The Long Tail of Book Marketing

A Literal Literary Loser Looks Longingly

On May 1, I explained why I was done with paid ads to sell books.

On May 29, I accounted how I sold more books NOT paying for promo.

This May, I participated in a 5 x 5 promo with four other authors where we each gave away a book a day for a week, in my case, “Murder on Ice,” the first in my Figure Skating Mystery Series, and promoted each other round-robin style. In addition, my Regency Romance, “The Fictitious Marquis,” got a spontaneous (i.e. unpaid) shout-out in two on-line publications (in connection with “Bridgerton’s” third season).

This explains why sales spiked for both in May. But did the long-tail effects last beyond the initial promotion? Let’s take a look!

In June 2024, I sold:

• 5 copies of “The Fictitious Marquis”

• 2 copies of “Murder on Ice”

• 1 copy of “The Figure Skating Mystery Series”

But, as an added bonus, I also sold:

• 3 copies of my contemporary romance, “Annie’s Wild Ride”

• 1 copy of my contemporary romance, “When a Man Loves a Woman”

• 1 copy of my Regency Romance, “Thieves at Heart”

• 1120 page reads of “Murder on Ice”

• 465 page reads of Book #2, “On Thin Ice”

• 311 page reads of Book #3, “Axel of Evil”

• 316 page reads of Book #4, “Death Drop”

• 128 page reads of Book #5, “Skate Crime”

Is this enough to retire on?

No, it is not. (But my fiction has never been my profit driver. That honor goes to my two non-fiction books, “Getting Into NYC Kindergarten” and “Getting Into NYC High School.”)

But is it considerably more than average? Absolutely!

There is no doubt that both the 5x5 giveaway and the media mentions drove sales not only in the initial few days but in the longer term.

And they both did it much better than any ad I have ever paid for!

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Speaking of free promotion, more of me talking about other authors’ books: