Guest Post: Kurt Chambers

Today's post is a guest post from my friend and critique group member, Kurt Chambers.

He's come up with a unique marketing idea for his book.

Take it away Kurt!

Title: I'm Giving Away 100% of my Royalties

Yes, I really did say I am giving away 100% of the royalties of my book to anyone who wants it. Not only am I going to give you ALL my royalties, I'm also going to make it as easy as I can for you to collect them with a step-by-step guide on how to do it. It really is that easy! Whoever signs up to be an affiliate vendor within the next 3 months will get 100% of the royalties. At the end of this period, I may extend this to even longer depending on how successful it is, but I will still be offering a generous percentage of at least 50% so the faster you act, the more money you could make. This is an opportunity you really don't want to miss.

If this is something that would interest you, then please read on...

How Is This Even Possible?

Okay, by now you probably think I have lost all my senses, but you would be wrong. I have spent the last eight years of my life working on writing, editing and publishing a series of children's fantasy novels. The first book in the series, Truth Teller, was published last year and is already an award winning novel. The second book in the series, The Wrath of Siren, is due out this year. My mission as an author is to reach as many readers as I can. One popular way of doing this is to give your first book away for free as an incentive, but a lot of people in the writing community frown upon this, claiming it devalues the price of books and all the work an author has put into it. I can understand this being an author myself and knowing how much work this involves.

I want to find an alternative way of reaching my target audience that would benefit everyone, especially my readers. As an author, my reading public are the most important people to me, so why not offer them a slice of the action. A huge slice, in this case. 100% of my royalties. After all, if you as a reader are prepared to help me promote my book, then what else could I offer you in return that is better than cold hard cash? Money talks, right?

Is This Something I Can Do?

The simple answer to this is yes! Because I am going to make it very easy for you. All you need is a link that you can post on your website, whether that be a blog, your personal site, or even your Facebook page. You can even send this link to friends in an email. You can promote it in any way you want. Anyone who clicks on this link and buys my book will be paying YOU 100% of my royalties. It is as simple as that.

How Do I Get My Link?

Here are the technical details. In order for you to take up this amazing offer, there are two sites you need to sign up with if you are not already a member. Both are completely free and easy to set up. First is the site where my book is being sold, Smashwords (linked) Unlike Amazon, Smashwords offers readers e-books in any format for whatever portable device they use as an e-reader. When you sign up as a member, you are automatically registered as an affiliate member and ready to accept my royalty payments. Smashwords pay all their payments through PayPal (linked) This is the other site where you need to make an account so you can accept payment. You need to add your PayPal account to your Smashwords account which is easily done by clicking the 'Account' tab on Smashwords and choosing the ' Edit/update payee information' link and filling in the form.

Now you have your two accounts, you just need your promotion link.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/119775?ref=yourScreenName

This is the link you need. All you have to do is replace the yourScreenName with your Smashwords screen name and you are ready to go.

To locate your screen name, click to your My Smashwords page, and look in the web browser address bar. You'll see an address where the last characters after "...view/" are your screen name. Example: My screen name is KurtChambers "https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/KurtChambers " So my link would be...

 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/119775?ref=KurtChambers

What Do I Do Next?

The rest is easy! You use your link to promote my book in any way of your choosing. Post the link on your website, or send it in an email. I have set my Smashwords settings to pay 100% of the royalties to the affiliate (YOU). That is 81.5% of the book price after Smashwords have taken their cut. Each books sells for $2.99. When someone clicks your link and buys the book, you get paid the royalties.

Please see Smashwords Affiliate Marketing Program Documentation for full details.

Promotion Material

Now all you need is some promotional material that you can use to promote this fantastic book, and I will provide this for you also. You can use your link to attach to a simple image on your site, or you can do a whole page dedicated to it, it's up to you how you choose to promote it. Do what you think is most effective. Remember, the more books you sell, the more money you make. Below, I will provide you with pictures and posts you can use to promote this novel. You can simply copy and paste any of this straight into your website or email. Use as much or as little of the information as you wish. Remember to use YOUR LINK when you send a potential buyer to purchase the book.

Example: Buy Truth Teller now at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/119775?ref=yourScreenName

Pictures

Book covers:

Author:

Truth Teller Award:

Preditors & Editors Award Winner

Best cover artwork of 2012

Truth Teller Synopsis:

How could a modern day girl like Charlotte ever envisage that magic really exists? Even with her own vivid imagination, the place for other realms belonged in a child’s fairy tale. Or so she thought, until she stumbled across a hidden curio shop and an even stranger shopkeeper. He gives her a gift that resembles an antique snow dome, but this is not an ordinary globe. The world Charlotte has always known disappears as she’s spirited away into a mystical land.

This is the beginning of a lifelong friendship that changes Charlotte’s life forever. Discovered by a young elf alone in the forest, she embarks on a journey in search of a group of travelling Entertainers. She encounters heart-stopping dangers and real life monsters, but a far greater threat shadows her every move. Even the strength and skill of her new found companions cannot protect her against a ruthless druid assassin.

But in this realm, Charlotte is not the vulnerable little girl she thought she was.

Author Links:

Truth Teller Fan Club Page:

http://dutchhillnews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/truth-teller-fan-club-page.html

You can connect with the author at:

Author’s Web page http://kurtchambers.net/

Author’s Blog  http://geniusborderinginsanity.blogspot.com/

Twitter  https://twitter.com/emailmanROCKS

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kurt-Chambers/296957780317055

If you have any questions or would like further information, please feel free to contact me or leave your question in the comments section below. I will get back to you as soon as I possibly can. Good luck! 

Thanks Kurt!  And best of luck to you with this project.  Do pop back sometime and let us know how it all worked out for you.