My Marketing Strategy for 2014...

My marketing strategy for 2014 is simple... I'm not going to have one. My promotional efforts will be about the same. You're probably like, "WHAT?!? That's insane! You're insane!"

Maybe you're right.

But let me explain... My first book WANTED: Dead or Undead was published in March of 2012 by Evolved Publishing, almost two years ago. Since then, I've published a total of six books. Pretty darn nice, if I do say so myself (and since it's my blog , I can and no one can stop me. wa-ha-ha). But here's the thing: I started out in this writing business in debt and two years later I'm still in debt. Everything I pay for--covers, marketing, bookmarks, giveaways--comes off my line of credit. *gasp* I know, I know. I can hardly believe it either. It sucks.

I have a separate account for all my writing business so I can write off any expenses on my taxes. This is how I know I'm in a writer's sink hole of no return (I added the "no return" since that's how I'm kind of feeling at the moment. Say it with an echo effect and you'll understand where I'm coming from... No return... return... return...).

I'm in a pretty harsh cycle--I get my royalty check, put it on my line of credit, then proceed to buy a blog tour or some other crazy marketing scheme that puts me right back in the hole once again. It needs to stop, so I'm stopping it. Period.

The one thing I've come to realize over the past two years of doing this is, which has led to this decision, is that whatever I tend to do--blog tour, Bookbub, ENT, giveaways, etc..-- is only temporary. That's all it is. I get a nice little bump in sells, but I haven't had that huge HIT that has put me ahead of the game. This is my story. I know others who've done very well, but apparently. I like to write books that no one likes to buy :) You can argue that my work must be crap then, but if reviews and awards are anything to judge by, then that isn't the case. So what is it? Why have I not had the financial success with my writing that I'm looking for?

I don't know. If I knew, I wouldn't be in this mess. What I do know, is that all of this chasing my tail it isn't working for me. I have to stop spending what I don't have. Seems pretty straight forward, right?

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Here's what I AM going to do in 2014, though: I'm going to concentrate on writing more books.

"What?" Sounds ludicrous, huh?

If I'm writing books that no one buys (or at least enough people to get me out of this sink hole), why write more? Simple--I love to write. That's the number one reason why I write anyway. I love it. Making some money at this would be nice too, but that's not my big motivator. So instead of wasting all my time trying to figure out how to get noticed in the HUGE world of amazing authors and writers, I'm not going to worry about it anymore. I'm brushing that weight off my shoulder.

I will write more (because I love it).
I will blog more (it's free).
I will facebook more (it's free)
and I will tweet (also free).
I may do some eBook giveaways (free as well), but that's where I'm limiting myself--at least for the next 3-6 months anyway.

That's my plan. It may not be a good one, but I can't keep doing what I am and expect different results.

Right now, I do have a giveaway going on (probably my last for awhile, so check it out HERE) and I'm also being hosted by Author Promotions today on a big 40+ author event where swag, books, gift cards, and even a Kindle Fire is being put up for prizes. You may want to join the event and check that out too. Just click HERE.

After these events, I'm pulling way back and concentrating on my writing. That's what I want to be doing anyway, and besides it's a lot more fun than figuring out what the next "big thing" is.

I've decided to listen to Reba (see quote above): I WILL work my butt off... just not in the same way I've been doing and I look forward to it. Here's to 2014!