Well, at least I have some downloads of my sample

[erictimar]

I have not sold any copies on SW yet, but (remarkably?) 10 people have at least downloaded the sample, according to my dashboard. (Must be a tempting sample, eh? ) I wonder how people are finding their way to the listing -- any thoughts?

[Ted]

How long has your work been available? What marketing have you done?

[erictimar]

It was available on SW as of Oct. 13. I have it mentioned here on the 20,000+ thread; also I've mentioned it on Book Blogs (with not many views) and I've been running excerpts on Kindle Boards in the Book Bazaar. Plus my blog, but that has been low traffic lately.

[painmike]

I trust you have read the excellent marketing guides from Smashwords.
My statistics(not sales) took a little leap 1.Upon publishing when in front page 2. Posting into . It is the forum of The Book Revolution so be sure of the rules and read examples first.
Have you connected your blogs into your Twitter account?
I started blogging after years of denial, per marketing instructions of Smashwords; no success but the strategy is yet to be found and the point where instructions say 'you have this globe full of competitors' matters but only the moment you read it. The rest of the time you don't worry about the competitors but create your own. At least I wish it works for me

[erictimar]

Thanks painmike!

I do blog. I don't tweet. I'm checking out mobilereads.

[Ted]

Also checkout Linkedin. There are groups there which allow posting information about your ebooks, but like other forum/message boards it is best to gain recognition by posting help. I see a lot of authors just doing marketing and no contributing, which doesn't gain an audience for that author or his/her works. Marketing is a slow grind until your work becomes spread by word of mouth.

I'm on Goodreads and find it quite lively. I don't visit as much as I should, maybe two or three times a month nowadays.

I've sold few works on Smashwords itself, mainly because customers are already members of places like B&N, Kobo/Chapters, iTunes, etc. I believe customers research on Smashwords, do some previewing, then leave Smashwords and buy where their credit information is already known.

It's just a hunch, but I've had thousands of previews on Smashwords for my free works and only a few hundred actual downloads on Smashwords. Looking at sales data and Smashwords data I can see a correlation between previewing a free ebook on Smashwords and a download showing up at B&N or Apple or Kobo on those dates. The reason being that even to download a free work on Smashwords requires you to join and input credit info, which likely turns off some customers who then just go where they are already a member.

[chelsfield]

Hadn't realized that about the requirements set by Smashwords for downloading a free ebook. I guess, in terms of marketing, it's best to wait for wider distribution.

[Ted]

Nov 20, 2012 5:16:24 GMT -8 chelsfield said:

Hadn't realized that about the requirements set by Smashwords for downloading a free ebook. I guess, in terms of marketing, it's best to wait for wider distribution.

Same registration requirements for Apple, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other retailers when a visitor wants to download a free ebook.

[chelsfield]

Hmm, but as you say usually people will already have registered with one of those retailers becasue they have the related devices.

I understand the reasons behind SW registration. It just hadn't occured to me, so I haven't mentioned it to people when passing around the link.

[jenniferp]

Well, that and some people genuinely think that they can't put books on their Kindle from anyone but Amazon, and likely there are Nook and Kobo users who have the same false impression.