Questions

I hear about landing pages, paid ads, etc. but what about pre-testing chapters?

Such a great question, and one that I spent a lot of time trying to figure out with the last four books that I published. There are several ways that marketing a book can be done, but only a few ways that make the process fairly simple and give you the results you want.

Wattpad is a great way to test out your chapters and build a following online. When you create an account and profile with them you have the opportunity to publish your book one chapter at a time, two chapters at a time, or the whole book at a time.

What you'll find as you build a following is people are anxiously waiting for you to publish new material, and you can easily direct them to any published works on Amazon and other platforms such as Kobo or B&N,

You will still face the same challenges on Wattpad that you do on any other platform when it comes to building an audience, and growth can be slow, which is why I always recommend that you build a loyal list of subscribers so you have a built-in audience to promote to.

I've sampled plenty of authors' newsletters, and many of them will offer sneak peeks and first chapters to their fans who are eagerly waiting for the author's next release.

Not only does this engage their audience by asking them for feedback once they have read the sample chapters, but it builds buzz for the release of the book, and if your subscribers go so far as to share the chapters with others so much the better.

Pre-testing chapters can also be done with a launch team or street team. This is a group of people who have signed up to review your ARC (Advance Reader Copies) and give you feedback on your latest works. They also help get the word out about your book through their social media accounts and through the reviews they leave for your books on Amazon, Goodreads, etc.

My launch team does a stellar job of reading my books and having reviews ready to post on release day. This is how I am able to get up to sixty reviews within a week of a book's release. I also have a large mailing list of eager fans who want that next book. So my marketing always includes that built-in audience

So yes! Pre-testing chapters on platforms that allow for this can get you some great exposure, but using this strategy with an actual list of loyal subscribers is a far better way to tackle that particular marketing strategy.


Answered 7 years ago

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