Before I talk about Electric Eclectic in detail, lets set the layout of the indie publishing ground.
It is something like this….
I constantly hear writers say they are looking for new ways, or better ways, or alternative ways to market their books.
I also hear many authors saying they would like to find an effective way to promote their books without spending a fortune.
Not forgetting those who lament they never knew about a new initiative, or would have loved to be in at the beginning of… whatever it may be.
In this post, I shall offer you one of those alternative ways… and the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something special… read on, but only if this is the type of opportunity you would really like to grasp.
The general consensus it seems, is Facebook adverts don’t work; unless you are willing to give all your hard-earned cash to Mark Suckonaburger (to gain a small exposure to a limited number of people for a minimum amount of time and still have no guarantee anybody, outside of your regular social network, will actually see this paid for promotion.)
The same goes for the confusion which is Goodreads and the plethora of similar book/author/reader platforms such as (in my opinion) the expensive Library Thing. Authors Den tries hard but is much the same and just as confusing as Goodreads.
Of course, you can pay for people to ‘give away’ your books, there are plenty who are willing to freely distribute all those months of your hard work, not to mention the money you have invested for… well, more of your money.
They will use the old adage, the saying that a short-term investment (read loss) is a way of gaining new readers. You know the type who will take your free offer, one of those folks who ONLY read free books “because there are thousands of free books ‘out there’, so why do I need to pay for any?” type of folk.
Why then, should they suddenly have a change of heart and convert to actually paying to read someone’s creation because they see your book going for free?
It is NOT going to happen.
Books are perceived to be devalued when they are offered free.
If you ever do find a grand number of these folk, enough to create an income large enough to sustain an author’s life, please let me know, because no one else has achieved that, so you would be making groundbreaking world history.
Please do not get me wrong, I am not against people paying for marketing or promoting books. All I ask is you consider exactly what they can/are doing for you and what realistically you can expect as a return on your investment.
Try calculating the cost/return using this thought process:
Equate the cost/fee the person/company is asking, as a royalty return per-book. (after tax).
Calculate how many book sales that figure equals.
Note how long you have to achieve your target.
This will tell you how many paid for books you MUST sell to replace that spend. (Your break-even point for this promotion.) and how long you have to accomplish this.
Remember, this calculation does not take into account the amount of money you have already spent on getting the book published in the first place, such as cover design, formatting, editing, maybe printing costs and so on.
If you are looking for a return, or to achieve an income from your promotion and marketing, doing this simple calculation is a good way to judge the portent of such an investment.
You do the math.
You decide if its genuine value for money.
Now… to Electric Eclectic. (EE for short)
Because I often approaching marketing from a slightly different angle, some can find my concepts a little confusing or difficult to comprehend at first, even though I try to keep things a simple as possible.
What gives me the right to write this… and who am I anyway?
I spent several years working in marketing, primarily with the larger advertising agencies such as John Walter Thompson, BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi and so on. It was back when computer manufacturers had names like Sinclair, Dragon and Amstrad. Google was something to do with cricket, Windows were for looking through and cleaning, telephones had curly wires attaching them to the wall and programming used a language called Basic.
I now employ many of the principles learnt during my time in London, albeit updated and developed to work on social media, in the marketing of my own books. Doing so has served me well; I am a recipient of several literary awards and I am credited as an Amazon Bestselling Author.
Continuing with the development of my online marketing techniques, I have created a way for authors to earn royalties from their advertising while promoting their books.
I have branded this as Electric Eclectic.
You see, I know most, if not all writers have many short stories, part stories, old stories lingering in rarely accessed files. These stories are the ones they have not finished yet or are keeping to work on at a later date, (a date which never comes), or once used in a charitable anthology years ago. Some are little more than rough notes waiting to be developed, others unused cuts and edits from a previous novel.
No matter which or why they are there, most if not all writers have unused ‘stuff’ lingering around.
I have an idea how you can Moneytise these loitering tales.
At the same time authors are spending even more money, time and effort discounting and giving books away, ones they have worked so hard and so long writing. They are doing so in the rather vague hope of hooking the odd appreciative reader.
This is to me, like throwing the proverbial ‘shush’ at the fan. Sometimes called the shotgun or scattergun approach. Using a big unfocused blast in the hope we hit something.
More often than not, all that happens is we suffer splashback.
You must admit, it all looks and sounds a bit amateurish and silly when considered from this perspective.
So… what have I devised which makes any difference?
The answer is Electric Eclectic books.
It works like this; You (the author) digs out one of those old stories, one of your half-written, lingering, lost works, or you could write a new piece for Electric Eclectic books. It’s up to you.
The story is edited and formatted using EE guidelines, a cover produced under the same EE format, (working within the EE guidelines is of paramount importance) This results in the creation of an eBook between 6K and 20K words.
In other words, a Novelette.
By creating this book or books, (there are no limits to the number of EE books any author can produce, although two to three would be a good starting number.) using the Electric Eclectic branding, the book becomes an EE book.
The author pays a small, once only/lifetime fee, to licence the use of the EE brand for their book. (It is a franchise licence if you wish.)
The EE licence applies and is associated with the books ASIN. Therefore, each book requires its own EE licence.
(Sorry, but certain parts of the EE formatting and branding system can only be revealed to authors after the licence fee is paid. They will not be revealed here.)
The Author publishes their own book, under their own name on Kindle and any/all other sites they wish.
ALL rights remain with the author.
The author keeps all royalties.
As an EE author, you now benefit from the Electric Eclectic branding.
This means sharing in the exposure of all EE book promotions and marketing; the general ongoing brand marketing, the general promotions, even each individual title and author promotions helps the brands overall publicity. Not forgetting inclusion in online magazines and recommended book listings and the EE search page on Amazon.
The final part of the jigsaw is… when readers purchase an EE book, not only does the author receive the sales royalty (rather than paying to give their book away), but the readers are shown and directed towards the author’s other books and works directly by hyperlink.
To conclude; by using unused stories, re-published works etc. Electric Eclectic branding allows authors to earn from their stories which were previously just collecting dust. EE books link readers directly to your other books, greatly increasing potential sales of your prime works.
Increasing income, having a greater chance of sales and gaining new readers, saving money on marketing and reducing costs by not discounting or giving away your major books, makes publishing an Electric Eclectic book a win-win situation for all authors.
Electric Eclectic is a marketing brand designed for the promotion of indie-authored books.
Electric Eclectic is NOT a publisher.
Electric Eclectic do NOT take any royalties.
Authors are not contracted, leaving them unrestricted regarding other publishing options.
Would you like to join us?
Would you like to be one of the first Electric Eclectic authors?
Let us know your interest by emailing Electric Eclectic at EEbookbranding@mail.com
Ramblings from a Writer's Mind 