wrote. Now, I have to market to keep up with the competition. No matter how good your work is it’s not enough if you can’t get it on the digital shelves for others to view. So, as I try to follow other writers I’ve learned new ways for a successful launch.

This is where you come in because I need my elite readers that I’ve done my best to stay in touch with. Think of this as a marketing experiment. Normally, I put a story out for pre-order on Amazon. Not this time. This time I’ll send a post to my subscribers (you), letting you know the book is out. The Scarab’s Curse is a 20k word novella, and it will be .99 cents the first few days. If and I hope, hundreds of you will buy it. This will shoot it up on the bestseller charts. (But at that price my commission is half) It will get a new story the exposure it needs. After a few days, I’ll then put the story on the Kindle Unlimited program. (Many of you have that). But the cost goes up to 2.99 because that’s Amazon’s rules. With the book high on the charts new readers will grab it. Oh, and post reviews as soon as you can too!  Let me know if you want a beta read. Scarab is at the editor now.

Dollars and sense: Between the cover and editing, I have $500 invested in this story. It would be great to break even the first month. Being a one shot short story, it won’t be a bread winner, but it’s going to be a blast to read. Writing stories isn’t about money with me, it’s about entertaining, but I still run it like a business. And I like to write stories on my different ideas.  I just need to squeeze them in. Now, I should be applying this strategy to my new series Squawk, but I already set it up for pre-order. Bummer. Hey, marketing is not my forte’ but I have to learn to survive.

With all of that, I hope you help me out. If you want others to know about my books this is the best way to do it. And going forward, I’ll be doing this with other new series, so you can get a super deal on a new book. Please, email or comment. craig@thedarkslayer.com The curse should be out late Feb or Early March.

Fight or Die,

Halloran

This is what I feel like when I’m trapped in a webinar!

BarbarianandtheBrain