A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I intended to publish some of my short stories on Amazon. Some are previously published on literary magazines, some are not. I was hoping to start my career in self publishing with a science fiction short story I wrote a while ago, but it’s still under consideration (I submitted it around last Christmas) and it seems it won’t be reviewed for at least a few more months. Last time the magazine updated their twitter status as well as their online tracker, they were still reviewing submissions from August 2016 and there are about 500+ submissions before mine. So, I guess I’ll start with another story instead.
Which brings me to my question: would you like to see the cover for the story before I hit the publish button? I know cover reveals are usually for novels rather than short stories, but I’m learning things as I go along about Amazon and self publishing, and I don’t know if revealing a cover for a short story is something people would like to see. However, I’d like to know what you think. In the meantime, I’ll start creating some advertising images about it on Pinterest (you can follow me or any of my boards here) and see if I can
generate some traffic and hype. Because, you know, marketing demands it.
I’ll be honest with you, it’s moments like this that the dreaded beast of Marketing rears its ugly head. In all my academic years (and they were plenty), Marketing was the only subject I failed and had to resit the exam during the summer. Its concepts simply eluded me at the time, and, quite honestly, I doubt it will be any different now. I hoped I’d never ever have to hear the word Marketing again. Bet that beast is having the laugh of a life time right now, huh?
Today also marks the anniversary of my first story that got accepted for a magazine. Needless to describe how excited I was when I got the email. I remember I read it four or five times to make sure I didn’t misread it. Three
years later and four more publications in various magazines, and the feeling of being accepted, of knowing someone out there not only read my story but also liked it still makes me elated.
I wonder if this new endeavour through Amazon will be as exciting.
Posting a cover along with a blurb would be a good idea a few weeks prior to release. I’d be interested in seeing it. Good luck on your new venture and the story you subbed. I hate marketing too, but have gradually gotten a little better.
Thank you, khurtack. It’s good to know that others share my sentiments about marketing. I always read about the unnamed author who never likes to promote and market their books, but it seems every writer I know (more experienced than me) does a pretty good job and has a loyal readership.
I have never heard of a short story cover reveal, but I.bet the experts would say to use every genuine opportunity to mention/promote your work. If you’re interested in doing it, I’d go for it.
Thank you, Ellen. I too haven’t heard of a cover reveal for a short story, I just figured if it helps promote longer works of fiction and non fiction, why not the shorter ones? At the end of the day, it will be an experiment, and if nothing else, it will teach me a thing or two, right? 🙂
“the feeling of being accepted, of knowing someone out there not only read my story but also liked it still makes me elated.” Nothing compares.
I won’t lie to you, Linda, it scares me. Part of it is due to my perfectionism. When I was starting out, I read somewhere that a lot of books never see the light of day, because their creators are caught up in an vortex of perfectionism. I don’t want to be that writer (though I have the feeling I’m not far from it). So I figured, what better way to defeat this way of thinking than start small, with a short story, and see where it takes me. Who knows? Maybe someone out there will like my writing style and my stories. It’s a big world, right? 😉