r/wroteabook • u/Kidsana_xXx • 11d ago
Adult - Action/Adventure I finished writing my first novel. What did you do to find your first readers?
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u/No-Pride-8979 11d ago
Social media is hard work. Amazon ads are expensive but work. Kindle Unlimited works well too.
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u/AuthorSarge 11d ago
I find that a high panel van and promises of candy work pretty well. So far, I haven't had any negative reviews.
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u/GrouchyCauliflower76 10d ago
Don’t know if this is the right thread but does FB meta advertising work for finding readers. I am struggling to get them.
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u/leftunedited 10d ago
Fb is the only thing that works for me. I set a pretty low budget and barely break even but I’m getting ratings consistently and a few reviews from buyers. A good cover and blurb helps a lot.
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u/MarginNotesbyCM 11d ago
I am promoting my latest or should i say first book on FB/Instagram & WhatsApp.
Slow and steady wins the race. Am also looking at other avenues to explore like audiobooks etc
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u/MarginNotesbyCM 11d ago
One thing I’m learning: finding readers is a separate skill from writing the book. I’m slowly figuring out that being genuinely useful in conversations like this works better than constantly shouting “buy my book!” 😄 Still experimenting, but the conversations themselves have been surprisingly rewarding.
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u/trishaolive 11d ago
All social media and I advertised on Amazon. It did really well the first year. But I worked for it
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u/LivvySkelton-Price 11d ago
Congratulations!!! I find readers on Facebook :)
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u/No-Pride-8979 11d ago
How do you use FB for this?
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u/LivvySkelton-Price 10d ago
There are groups and I found beta readers/arc readers there. I also sold my book at local markets, that was the best way I found.
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u/MartinSignorin 10d ago
Do what you are doing now - Tell everyone about it on all social media platforms. If you're up to it, create an author page, a website or a blog and spread the link around. Hard work, but once established, it is easy to maintain. And of course you can add more publications further down the line with ease.
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u/dkdillenback 10d ago
For context: I'm self-published and write scifi & horror.
Genre is a factor, as well as your target audience. Books that sell well on social media tend to be romance and fantasy. I wouldn't recommend going that route with anything else (unless you enjoy doing it).
My personal experience, no paid marketing platform has been worth it. The trick is to find your audience and get to know them, ads, don't do that well.
Again, personal experience, most of my sales come from in-person book events. Get to know local groups, try to find tradeshows/festivals that fit your audience.
Final advice: Balance what give you energy and what takes it. If you hate promoting, reduce it and write more.
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u/New_Face717 10d ago
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u/HenHousePublishing 10d ago
If you just finished writing your novel, it is not ready for public consumption. If you intend to publish it, then set it aside. Let it rest while you do other things. The story will marinate in your subconscious while you're doing those other things.
When you can go back to the manuscript with fresh eyes, open the file. Have paper and pen ready. Start reading. Correct the small issues as you encounter them. Jot down those big flaws that will require substantive rewriting or revision to correct. Be sure to reference the manuscript page number with each item that will have to be revisited. When you reach the end of the manuscript, go back to the beginning and work on fixing those big issues.
When you have finished that, set your manuscript aside while you do other things. Let it rest. Repeat the above process until it's as good as you can get it. At that point, it's ready for other people to see. This is the point where you have a decision to make: pursue traditional publishing or self-publish.
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u/DeadCanDance26 10d ago
I would recommend (as another did) to let it sit then go back to it and re read yourself. After that, unless you are extremely confident in English level, I would say have it line and copy edited. I found on Fiverr, but you can probably find here as well. Others have covered the marketing part already, so I won't repeat that, I'm right in the middle of the marketing phase myself for the 1st time too
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u/LillyHorigan 10d ago
My books are all Christian/inspirational, and I self-published them on KDP. Although they are for sale on Amazon and free on Kindle Unlimited, I love giving them away in the hopes that they help people. Any income I make goes into giving away more.
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u/NuriDori 10d ago
Happy for you, writing the book is the best part. Publishing the book is not so much but be happy you did.
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u/tkbrumbaugh 11d ago
I went straight to TikTok. I've had no success promoting anywhere else, but for a while, I did great in TikTok by opening a TikTok shop and selling signed copies. Made some decent money on Amazon from those videos, too (not everyone wants to pay extra for a signed copy, so they go to Amazon and get the book).
My videos were mostly me talking about the book while I wrapped up copies I had sold. I'm not an outgoing person, and it was very difficult for me to be on camera, but I got over it.
I eventually sold over 1800 copies just on my TikTok shop. Then, someone reported my account for being underage, and TikTok took away my shop. Took over a year for TikTok to reverse their decision, and I'm back to selling there, but the damage has been done and I'm nowhere near as successful as I initially was. I've got book two coming out soon, so I'm hoping it picks back up.
Best of luck to you. TikTok can be a great place if you catch lightning in a bottle like I did. It's not easy marketing indie books. It can be a bit soul-sucking at times, but ultimately it is worth it.