How my first Book of Poetry became an Amazon #1 Best Seller.
Jugnuon Ke Bulb https://amzn.eu/d/hjUSW0R
A good word never broke a tooth.
Please ignore the intended meaning; I precisely want to talk about the power of words in writing. Being an introvert all my life and all of nowhere, being in the limelight was never on my bucket list. However, reading has been a solace and yes; I was a writer before I could barely walk. Just colloquially not literally. But writing a journal, a diary, small little snippets and the smallest two-line poetry had always been my final chore of the day. Life hasn’t been easy for a petite introverted geeky girl who was ridiculed for being the lonely type all her life. Wandered away too far I guess, from the topic. My apologies. !
Sometimes I just ponder over how on earth I became, from being an awkward someone to an Amazon best-seller book writer in a pretty minuscule time. To tell you the truth, it was not long before that after incessant cajoling from my best friend, I started jotting down my thoughts on Facebook. I had around fifty or so Facebook friends, most of them family. The appreciation from family and extended family was heart-warming and encouraging, but it was never the inspiration enough to take up writing with gusto.
I still remember that it was at the start of the year 2016 that some of my poems were shared by my Facebook friends on their profiles and even on several poetry groups. That resulted in spreading the word about my poetry on several popular platforms. The response was overwhelming. My Facebook friends list swelled like anything, and in a month or so, it was reaching far more than a thousand. I was brimming with joy.
However, talking to people and starting social networking was still not easy. Honestly though, I appreciated the adoration that came to me in such a short time. In a jiffy or what you can say in the heat of the moment I decided to publish my first book. Jugnuo ke Bulb, or bulb of fireflies, took birth, at the end of the year. And what Illumination it spreaded!
I would not shy away from saying that the book, though close to my heart, did not come, after years of anticipation and bated breaths. It came out in a wink and became a best seller on Amazon within days. .
To make this journey a little more fascinating for you as was for me, I would want to share some of the tips with you, which did worked for me:
1. The Novelty factor: What I guess worked for me is that it was my first book. This was my maiden venture, and people wanted to read something new. New thoughts, a new style of writing perhaps. Although my second book also garnered, quite an optimistic response but the first one was very exceptional. The first tune hit a chord with the audience possibly
2. The magic of brevity: it was not intended either; most of my poems were not more than hitting the threshold of 100 to 150 words, or even less. I would start with a story and end the story within the periphery of quite a few mesmerising words. I got lots of compliments on the brevity. I believe in the power of words; if they are mighty, they will hit you and convey the gist in a few words.
3. Keeping the language simple: I don’t believe that writing very complex words would make you a better writer. Poetry is all about your prowess to express your emotions in simple words. So keeping it simple was my mantra, and sure, it did the trick. The approach not only helped me create a dedicated fan base but also skewed the sales graph in the right direction.
4. Intrigue: Especially in the ecosphere of social media, the more mysterious you are, the more people would love to explore what is behind the veil, in tandem with the basic human nature, I guess. I kept the date of publication secret and also what it might entail. Although, I was regularly posting about the book on all my social networking handles. But only, bit by bit. So I kind of kept the book under wraps until it was published. Yes! So, I guess, I did play the game of Keep them guessing.
There was also intrepid styling that went a long way to arouse the curiosity. Like the cover page which was my artwork. A beautiful painting I have painted in acrylic colours. Free Gifts such as bookmarks printed with my original artwork with the copy of the book etc. went a long way in keeping the readers glued and connected to the book.
5. Attending events. As I have told you, I am a very private person, and I do not find it very comfortable, to meet new people. But soon after the first responses started to pour, I started getting invitations for various literary events, colleges, poetry circles, etc., which was kind of unnerving for me. I started attending those; started meeting new people such as Writers, poets, enthusiasts and organizers from the literary world. I was amazed to find that people knew about me and my books before meeting me. That is the power of social media and networking which I am really in awe of.
One thing I perhaps realise now was I did all the publicity after the release of the book. A pointer here for new writers will be , if possible, I would urge you to connect to your peers from whatever industry you choose to work in or pursue as a hobby. It does not only add new prospects but also opens gates to brand new vision, which certainly, adds new dimensions to your art, enriching it more.
Solitude is sure a boon but in today’s world where people have such a diversity to choose from and have such a scanty attention span, you need to keep yourself abreast with all the new developments around you.
6. Social media: Social Networking Platforms such as Instagram and Twitter (X) also helped me a lot, as I used to cross-post my posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at the same time. Don’t worry about the views or likes at an early juncture. Trust me, even if you are not getting the expected views or comments, nonetheless if you have the flair, there are always people watching you.
Though I do not quite admire it, I don’t negate the fact that No publicity is bad publicity.
7. Get those reviews: Ask your friends, family, acquaintances, and co-workers to review your book. Urge people to give their feedback, On Amazon, on Facebook, wherever they can easily post a few lines about your book. Chew your pride and brazenly ask people to write about your book. Good, bad, evil whatever their genuine review is.
Understand that If your art is good, you will eventually end up getting positive reviews, if not in front of you then maybe behind your back. The trick is showing your art to the maximum people and increasing the reach. Social anxiety for now can take a back seat.
8. Improve your art: Last but not least, remember that No amount of publicity or any other approach will work for you if your skills are not on-dot. Keep improving. Read a hell lot. Read anything under the sun. A wide spectrum of knowledge will help improve your skills, in the long run.
9. Invest in your skills now to reap fruity benefits in the long run.
There are thousands of sources to learn from. Online courses, offline courses, Art museums, book readings, and book launches, look for them and you will find sources to sharpen your skill and master the nuances.
So keep writing and reach the milestone of writing your first bestseller with the tips that worked for me and I hope they work perfectly for you too.
Keep creating great stories.
