Musings on Marketing - and a Bargain or Two

Special offers are like buses. You wait for weeks (or sometimes months) and then two come along at once. 

As it happens, I have two special offers on at the same time this weekend, not through any inspired marketing but purely through my own lack of organisation. They’re both linked to something to celebrate (in my view, anyway) and one of them, at least, is out of my hands and probably all the better for that; but hey, here they are. 

First up, my own. After Eden, the second book in my self-published Dangerous Friends series goes on sale in June — and I have a gorgeous cover for it. (see left) It seems a good enough cause for celebration, so I thought I’d reduce the first book, Blank Space, along with it. So — you can pick up Blank Space for just 99p or 99c until Tuesday. (Try it. You might enjoy it.)

Meanwhile, in a rather more organised world, my publishers, Tirgearr, were approaching their fifth anniversary. Tirgearr is a great place to be, a small epublisher with some print runs, friendly, approachable and fun. And they like a party. So there’s a birthday bash on there at the moment. There’s a free-to-enter competition with prizes of print and e-books and a Kindle Fire. 

Participating authors have nominated a book to be reduced to 99p/99c. My book is Thank You For The Music, which has a special place in my heart as my first published book. I’ll always be grateful to Tirgearr for taking me on with it. And this birthday bash also goes on until the Tuesday (8 March).

Of course, the free/cheap books argument is a tricky one for many authors and readers. In many — most — cases, the full price of a book that lasts as long as you want and can be read and reread as often as you want is less than a cup of coffee and a cake that are gone in half an hour. That’s not a huge amount, and giving books away for nothing or charging only pennies for them on a permanent basis is (it’s argued) devaluing the enormous effort that authors put in to them. But readers are used to free and cheap books, so why not reduce them?

I never say never, but I don’t plan to make my books permanently free — I’ve put too much time and effort in to them for that. In the meantime, who doesn’t like a bargain? When all the March madness has died down, the books go back to normal price. Grab ‘em while you can!