A Little Help from BookDNA

The image accompanying this blog entry is the cover of my first self-published book in 2007. The story is set on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert and features a water expert who becomes involved in a DHS mission to prevent terrorists from obtaining weapons-grade uranium. I understand that nothing so outrageous could possibly happen in real life, but that's what novels do: imagine the unimaginable.

In any event, I had a Zoom meeting yesterday with the founder of www.BookDNA.com, Ben Sheppard, who gave me helpful advice on marketing my books. I won't go into details, except to say that even as I highlight Eternal Moments, I should also promote Priority One. His point is that readers generally start with the first book in a series, not the 11th. In addition, my books need to look like thrillers and be advertised accordingly, with their distinctive qualities prominently

emphasized.

Ben didn't say it, but I'm sure he thought my approach to marketing sucks . . . and I agree with him. My first job following our conversation will be to improve my Amazon listing. He gave me advice on how a person with limited technical skill might do that. Now that I've decided to thumb my nose at traditional publishers and go whole-hog on self-publishing, I intend to follow his advice. And chronicle both my successes and failures on this blog.

Thanks to everyone for reading. And thank you, Ben, for your help.