Kategorie: Book Marketing
10 Questions to… Christopher Hoare
We are starting a new project on the blog. The goal of ’10 Questions to…’ is to present promising authors who have chosen to self-publish their books. Our first guest is Christopher Hoare, the author of Visiting Pemberly
About Christopher Hoare
I live with my wife, Shirley, and two shelter dogs, Coco and Emmie, in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. As a lad I lived, breathed, and dreamed aeroplanes; I won a place at RAE Farnborough learning to engineer them. But the reality didn’t fit my dream, so I took off into a stint in the army and then away to join the oil circus. Flying objects are tools when they now appear in my writing. I guess that’s the effect of maturity, but I hope, not a constricted, resigned, and unimaginative maturity. The mind still soars, even without wings, and the dream of carrying others to a better future is now on the page.
1. What attracted you to self-publishing?
In this instance I wanted to release a time sensitive novella—honouring the 200th anniversary of the publishing of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”. I had no time to wait for decisions from any publisher and XinXii allowed me to have “Visiting Pemberly” running properly within a few days. I expect to use XinXii again to self publish a work that I have recovered the rights to, and feel sure their site will enable me to keep a close control on the new version.
2.What does it mean to you to be an indie-author?
All my prior publications have been with indies…by which I mean small independent publishers. Since over 99% of writers are effectively ‘on their own’ I feel a certain kinship with all of us paddling our own canoes.
3. What are the stumbling blocks on the road to success as an author?
There are many. Perhaps the earliest problem to strike can be called ‘hurry syndrome’ where a new writer is in such a hurry to place their words before readers that they do not have the control over their writing that professionals develop. They neglect to heed good advice about their work and do not take the trouble to have it edited. As a result they have crashed into the venture with something that will only retard their future prospects and give themselves a reputation as being amateurish and unreadable.
4. Have you tried other forms of publishing?
I have previously been published by two royalty paying e-book publishers and have just been contracted by an indie with a strong literary reputation. With care, one can gradually attain better representation as one writes, but it takes time. In my case, 7 years and 6 published novels.
5. How did you learn about XinXii?
A fellow member in a professional writing association sent me a link to see the novellas he had just published with XinXii.
6. What marketing tools do you use to promote your eBooks?
I have used most avenues, from blogs, to blog tours, twitter, to reviewing, and to convention going. Most have been too hard to evaluate, but the promotion I used with XinXii was evaluated promptly because visitor and sales numbers are available online within days.
7.Do you have some tips for fellow indie-authors?
Never publish without working to ensure your project is as excellent in quality as can be humanly achieved. Write diligently and daily until you have amassed a million words and then throw them away to start afresh from the level you have achieved.
8.You are on a lonely island with a solar charger. What eBooks would you have on your eReader?
Since a writer must work on craft above enjoying the reading experience I would probably have the works of fellow critique partners as most of the eBoooks to crit; since one must never neglect one’s own daily writing, there would be work in progress of my own; and then I would need other recent titles in the genre I am working in.
9. Which author would like to have dinner with?
I think it would be a toss up between Jane Austen, J.R.R Tolkien, and Isaac Asimov. But really, only one dinner date? One would want to engage the chosen one for a year.
10. What are your future projects?
I have one SF novel that has been with an indie publisher for a year—if they decide against it I will self publish. My current contract is for something I have not done before—I call it a Regency romance steampunk because I depict a Regency world where steam developments have advanced more than in the real world—and then I have plotted it around the conventions of the Regency marriage mart for a protagonist who must decide between three eligible bachelors.
Christopher Hoare’s Author Page on XinXii:
Christopher Hoare’s blog:
Christopher Hoare on Facebook:
Christopher Hoare on Twitter:
Win new readers and true fans with coupon codes!
Authors, who sell their eBooks on XinXii, can offer them as an exclusive free download. Readers who are interested in the book enter the code when they check out and download it immediately without having to pay for it.
The generation of coupon codes is easy:
1. Click on the Coupon Manager in the user section “My XinXii”
2. Generate the code
3. Determine the period of the campaign and the number of downloads
4. Ready
When you have generated a coupon code you can additionally edit the information and view the number of the redeemed coupons.
The new feature opens new possibilities for book marketing
We all know the impact of coupon codes from personal experience: to receive something at a reduced price or (in contrast to other customers) for free has its own appeal and seduces us to give it a try. It works even more when the validity of the promotional offer is limited… Every author can use the new tool for book marketing: a coupon code is an unobtrusive marketing instrument to promote your book!
A coupon code achieves its aim when as many people as possible learn about it and redeem it. Not a single opportunity for its application should be missed:
Coupon codes for reviewers
There are bloggers that would exclusively designate a place for your book on their blogs. They present authors as well as publish interviews and reviews. We recommend that indie authors should contact them, introduce themselves and enclose a “XinXii coupon code” with the request for a review of the book. There are already such blogs in the USA, for instance IndieReader, Two Ends of a Pen or The IndieView, which are specialized in indie literature – we would be happy if there is a similar support on the blogger scene in Europe. There is a huge pool of undiscovered perls on XinXii which could be downloaded for free and reviewed through coupon codes. Our new tool gives a further reason for reviewers to register on XinXii, so they can find in their inboxes coupon codes from independent authors as of now 
eBook as a prize for a competition or give-away
Many bloggers advertise competitions. This is a great opportunity to offer your book as a prize! The authors could also start a campaign on their blogs offering the eBook as a free download for a limited time – so to speak as a special “freebie” for true fans. It is also possible to find bloggers in your circle of friends and acquaintances who would support the initiative. They could write an article about the eBook and publish the coupon code – adding a friendly request for a review.
Promotion campaign on forums
Book lovers rejoice at every tip! There are eBook communities and forums, for instance MobileRead, Kindle Boards, Nook Boards, E-Reader Forum, Lettern.de, Literatina.de or versalia.de, where advertising your own products is not only allowed but also desirable. Our tip: post a short description of your eBook and submit the coupon code for a free download on XinXii – with the hint that it is a limited time offer. Forums are ideal to place your book in the spotlight through the exclusive free downloads!
Entry on coupon sites
According to the study eBooks and eReader – purchase and use in Germany 2011/12 conducted by the University of Hamburg nearly every fourth reader has already read an eBook, while 9% of the people use free eBooks and samples. Coupon sites are another ideal place to reach the bargain-hunters among the eBook readers and suggest a free of charge eBook.
Self-advertising
… for example using your email signature and Facebook, Twitter and XING. You should not do more than just share the link to your eBook on XinXii together with the coupon code.
An additional stimulus for redeeming besides the short book description is the book cover – an eyecatcher always makes people curious.
When the eBook is free of charge: time is money – energy and creativity should be applied in order to persuade as many people as possible to read and review the eBook. When many people download and read – and every reader writes a review on XinXii or a blog article, the aim of the promotion campaign is reached!
Have fun sending your coupon codes – or redeeming them and discovering yet undiscovered indie literature!
Those experienced in self marketing are more than welcomed to add suggestions and tips as a comment. Thank you!
XinXii is on Pinterest: A picture says more than 1000 words…
A brilliant and at the same time nice platform, which was chosen among the TIMES’ 50 best websites for 2011, now develops fast:
Pinterest is a social network in which the user can post pictures with description on a virtual pinboard. The aim is to exchange information about hobbies and interests: when you like a certain picture, you can post it on your own pinboard (‘repin’). And this is the way how photos of tasty dishes would be pinned on the recipe together with a link, trendy clothes would be posted together with the buying source, decor tips or great ideas for planning your wedding would be also shared. Or you can just look at the pnboards of others and get inspired…
We have nice book covers, good eBooks and interesting indie authors,which we discover every day, and we would like to share them with you with great pleasure. The platform is famous in the USA for a long time now, it is quite new in Germany. In this respect, we have just started our Pinterest page in German although the service itself is predominantly in English. And this is how our page looks like:
In order to sign up for Pinterest, you (still) need an invitation. When you request access by yourself, you should wait on a waiting list. When you have already received an invitation from a registered user, then you can start using the service immediately. When you want to receive an invitation from us, just like XinXii on Facebook and inform us by posting a request in the comments. It is worth it, Pinterest is fun: You can create as many pinboards as you want, order them by preference and arrange them by topic-in this way you can retain the overview for yourself as well as discover the ones of the other users by using the search function.
There are many popular services that you can find online. The fact that photo based services like Instagram would enjoy more popularity made us curious. Foodspotting, for example, is a location based App where you can make and upload photos of food in restaurants- and thus recommend a certain dish and the “corresponding” restaurant. We would like to test the concept of “photo-sharing” for books.
Pinterest for book marketing?
When we dicover a great book cover on XinXii, then we pin it immediately on Book Cover – for inspiration of indie authors. { When you like a cover online, which does not belong to an eBook on XinXii, we would not ignore it 
Indie Authors, who use XinXii for distribution of their eBooks, can be found on Self-Publishing, Bookmarketing pinboard. The name program is on the pinboard XinXii Bestsellers. On other pinboards such as Kids eBooks, we pin recommended eBooks and make an attempt to address potential readers. But of course, only when the author has uploaded a book cover on XinXii! Pinterest makes it clear that an attractive cover does not harm. And on Nothing but about writing, we gather inspiration and motivation for authors.
Authors can jump off and create a pinboard for their book – and share some photos: book cover, their own photos, a reading, the author’s page on XinXii…
Last but not least, Pinterest offers the possibility to express visually the philosophy of XinXii – namely, to support the indie authors when writing, publishing and marketing their books. When you have nice photos or wishes for pinboards, let us know!
And now we wish you “Happy Pinning” and
Our new distribution channel: Amazon Kindle eBook Store
You know it already: We are broadening our distribution channels, so your eBook would reach as many potential readers as possible all over the world. From today on, we are offering the additional possibility to publish your eBooks on the Amazon’s Kindle eBook store-apart from Apple’s iBookstore and Casa del Libro. The distribution through XinXii and the conversion to a mobile format is again for free.
Here also applies the following: We gladly publish your eBook on Amazon when it:
- is available through ISBN
- has a cover, title and the author is mentioned
Amazon Kindle eBook store offers over one million eBooks, newspapers,magazines and blogs. This is an incredible opportunity for your eBook to reach a wider audience!
How to self-publish eBook on XinXii
If there’s a book you really want to read,
but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.
~Toni Morrison
Want to publish your eBook but do not know where to start from? XinXii is an online platform that gives you the possibility to publish your works with a simple click: At XinXii, you just upload your eBook, and put it up for sale. Getting your eBook ready for sale just takes some minutes! There is no charge to put your eBook up on XinXii, and you will have access to a readership avid for new titles, topics and information to read on their devices. It is truly amazing to share your thoughts with the world so easily!
You start by registering yourself as an author at the XinXii site, where you will be able to add a new title. If you are an American author, you do not have to give your tax identification number. You just need to give your name and address.
If you register at XinXii, you are obligated to provide true, exact, current and complete information. But you are free to publish under your pseudonym or pen name. By the way: On XinXii, you just need to open one single XinXii account to manage multiple pen names or to publish eBooks in different languages!
You are now on the road to publishing your piece of writing on XinXii. Once you have signed in, publishing an eBook on XinXii is a one step process! You click the “Publish” tab…
… and start entering the basic details about your eBook – category, title, description, cover image, search keywords, author name, the language in which the book is written, sales price etc. The lowest price you can set is .99 cents, and the royalties offered are 70% of net sales for works with a price greater than $2.49 / £1.59, and 40% of net sales for works with a price at or between $0.99 and $2.48 / £0.89 and £1.5870% or 40% – to all publishers in all territories. Set your price accordingly to which royalty you want to receive. The decision what to put in these fields is entirely yours!
After having fixed the sales price, you upload the file. XinXii accepts a wide range of file formats, including doc, mobi, ePub, PDF, Excel, PowerPoint and even mp3.
Your eBook is available on the XinXii marketplace instantly after your upload, but you will be able to correct any errors you find in presentation or format, and you have the possibility to remove your work from the XinXii eStore at any point you decide to do so.
You will now need to market the eBook heavily, and for help with this, visit the XinXii “Book Marketing”-section, where you will find lots of marketing advice – and a supportive community on our Facebook-Page.
You can start publishing and selling your written works today!
PS: On XinXii, each author can choose the currency, in which he wants to manage his XinXii-account (that means the currency in which sales prices are settled and transactions of revenues are made). So if you select USD, you will be paid by us in USD (w/o conversion).
