Jeff Bennington – Goodreads, Kindlenation and Blog Tour Promotion
Jeff Bennington is an author residing in Central Indiana. He has had many occupations over the years including working on an assembly line, teaching Sunday school and installing HVAC units. He has also run his own business.
An occasional runner and a lifelong drummer, he has continued to write and is now the author of Reunion, an Amazon Bestseller, Twisted Vengeance and Creepy: A collection of scary stories.
Jeff Blogs weekly at The Writing Bomb, is the founder of The Kindle Book Review and is also the author of the recently released, The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe. In this interview, Jeff spoke about how he became a writer and some of the ways that writers can promote themselves.
Darrell - What made you become a writer?
Jeff - Time. Life happened for thirty-five years. When I finally decided to do something I enjoyed and that I was good at, writing was at the top of the list. For once, a career decision had nothing to do with money, security or benefits. Writing, to my way of thinking, has nothing to do with 'want'. It's all about 'have to'. Once you start, you can't stop because it's an addiction. I've written 4 1/2 novels, 1 non-fiction and 1 short story since 2007 and I'm just getting started.
Darrell - Can you describe a typical day of writing?
Jeff - Sure. I wake up around noon, write about an hour, go for a walk, shower, have coffee, meet my buddies for a round of golf. Then I come home, write another hour or two and then go out drinking the rest of the day.
Do you believe that? I hope not.
I do write at night though. I work a fireman type schedule, long hours but fewer days. When I'm not working, I'll get in anywhere from 500-2000 words a night unless I'm editing. I write late into morning and listen to rock music, AC/DC, Journey, Dave Mathews Band or a sampling of a thunderstorm, depending on my mood. We also homeschool our four children, so when I'm not writing, we're pretty busy educating those little zombies!
Darrell - You wrote a couple of novels prior to REUNION. What was wrong with those first attempts that made you say, "I'm not ready yet"?
Jeff - Well, I didn't actually say that. I thought I was ready but in truth, I wasn't. And that's a common mistake for folks who decide, "I'm going to write a book." What they should say is, "I should figure out what it takes to write a book well."
I jumped in sight unseen, and as one of my early reviewers of Killing the Giants so boldly said, "POOR WRITING SKILLS!" The reviewer didn't exactly say it with caps and an exclamation point, but that's how it feels when the stark reality of where you are as an author smacks you in the face. Those were the most valuable words anyone could have said to me. They hurt, but they changed me. Those words turned me around and caused me to start a serious study of the craft that I still continue today. In fact, I'm currently reading, The Break Out Novel by Donald Maass, and On Writing Horror by The Horror Writer's Association simultaneously while editing my latest work, Twisted Vengeance.
Darrell - I know you've been on a "Blog Tour". How did you arrange this and was it successful for promoting your work?
Jeff - Ah, the question bloggers are asking me left and right. How I arranged it will take up too much time. It was a huge undertaking that absorbed about 140 hours of my time. If you want to know if it was successful, the short answer is "Yes. I think so." The long answer is an entirely seperate blog post. I've written an article about my 45-day blog tour and it is currently posted at two blogs and scheduled to post at three other blogs soon. And that demonstrates the power of a blog tour and how it can build your platform and credibility as an author. The fact that you contacted me for an interview is further evidence of the power of blog touring.
Did the blog tour promote my work? Yes. But those numbers are hard to measure because REUNION has been added to many reader's "To be read lists" which will bring sales in time, not necessarily immediately. I'll put it this way, I sold 500 copies of Killing the Giants between 2009 and 2011 without any idea what I was doing. I published REUNION on April 15 of 2011 and I've already sold more than that with continued sales ranging from 1-10 everyday, which isn't a huge deal, but it's far better than my previous results. Until I built my blog tour, I had very little platform and I didn't know any book bloggers or reviewers. That has all changed.
[Nine months later, Reunion hit #55 in Amazon's US Top 100 and #16 in Amazon's UK Top 100. His other titles, Creepy and Twisted Vengeance have also made it into Amazon category best seller lists and are holding their ground.]
Darrell - What other ways can writers best promote themselves?
Jeff - From my experience, there are a few good ways to promote your book. However, every author has to approach this differently based on their genre and subject matter. The best promotion for me has come from the following:
#1 Goodreads.com: Goodreads "giveaways" are an incredible tool to publicize your book. I also like what my ad on Goodreads is doing. The thing with Goodreads is not how many clicks or sales you get, but how many folks "add" your book. When they do that, they are more or less planning on buying your book when they get to it, and they will, because most readers on Goodreads are avid readers and love talking about what they read, so they will also rate and review your book, which is another benefit of that site. Right now, Goodreads isn't doing anything for me.
#2 Blog: If you don't have a blog or you're afraid of starting one or you think it's too much work, then plan on writing your book soley for your mother to enjoy because blogging is only the beginning of what it takes to market your book...and it's the easiest. It'll only get harder and more expensive from there. My blog has by far been my greatest tool for growing my audience and author circle.
#3 Kindlenation.com: This is a very good site but you'll have to plan months in advance to run an ad, although it will definitely make your money back and more because they have a lot of readers who buy what they advertise. Programs run from $119 to $349. Reaches from 7,500 to 15,000 opt-in readers.
#4 Twitter, Facebook, email lists; These are the most obvious and basic starting points. I'll put it this way, I got all 4 of my book blurbs through Twitter connections, two of which are bestselling authors. If you can get that elsewhere, go for it. Basically, you have to tell your social marketing pals about your book. And...you have to share their work. If you blast your friends and followers with your personal spam, they will retweet and share less and less. Share what they are doing and chat with them and you'll notice a marked difference in how receptive they are to spreading the word about your work. I've experimented with this and I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that cross promotion helps.
#5 DigitalBookToday.com: is a great site for free and paid promotion, but I've heard that Ereaderdaily.com is a good sight to advertise on. This program is $25 a day. Emails will reach about 10,000 book readers who have opted in.
#6 Blog Tour: Plan for a lot of work. It can be nearly free, but will be the most time consuming. However, if your book sucks, I think a blog tour can backfire. I'm just sayin'. If you go this route, you better get your book professionally edited and proofed and have a great cover and good formatting because that's what book bloggers and reviewers expect.
Darrell - What do you think is the "secret of success" for someone trying to succeed as an author?
Jeff - That's easy. Endurance. Practice. Study. Practice. Relationships. Practice. Time. Books. Shelf space. Practice. Thick skin. Humility. Desire. Practice.
The truth is, writing is not what beginners think. It's very hard! If you want to be a successful writer, as if I am, you can't be anything else. You might have a job. You might have children. You might work as an orthodontist. But if you want to be a successful writer, you have to /be/ a writer. That will become your identity. You will read to be a better writer. You will write to perfect your craft. You will talk about writing. And you will blog about it. It will consume you like a wave swelling, foaming at the breaking point, devouring you. And when the waters rain over you and wash you to shore, sand in your shorts and all, you'll know that you are a writer.
Important Links:
Here are the links to his titles on Amazon:
And his websites:
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