Latest book, website changes, marketing, and freebies!

Posted on September 22, 2016 (Subscribe to Blog)

I have a lot going on in the background, some of which is boring technical stuff, but other bits you might find interesting. Since I'm not really sure what floats YOUR boat, I'll just have to bundle all these things together in this post. You can skip the parts that threaten to make your eyes glaze over. However, do pay attention to the freebie offer!

Gargoyle Scourge (Island of Fog Legacies #3)

Gargoyle Scourge (Island of Fog Legacies #3)

As the heading suggests, I'm well on my way with Book 3 of the Island of Fog Legacies series. I had such a great response to Book 2, Sinister Roots, that I was keen to get stuck in with the next one, Gargoyle Scourge. I'm already 30% through my first draft of this gargoyle-infested story, and the details of the plot are firmly set in stone (pun intended). You can see the cover here. I've literally just written a scene involving that weird winged creature, and I'm very happy with how that went.

More details about the story and the various characters in a month, by which time I should be well on my way to completion. I expect to publish early December.

Website Changes

In case you haven't noticed, I altered the look of my website a few weeks ago. I'm sort of trying it on for size, and I do expect a few more changes in the next week or two as I tweak things here and there. All this leads to the next topic...

Marketing and Promotion

Ugh. What a boring heading. Frankly, it's also a boring subject. I hate marketing and promotion. But the thing is, I feel like sales and interest in my books have waned slightly over the last year, and I want to kick things up a notch. This means changing my focus. Social media like Facebook is fine for talking to people who already follow me, but it's mostly worthless for generating new readers. Same with blogs. These posts are interesting to some and boring to others, and that's to be expected. The content does end up in the search engines, though, which is always a good thing... but that rarely brings in new readers.

What I need to do is focus more on my subscribers. That doesn't mean I'm about to send my mailing list a ton of unwanted spam. It just means I need to try and nudge more new readers to subscribe. I need to grow my mailing list. I need to have more of a connection with readers instead of just seeing a bunch of statistics.

Consider this: Island of Fog has been downloaded roughly 100,000 times since its publication. If even half of those had come along to my blog and subscribed, I'd have... well, 50,000 subscribers, if my math is correct. But no, somehow I missed the mark on that. I haven't been "aggressive" enough. I should have been a little cleverererer (is that a word?) about nudging those readers toward my blog and persuading them to sign up.

I've never liked spam, and I will do anything to avoid being a spammer. So if I ever sound too "spammy" and it makes you want to turn off, then I hope you'll tell me first. But it's only fair to warn y'all that I need to stoop just a little bit to the tactics employed by professionals, which is to offer freebies ("magnets") in the least spammy way possible. Hence my next subject...

Free Book!

FRACTURED

I recently added a "magnet" to the front and back of Island of Fog. It's basically a small ad offering a free book, in this case Fractured. The idea is that readers who download Island of Fog will have the chance to get ANOTHER free book if they follow the link, and that link takes them to a download page. All they have to do is supply their email address to subscribe. That email address is where I'll send the book. The entire process is very smooth and automated, and I think painless.

Of course, all those already on my mailing list deserve a free copy too. In fact, anyone reading this is welcome to download the book at any time. Just follow this link:

https://www.unearthlytales.com/free-fractured

Whether you're already on my mailing list or not doesn't matter. Just add (or overwrite/confirm) your email address, and you'll get the download link. You'll have a choice of MOBI format for Kindle, or EPUB format for Nook, Apple, Kobo, etc.

Going forward, I plan to give away other free books from time to time. But only to subscribers. So if you're coming across this page from Google or aren't sure your email address is in the system, subscribe now or click the freebie link above.

And finally...

A Question

If you're a subscriber and you receive my notifications when I update this blog, would you prefer to have the entire post printed in your email? Is that easier? Or do you prefer to click the link and read it online?

Comment by MONICA on Thursday, September 22, 2016...

Yay, for the new book! The cover looks AWESOME! As for the question, I don't really have a preference. Either way is fine with me. I know, not much help. Sorry. 😕

Comment by CHARLOTTE on Thursday, September 22, 2016...

I am happy to simply click the link. A lot of times that in itsself will send me wandering around your page for a while too lol

Comment by A READER (AND SUBSCRIBER!) on Thursday, September 22, 2016...

I like your email notifications how they are. They provide the first couple paragraphs of text of your post, and then I can click on the link at my pleasure.

Hope this helps!! :-)

Comment by VIVIEN on Friday, September 23, 2016...

Already read this Freeby & loved it. Looking forward to seeing what's next. Thanks for offering it. I like the current email notification format.

Comment by KEITH ROBINSON on Friday, September 23, 2016...

Thanks, all, for the comments so far! I've had email replies too, saying the same thing — plus one who said it makes more sense to receive the entire post in the email. I see the sense of that approach as well. I wonder if I might do both: have the first paragraph, then the "see the rest of this post" link to the blog... and then the rest of the post printed below! :-)

Comment by BRIAN B. on Friday, September 23, 2016...

Quite an achievement, Keith. Looks good. Sprog is on #3. Email- like your last option.

Comment by MELISSA B. on Friday, September 23, 2016...

LOVE your Fractured books!

I receive your post notification emails as well as follow you in my RSS reader (Feedly). If your email really grabs my attention then I don't mind clicking a link; sometimes it's enough to pique my interest and I'll make sure to read your entire post in my reader. In a nutshell, your current setup works for me!

Comment by GRAEME JENKS on Friday, September 23, 2016...

The new book cover looks awesome, can't wait for that. I have also read Fractured, a great story for any who haven't read it yet. Any plans for more visits from Quincy soon, That has slowly became my favourite set from your many books. I also like the current email notifications as they are but wouldn't mind what you suggested above. Hope it helps.

Comment by KEITH ROBINSON on Friday, September 23, 2016...

Ta muchly, Brian B!

Melissa, good to know someone's using an RSS feed reader. It seems like I haven't much about readers lately, but they're still going strong.

Graeme, it's nice to hear a mention of Quincy! Honestly, I love that book and wish it was a bit more prominent in sales. It was a challenge to write but very enjoyable. I do plan to write Quincy's Journey one day, but I'm not sure when. I just know I will.

Comment by ANONYMOUS on Thursday, October 6, 2016...

I can't wait for the book. I finished the second book in the series recently and was excited to hear that the next book was coming out soon. My answer to your question is what is easier for you. I don't mind either way

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