On Amazon, No One Can Hear You Scream.

The reality of indie publishing.

Hi there Three Act Thursday community.

It’s been a couple of months since my last posting: life, work, writing, marketing and mild dose of COVID all got in the way, but I’m back with a slight twist on Three Act Thursday with a shameless bit of self promotion.

Today, my latest baby, Hear Her Scream, is thrust out into the world. It’s a dark, tense thriller set in the foothills of Yosemite National Park.

Hear Her Scream weaves in elements of religious fanaticism, peoples’ obsession with true crime, and the unforeseen pitfalls of posting your every move on social media. As you’d expect from my books, there are plenty of red herrings, devious twists and jump scares along the way.

I’m thrilled with the reviews so far, one who even wrote a deep dive into the etymology of the names I chose for my characters and the symbolism in the book. She was spot on, and it’s extremely satisfying to see someone has taken the time to read so deeply. That doesn’t happen too often these days.

Come launch day, I’ll be refreshing the sales ranking and reviews every hour, on the hour. Such is the fate of us fragile authors.

We may pretend to write for ourselves, but really, there’s nothing more satisfying than a five star review and watching your book earn that ‘Best Seller” tag.

I have to thank my publisher, Joffe/Lume Books for the incredible support they’ve given the book. From the cover design to the marketing campaign, the team has delivered some stand out assets.

Of course, no writer these days can sit on their laurels and let the publisher do all the work (unless you’re Dan Brown or Lee Child). I augmented Joffe’s efforts with a bunch of social media assets across Facebook and Instagram, including this three-day countdown campaign tied into the book’s main theme.

It’s the reality of publishing these days, especially when you’re signed to an indie publisher, that an author has to do their own reach out to complement the publisher’s marketing efforts. For self-published authors, that self promotion is even more critical.

There’s no shortage of so called ‘self-publishing gurus’ out there, willing to take your money for the same advice you can find on the web for free, with a little digging. Truth is, for a self-published author to have any hope of success, they need to invest in a story editor, proof reader, a great cover designer, and that’s before you shell out on all the Facebook and Amazon ads to get your book out there.

It’s not cheap. I’ve read estimates from $5,000 to $7,000 just to get a book to the standard readers expect, before you add in the ad spend.

If you don’t spend the money, chances are you’re screaming into the great Amazon void and nobody’s listening. I know. I’ve been there myself, and have no desire to repeat the experience.

Next week, I’ll provide a short update on how things shook out on launch day. In the meantime, I’ll have a celebratory cocktail and try my best to avoid clicking that refresh button too often!

If you’d like to read more from me, check out; https://dylanjonesauthor.substack.com

Or head on over to my author website and sign up for my newsletter: www.dylanjonesauthor@gmail.com

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