First off, I want to thank D.D. and all of the WG2E bloggers for their wonderful support this past year. Unfortunately life has brought a ton of busy stuff my way lately, so this will be my last WG2E post. I will still be active and around, so please do feel free to keep up with me on my Facebook page and pop in to say “hi”: http://www.facebook.com/gemmahallidayauthor
Having said that, the aspect of self-publishing that I want to leave everyone with today is maybe the most important: promotion. Writing a fab book is only step one to selling well. Promotion has to be a big part of your plan if you want to succeed. I’ve found that there are three specific types of promotions: 1) promo aimed toward building your brand and name recognition, 2) promo aimed toward immediate sales, and 3) promo aimed toward building your readership.
The first type of promo is what traditionally published authors have been doing for years, and it does still work well to slowly build your career. Examples of this type would be sending swag to conferences, taking out ads in magazines, and sending book to reviewers and bloggers. It generally leads to very few immediate sales, but it does get your name in front of readers which will eventually build recognition for you both within the industry and with readers. I’ve done this off and on throughout my career, but I did the most when I was first starting out to really try to make a mark with my brand up front.
It’s hard to see an immediate impact, so it’s difficult for me to say exactly what has worked the best in this area, but I prefer inexpensive promotions with big impact. The one that I loved the most was for my second book, KILLER IN HIGH HEELS. A friend of mine had read the book and said it was so funny she almost peed her pants. Totally what I was going for. 
I took her quote and the book cover and had business cards made up at Vistaprint. I then printed out a hundred coupons from the Depends adult undergarments website and attached them to the business cards. I sent those to the RT conference that year, and I got a TON of response from them. Several bloggers wrote about it as the most unique promo at the conference, and I got emails from readers who got a chuckle out of it. I’m *pretty* sure no one cashed in their coupons, but the whole point was to get my name to stick in people’s heads. So for very little cost, I got a big impact with those. Another similar promo I did was for my 5th book, which had a wedding it in. I had wedding invitations printed up and sent them out to bloggers and reviewers “inviting” them to “attend” the wedding by requesting an ARC to review. I got several nice reviews out of it, so I was very happy with that.
The second type of promo is geared toward immediate sales, and you can easily track its effectiveness with your sales data and rankings. I think most self-published authors are focused on this type of promo more than any! Playing with pricing and freebies is a great way to do this. Contests can also make a big difference. For example, I currently have a contest going through my Facebook page to boost sales for my upcoming release, SECRET BOND. The basics of the contest are that I’m giving away 3 gifts cards to 3 randomly selected people who help me get the word out about the book. “Shares” on Facebook are how people enter. The twist is that I am upping the amount of the gift cards by $10 for every pre-order I get on the book, so readers have a big incentive to pre-order the book themselves as well as share the info. So far I’m super pleased with the number of pre-orders. The book’s ranking has dipped as low as 1000 on Amazon, and it doesn’t even come out until May 1st! You can check out the particulars of the contest here: http://www.facebook.com/gemmahallidayauthor#!/gemmahallidayauthor/posts/308646292594506
I know pre-orders aren’t possible with every book (This is the first self-published one that I’ve had pre-order with, and Amazon randomly offered it to me, so I’m not sure I’ll be this lucky again!), so another thing I’ve done in the past to boost sales on a new release is a BOGO, buy-one-get-one-free. If readers send me a proof of purchase of the new book, they get a coupon code to get one of my other books free at Smashwords. Oddly enough, I don’t usually get a lot of people actually taking me up on the offer, but just by running the contest and offering it, it seems to boost sales.
The last type of promotion is, in my opinion, maybe the most important. Name recognition only goes so far, and immediate sales are great, but you need to keep scrambling for them. Loyal readers are forever. 
Most of the promotion I do lately is geared toward cultivating and thanking my loyal readers. I very highly recommend that every author have a mailing list that readers can subscribe to, even if you only send out notices a couple of times a year. This way, you have a list of your readers and can reach them whenever you want. (I personally send out notices 2 to 3 times a month, but there’s no “right” amount of times.) The power of the mailing list is awesome. Whenever I send out a notice to my readers, I see a huge bump in sales or downloads or whatever the notice is asking of them. It’s an amazing tool to have in your pocket when it comes to sales.
As a new author, it’s slow going to build a list. I know, I’ve been there. I started my mailing list before I was even published, almost 10 years ago. For the longest time, it was half populated with my family and friends. But I’ve found that contest are a great way to grow your list little by little. I do at least 3-4 contests a year where all readers have to do to enter is add themselves to my mailing list. Of course you get some contest trolls who will join then immediately drop off, but you do get some really great readers as well, so I find it worth the cost of prizes. (I usually do prizes it eh $25 range, so you don’t have to lay out a bunch of money for these.)
I also do a lot of reader appreciation giveaways. I’ve got one going currently that has been very successful. I’ve gathered a group of self-published authors to donate free books to my readers, and I’m giving away coupon codes for 6 of those book to my newsletter subscribers each month for 6 months. It’s a win/win in that the authors who donated books are getting the exposure to the 15K+ readers currently on my mailing list, and my readers are getting tons of free books from new authors as well. So far I’ve had over 2000 new subscribers sign up for my mailing list due to this promo, so I’m very happy with that! You can check out the details here:
http://www.gemmahalliday.com/books_adult/high_heels.html
And those are my best promo tips. If anyone else has some promo gems to share, please feel free to post!
Thanks again for having me here on WG2E, and I look forward to seeing you all on the bestseller lists soon!
~ Gemma
Wow, I’m impressed by your marketing savvy. Were you a PR person in your previous life?
That said, I’m going to miss your columns, which rank up there with the most informative here on the WG2E. Continued success to you!
Thanks, Bettye! No, I’ve never been in sales before, but I have to say that I actually really enjoy that side of publishing. It’s great procrastination when I’m in the middle of a sticky plot point.
Thanks for sharing, Gemma. It’s been great having you as a fellow contributor on WG2E. Wishing you lots of happiness and success for the future
We will miss you here at WG2E- wishing you all the very best:) I love your books and will continue to grab them as they’re published:)
all the best gemma! and “still” reading maggie rodriguez et al
and thanks very much for the promo ideas -
best wishes & cont’d success for you
adan
Thanks for sharing this very useful information and all the best! You are a pro at marketing (something I suck at, LOL!) I really appreciate the honesty with which you present results from contests etc. You’re right: direct impact on sales is probably minimal but it helps to spread the word and create the famous “buzz” that sells books. As they say here in Italy (where I live), brava!
Gemma, this is all so helpful! Thanks for sharing your novel, FUN marketing ideas!
Gemma,
What a well-compiled program of marketing strategies! And it obviously works for you–looks like your writing creativity bubbled over into this plan. Thanks for reminding us that it’s not only the novel itself that generates popularity of authors.
Gemma, Your talent and hard work have paid off. Thank you so much for sharing your tips for success with us. I’ve enjoyed your posts.
God’s speed!
Thanks for sharing all this today, Gemma. Bummed to hear it’s your last post, but best wishes for continued success! We’ll see ya around.
Gemma, we’re going to miss you. Thanks for all of the wonderful helpful tips. You’re books are wonderful and so are you.
Theresa
OMG, the Depends coupon attached to the business card is sheer brilliance!
Thank you for sharing so much wisdom.
All the best to you, Gemma.
Thanks so much for sharing your success, Gemma. I love your ideas, especially on the mailing list. I am currently (slowly) building my own. Can you tell us a bit more about the contests that you’ve ran in the 25 range? Are they usually for gift cards or something else?
Thanks!
I like gift cards because winners can use them to buy my books.
But I’ve also done things that tie into my books – like at Christmas I did a high heeled shoe ornament, at Valentine’s day flowers delivered to the winner’s house, things like that. I honestly have had almost as many entries doing a $25 gift card contest that I have doing things like a Kindle Fire. So, personally, I usually stay away from the big prizes.
Do you do Amazon gift cards? I’ve heard that is technically breaking the rules, so I have always done Amazon or Visa cards. Thanks!
Hmm… I hadn’t read any rules applying to this. Maybe I’m missing something?
Someone had told me that during the whole craziness of the reviews being brought down. Something akin to buying readers. I will have to try to go back through my emails and see who said what.
I haven’t heard this, but please do let me know if you find out something to this affect. Personally, I would feel a little shady offering compensation or contest offerings for good reviews or something along those lines. But I feel like asking readers to sign up for your newsletter in order to win a prize is a pretty standard practice among authors, and it has been for quite awhile. I know Fresh Fiction, for example, sponsors several contests like this a month, and their author often offer Amazon gift cards as prizes. But please do let me know if you find out otherwise!
Definitely a post to bookmark. Thanks for the great tips, Gemma. And best wishes for continued success!!
Wishing you continued success with your writing career, Gemma. Your posts will surely be missed. But you’ve definitely picked a great topic to close with. Promo is the thing I’m struggling with now as a newbie. Working to get my name out there. Working to build my readership and hoping these things can eventually translate into more and steadier sales. Your tips are awesome. I like the examples you provided, especially about the Depends promo. Too awesome!
We’ll miss you on the WG2E blog team, Gemma! Thanks for all your informative posts. Your advice for today is great. I know I’ve had an ebook in your swag pack and gained some readers from it. Wishing you continued great sales and the loyal readers you so deserve.
Thanks everyone! It’s been really fun posting and getting to know all of you, too! And thanks again to D.D. for inviting me to her party!
Great post, Gemma. Lots of good information. I’m going over to your FB page right now and liking!
Hope you get less busy soon. Will miss you here. I don’t do much promo for my ebooks. I put a note on FB when I epublish them. I go on PInterest now and then and like an image that connects to my ebooks, and now and then I also go on Zazzle and create an item like a mug with a saying from my ebooks or even the cover image of the book. And yet, my ebooks are slowly and surely selling. Can’t figure it out. But I’m not complaining.
Thanks, Gemma. Always appreciate how generous you are with your tips. Wishing you continued success and keep the great books coming!
Hey Gemma, I just discovered this fabulous place, and you are leaving. No fair. Already knew what a terrific person you are, this only reinforces that. By the way, I would be happy to donate some books. Ciao. Maria Grazia Swan
It’s the best time to make some plans for the long run and it’s time to be happy.
I have learn this publish and if I may just I desire to counsel you some attention-grabbing things or tips.
Perhaps you can write subsequent articles relating to this article.
I desire to learn even more things approximately it!