A couple of days ago I changed the sub-category of “Just Like Daddy” from Erotica>Suspense/Mystery to Literature>Transgressional. I was at 419 downloads. I stopped at 421.
The power of marketing or the minds of readers? Which do you think it is?
Hmm! Very Interesting! A Smashwords Experiment follow-up.
December 17, 2011 at 11:27 am (Writing)
Tags: e-publishing, marketing, self-publishing, Smashwords
A Smashwords Experiment
December 13, 2011 at 7:06 pm (self-publishing, Writing)
Tags: e-publishing, marketing, self-publishing, Smashwords
This past year, my primary goals have been editing viable material and expanding my networking. To that end, I have gotten involved with Twitter, Linkedin, and Klout. I have published two collections of poetry on Lulu and continued to promote my existing catalog on Smashwords.
The world of e-publishing is expanding at an amazing exponential degree and Gordon Kessler, president of the KWA, has strongly advocated a focus on it. I decided to offer two short stories on Smashwords for free as a small way of generating buzz.
The first story was “Just Like Daddy” concerning an unnamed prostitute who dresses up for her clients to help them fulfill their fantasy. It ends with a violent crime.
The second story was “How to Kill Your Boss and Get Away With It”, a tongue in cheek crime story inspired by my wife’s comment after a particularly difficult day at work.
I placed the first one under the category Fiction>Erotica>Suspense/Mystery. The second one was filed under Fiction>Literature>Transgressional. I uploaded them one day part, the first one eight days ago and the second a week ago.
As of today, “Just Like Daddy” has had 406 downloads. “How to Kill Your Boss and Get Away With It” has had 25.
Title? Category? Expectations? Don’t get me wrong; I’m grateful for the reads. But I’m beginning to understand more fully the power of successful marketing in the digital age.
