Hi everybody --

Up until recently, everything that I've written has been non-fiction. I had an easy time promoting my first book on hip replacement because it had a niche audience.

My second book is a novel about two women who are about to turn 40. One of them goes missing and the other launches a massive search to find her friend. I have listed this book on numerous search engines with a variety of keywords; have cross-linked it to at least eight similar web sites; have talked about it in various author forums; and have encouraged my friends to talk about the book via word-of-mouth and e-mail. I sent out press releases to the local newspapers, and asked several online women's magazines if they would review the book.

So far, I am getting some traffic to my web site but no one is buying the book unless they know me. I wondered if people could make suggestions about how to market and promote fiction. I'm really finding it so much harder than non-fiction.

Vicki, I've read a number of the articles on your wonderful web site and they have been very helpful. But many seem to apply more to authors who have published with traditional companies. I have self-published this book. So far, I have not decided if I'm going to put it on Amazon or in the bookstores because the profits to me will be so negligible. I would really like to sell the book off my web site and through the Lulu site where it is cheaper to buy than on Amazon. But what I need to do is drive people to one of those two sites.

Thanks a lot. Sigrid

[ May 27, 2005, 09:13 PM: Message edited by: Sigrid Macdonald ]