How to promote a book of fiction?

Keith Tanner said:

Snowdoggie said:

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

One of the recommended books on Burt's site that I would like to read is The Stainless Steel Carrot. I have been wanting to read it for years but it is always sold out at the author's site and the current price on Amazon is $307. Why are these books so scarce? This is one I will probably never get to read.

Because it costs a lot of money to get a press rolling and very little to keep it rolling. So if stock has run out, there has to be a demonstrated demand to replenish it. Throw in a book that was not created digitally and there may be difficulties in finding the films or even having to lay it out again - which also means that print on demand isn't really an option without a significant investment. And let's not get into who currently owns the copyright on a 50 year old book. One of my books is out of print and was selling for silly money for a while there, and trying to reclaim copyright and get it into digital form so I could sell it myself was enough of a pain that I never bothered. That's a book that was published in 2006 (I think) and was just before ebooks really took hold. Hmm, maybe I did get the copyright back. I should check.

I have a collection of rare/out of print motorsports books. The value of some of them is a little frightening, but the information inside just isn't on the internet.

 

Just bought a copy of the Stainless Steel Carrot for $40 on e-bay. Meanwhile, the one listed on Amazon has been bumped up to $347. It really makes me wonder about Amazon. 

Keith, is your sister-in-laws book called 2020 by any chance?

I'm not sure if that's a joke about 2020 being post-apocalyptic (I would say it's more inter-apocalyptic) but no. It's called Heroan.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

It was supposed to be a joke.

Amazon prices on books not sold directly by them are totally random. I have some vendors showing MY books for sale for more than Amazon's/my price. And I seriously doubt the vendor has actually bought a copy to resell; pretty sure it is on speculation.

Out of print books can show absurd prices. I've bought a few non-fiction works on Ebay for less than their original list price while Amazon vintage book sellers are asking hundreds for the same edition. It's a case of "If someone is dumb enough to pay us this price we'll take their money".

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I'm still in progress with the read. There are a couple of 'head scratchers' that may be revealed as the book (or series continues / the world is further explained. 

It's a compelling story, has a strong female protagonist, comes across as libertarian / pro freedom / "Firefly"-like without getting preachy. The wolf reminds me of some of Dean Koontz' canine characters, 

Right now she's headed eastwards toward home and sharing some backstory about her family, if that gives you an idea how far in I am.

I would be excited to proofread the next installments!

I read a good amount of sci-fi fiction, and much of that comes through Overdrive connecting with my local library.  I've found more than a few authors that I like, but the full series is not available so I end up buying the books on amazon or other sources.  Once there are more books, she might look into how to get herself digitally listed in the library system.

I have another friend that is now getting publishing deals, he self published a couple of books before getting a contract with a publishing company.  He is active on social media and before lockdown did attend some conventions to help promote and make industry connections.

Just finished tonight. There were a couple things that seemed weird in the timeline, but were explained within a chapter. 

And one spelling /autocorrect error that bugged the snot out of me (discrete instead of discreet). It stood out, because i didn't notice any others  :)

Definitely would like to get in contact with the author and am willing to proofread, etc as I said. 

I know the error you mean :) I'll drop her a line about your offer. And thanks to everyone who chimed in!

Maybe try and get someone in the Gizmodo/io9 family to review it.

Hey GRM people! A message from the author in question!

I just wanted to follow up and thank you for reaching out to your contacts for advice on publishing. Thanks to your/their suggestions, I have a much better launch plan for book 2. If you could, would you please thank your folks for me? I really appreciate all the help. Have a great week!

ddavidv said:

Amazon prices on books not sold directly by them are totally random. I have some vendors showing MY books for sale for more than Amazon's/my price. And I seriously doubt the vendor has actually bought a copy to resell; pretty sure it is on speculation.

Out of print books can show absurd prices. I've bought a few non-fiction works on Ebay for less than their original list price while Amazon vintage book sellers are asking hundreds for the same edition. It's a case of "If someone is dumb enough to pay us this price we'll take their money".

I've heard a very convincing argument that books/antique/etc. sales on Amazon or Ebay are often just money laundering fronts.  You can find common text books with a listing for like $8,500 all over, although it seems that Amazon at least are getting better at weeding out some of them.  Generally they try to focus on the more obscure text-bookey kinda things because who really wants to search for & purchase a three-versions-out-of-date version of Algebra II?

Snowdoggie said:

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

One of the recommended books on Burt's site that I would like to read is The Stainless Steel Carrot. I have been wanting to read it for years but it is always sold out at the author's site and the current price on Amazon is $307. Why are these books so scarce? This is one I will probably never get to read.

Wow.  I just bought a copy of this on Amazon last month  for $56 + shipping.

i finished reading it. Maybe I should offer it for sale on GRM and triple my money.