One of the things that helps an indie writer get ahead is getting a lot of reviews quickly. When readers see a book with a high rating in 35 reviews, they are more likely to choose a book as one with 0 ratings. Many ad sites only allow books with a minimum of reviews to access their services. The sooner you get these grades, the faster you can take advantage of the power of these campaigns.

I use Mailchimpi to create automatic replies in my primary directory. After 3 days, all new registrations will be invited to join another list – the ARC list. Everyone on this list will receive a free read copy of the next book as soon as it is finished, at least a month before it matures. They can provide feedback and suggestions and send early reviews of the providers they want. I think it was a great tool to get early reviews. A gentle reminder to everyone on your ARC list the day before its release often leads to the release of new reviews – a clever way to highlight the new version.

Frequently asked questions about your book

One thing that I find very useful is creating an oft-asked message for my books. A lot of people ask me similar questions during the book release, so I installed all the frequently asked questions questions. This helps readers find my book easier and better understand the publishing process.

Among other things, you can respond by doing the following:

Why pre-order a book?
When will I get my pre-order book?
Is the book available in your pocket?
Will the book be available < sellers >?
Why is this book under a pseudonysy?
When will the second book appear in the series?
I love this book! How can I spread the word?
Once released, the FAQ will be an excellent resource to use in your marketing.

For example, I can send it to someone from a local steampunk association who wants to promote my book on their Facebook page, or to my mom who wants to share it with her colleagues.

Share book excerpts

These are small windows for future reading. I usually post at least one snippet a week on my own website and offer to post it on other book blogs.

Choose your gripes carefully. Don’t give away important plot points or surprises and remember that your readers haven’t been able to connect with the characters, so you can’t ask them to worry about them much in excerpts.

I usually choose three excerpts from the first act of the novel. One of the opening chapters sets the story and the main character. One introduces an opponent, and the third shows great action or shows something cool in the world of the novel.

Create a list of books

One thing that worked very well was to make a list of my favorite books in my genre (steampunk). At the end of the list, I’ve added my own book because (and I may be biased here) it’s definitely one of my favorites!

So I posted this list on a few steampunk blogs and genre book blogs. It has become a pretty popular post on my blog because people often want to read new books in a certain genre.

Your list might look like this:

My 10 favorite books in < here>
My 10 favorite romantic heroines
The 20 finest technologies of the future in science fiction novels
My 10 favorite murder cases

Organize a virtual book tour

Gone are the days when writers packed boxes of books in the boot of a car and set out to travel around the country, with only whiskey, food stopping a bad truck and a desire to read as many readers as possible. Today, you can make a book tour for a fraction of the budget.

A virtual book round view is a great way to increase the visibility of your book during publication and direct more traffic to your blog and ultimately to your book page.

You can even create a blog tour or use one of the many companies that offer such services.

I ran my last one through Enchanted Blog Tours and I can’t say enough good things about them. The blog tour helped generate buzz during my launch month and also gave me early reviews of established book blogs.