I was told from the start that books don't sell themselves.

That whatever effort you put into crafting the story, you'd need to double that with your marketing.

Like most first time authors I probably paid lip service to this.

Nodding along.

Reading up on the topic, without acting.

Thinking I'll work that out when the time comes...

That time does come.

The monkeys have done pretty well—from a standing start—with 649 units processed and 9,000+ page reads since 20 Jan this year.

Yet, it's still been a loss making enterprise so far.
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Your covers, ads and subscriptions can quickly add up.

Royalties v expenses is an email for another time.

But given I've wanted to keep my prices reasonable, particularly for paperback, you've got to look strategically to turn a profit.

Now, as soon as you put strategy and book marketing together in the same sentence there are TONNES of resources, ideas, and hucksters willing to help you.

I have a handwritten list somewhere of all the things you could do to increase the chances of shifting more books.

> Award applications, asking for reviews, Instagram, Threads, podcasts, YouTube, networking, personal reach outs, audiobooks, novellas in the same universe, TikTok, email newsletters, BookBub, Amazon Ads, Facebook ads, Facebook groups, Goodreads, newsletter swaps, discounts etc, etc, etc <

That's a full time job right there. Given I already have one of those, and like having some free time, again it comes back to strategy.
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I also don't have a huge budget to throw at this. Indie authors are at a disadvantage here as publishers can get some of the things from the list at a big discount or through contacts/processes. That being said, the word on the vine is that this tends to be funnelled mainly into the top 5% of their authors & books.
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That's another tangent so coming back to the monkeys.
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If you've read a few of my other Sunday rambles, you'll know I'm into a book called The One Thing by Gary Keller. Coming to peace with the fact you have limited resources (time & money). Honing in on "What's the one thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?"​
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My pichu pie in the sky dream is to see the books adapted for film.
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Therefore zooming back from that to what I can actually do in the here and now is trying to get the series into as many paws as possible. As many people finishing the books. And ideally as many people as possible leaving a review. This social proof is then something I can take to people in the industry.
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I believe when you have a clear problem/question and open yourself to finding an answer it tends to arrive.
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That has happened here.
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It came while on holiday in Andalusia. Buried in the books by David Gaughran. A book marketing specialist from Ireland. Yes, I was reading fiction for fun too on this trip.
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Anyway, he has an no-nonsense style I resonate with.

In his humble opinion, you can skip a lot of things on the above list. Most in fact.
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He advises focusing on ebooks and that the potential silver bullet in your arsenal is...
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🥇 Book promotions 🥇

I'll admit silver bullets and shortcuts are not the way forward.
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However, it certainly provides an answer to my question.
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It also tallies up nicely with when I had my best month of orders. April. Where I ran my first promo through the KDP dashboard.

So long story (not very) short that's where my focus is going on the book marketing front.
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I'm lining up a double deal for August.
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​The Monkey State ebook - available as a free download
​In Search of Maya ebook - available for 99p
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The way the KDP system works is that you can run this for a max of 5 days. Booked in advance. I don't have the exact date yet because Gaughran also suggests you try to promote the promo through a number of paid ad sites (which I wasn't aware of when I did the first one so I want to see if I can beat that).
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I caveat this all with, 'I may be wrong' or he could be wrong.
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TikTok could be a better use of my time.
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Going all in on Facebook ads could get more engaged readers.
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But I don't think there's ever a list that is 100% correct for 100% of people. There's a quote from Derek Siver "If information was the answer we'd all be millionaires with perfect abs."
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Almost typed that as ads.
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Gosh.
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I'm also fully aware that the monkeys may never be destined to go to the level of being optioned.
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But in chasing more orders, reads & reviews, the knock on effect of which could be negative feedback, I'll at least have given them a good shot. And I've been told you should give it at least 2 years (of trying things) before you make a judgment on the commerical viability of a novel.
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They are not like songs and films which can be consumed quickly. Books take time. Although I do know a few rapid readers who buck this trend.

Speaking of which, it's almost a month since Book 2 was released and I'd love to hear your thoughts if you're making your way through Shadowbor?

Woah, that was an unexpectedly long one today.

It was helpful to think aloud for me at least.

If you got to the end, with me, fair play.

Come on the Lionesses,
J. R. Roberts

P.S. I know a lot of you on here have bought the paperbacks (which I massively appreciate!) but as a little treat—if you pick up a copy of both ebooks as well during the promo period and send me a screenshot—I'll send you a signed copy of The Monkey State with a personalised message from Claude 🐵