Filed under: Amazon, Feedback, Kindle, Marketing, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, tech
Since Sunday’s big promotion I’ve been hearing from people who have read Communion of Dreams about how much they enjoyed it. Which is incredibly gratifying, and also extremely kind. Thank you, everyone – I do very much appreciate your letting me know what you thought of the novel.
But please, if at all possible, don’t just let me know. Tell your friends. Post it on your Facebook or LiveJournal or G+ status, with a link to the homepage for the book. Mention it in your Twitter feed. Even better, go post a review on Amazon or at least “like” the book there.
I know this is a bit of a pain-in-the-ass. But it can *really* help me out. More people will hear about the book that way. More people will see that others like it. And maybe, just maybe, more people will actually buy the thing. Because while I am perfectly happy to give away promotional copies of the book, the goal is for me to be able to be compensated for the years of my life which are invested in this. I can’t afford the kind of advertising that big publishing houses sink into promoting books by famous people, and making them more famous. But I can ask my friends, and my fans, to just help spread the word.
Thank you!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Feedback, Kindle, Marketing, Press, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction
So, there was this little promotional event yesterday. And a newspaper article.
And things went a little nuts.
If you know me via Facebook or Twitter, you have some idea. For those who don’t, or want to know the final tally: altogether 5,277 people took advantage of the freed Kindle edition promotion. And there were even some regular sales of both the Kindle and paperback editions.
5,277. That’s pretty remarkable. And puts to total number of the finished version of the book out there over 6,000. That’s in about 6 weeks time – and amounts to the average number of people who downloaded the earlier PDF versions of the book in an entire year.
Yeah, I call that success. Stunning, actually.
I’m a bit exhausted by the whole thing, to be honest. Almost like a hangover. So I’ll probably take a break for a day or two, concentrate on getting other things done which I neglected in preparation for the promotion.
But I wanted to let everyone know the results – and to say Thank You to everyone! Oh, and to ask – if you got the book yesterday, and read it, and enjoy it – to please tell your friends, go and rate or like or even review the book on Amazon and anywhere else.
Thanks again.
Jim Downey
Cross posted to the BBTI blog.
Filed under: Alzheimer's, Amazon, Art, Feedback, Kindle, Marketing, Press, Promotion, Publishing, Religion, Science Fiction, tech, Writing stuff
Anticipation no more: the day is here, the article posted. Here’s how it starts:
The future, it has been said, is unwritten.
But this really isn’t so, at least to the degree that gifted local writer Jim Downey has penned a vision of what’s to come in his recent science-fiction novel, “Communion of Dreams.”
Downey once occupied space in these very pages as a Tribune arts columnist. His versatile, incisive writing style has been applied to topics that range from handguns to the humanity seen through the creases of Alzheimer’s disease — in September, features writer Jill Renae Hicks detailed the story of “Her Final Year,” a caregiving memoir Downey co-authored with John Bourke. By approaching the fictional worlds of “Communion” with his well-rounded cadre of concerns, Downey was able to draw out themes related to psychology, religion and spirituality, reminding us that no matter how technologically advanced we might become, our future will be a human one.
There’s more, and all of it very positive (to my eyes, at least.) Take a look, share it, comment on it if you’re a subscriber to the Tribune.
But more importantly, take advantage of today’s Free Kindle Edition promotion, and go download the book. Please. Please please please.
You help me out by doing so, both by pushing up the book’s ranking, and by just reading the thing. Because most people really like it, once they get into it. And if you like it, you’ll probably tell your friends. Or maybe “rate” or “like” the book on Amazon or on Facebook. Or maybe even take the time to write a review (there’s a new review just been posted overnight!). All of these things help me, and I very much appreciate it – why I’m willing to offer the book for free.
So, thanks again! Go forth and download!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Feedback, General Musings, Kindle, Marketing, Predictions, Press, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction
Anticipation is a good thing. I think that, particularly when you get a little older, get a little jaded, it is easy to lose a sense of excitement about something that is coming. Or perhaps not lose it, but no longer trust it. Because so very few things ever turn out like we want, or plan.
Life’s experiences, life’s disappointments, teach us this. It is hard not to be cynical, just out of simple self-preservation.
And yet . . .
And yet, I find myself looking forward with anticipation for the first bit of press attention to Communion of Dreams. Even though I already know what it says. Even though I know *exactly* how it was put together, having myself written many such columns/articles about the arts for the very same small-town paper. Even though I have had countless other articles in the press about me and the things I have done or been part of.
Why? I’m not sure.
I “believe” in the value of the book, and the story I tell. But then, I also “believed” in the value of Her Final Year, and look how completely flat that book fell on its face.
But still, I am looking forward to tomorrow’s article. To the Kindle promotion. I’ve even created a Facebook “event” for it. I guess you might say that I have “hope.”
And that reminds me of an appropriate quote:
“There is hope in dreams, imagination, and in the courage of those who wish to make those dreams a reality.”
See you tomorrow.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Feedback, Kindle, Marketing, Predictions, Press, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction
Some good news items to share this morning.
One, the piece in the Tribune this Sunday about Communion of Dreams is going to be quite substantial. I’ve seen the preliminary copy, and I think that people are going to enjoy it. A lot.
Two, some numbers from last month/since we launched the book.
In terms of visits to the site, there were over a thousand in February. That’s pretty decent, and I would like to thank everyone.
In terms of how many copies of the book are now out there (the Amazon editions, not the PDF version), I am happy to report that it is now about 850. That includes both the paperback and Kindle editions. And again I would like to thank everyone who has helped to make this a reality. And in particular I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let me know they’ve enjoyed the book, or have gone and written a review on Amazon. That is both rewarding and very helpful.
Of course, I would love to double that number this weekend with the free Kindle download. Or even sales! So please, share the news with friends and people who love to read.
Thanks again!
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Feedback, Kindle, Marketing, Press, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction
So, I just got word that the local paper, where I used to be a columnist covering the arts, is going to run some variety of story about Communion of Dreams this coming Sunday. This was the reason why I ran the interview Q&A series last week. I don’t yet know exactly what the nature is of the article – it could just be a passing mention, part of some larger column, or a full feature. We’ll just have to wait and see.
But I am going to go ahead and set up a Promotional Day for the Kindle edition of the book – meaning that anyone will be able to download the book for free on that day.
I would like your help: spread the word. Feel free to tell people about this post, or just tell them that the Kindle edition will be free this Sunday. Mention it on your blog, on Twitter, or on Facebook/G+/LJ/Whatever profile. Remember, you don’t even need to own a Kindle in order to get & read the book: there is a free Kindle emulator for almost all computers/tablets/mobile devices.
Please, particularly if you’ve already read the book, and enjoyed it, help me get the word out. It doesn’t cost you anything but a little bit of time. And your friends/readers will appreciate the news of the free book. I mean, who doesn’t appreciate something free, particularly when it is brilliant and entertaining?
Thanks. Seriously, I mean that.
Jim Downey
The horror!
The crushing blow to my ego!
I did not make the cut for the second round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award!
I’m not sure I’ll survive such devastating news.
But you can help. Let’s show Amazon – let’s prove to them that they were wrong not to include Communion of Dreams in their silly contest. That’s right! They can’t push us around! Just tell your friends to go buy my book! Heck, go ahead and buy the book for your friends yourself! That’ll teach ’em a lesson! Amazon, I mean, not your friends. Though I suppose your friends could learn some lessons as well. I mean, who can’t?
Er, what? Where was I? Oh, yeah: Together, we can beat this thing!
Jim Downey
*Yes, yes, I know the term is “woe”. I was playing off the homophone sense of being stopped from moving on to the next round of the contest. Sheesh, do I have to explain *everything*?
Filed under: Amazon, Feedback, Press, Promotion, Religion, Science, Science Fiction, Society, Space, Writing stuff
As part of the ongoing series, here is today’s entry. The referenced review by ‘writercop’ is new, and if you’d take a moment to go rate it on Amazon, I’d appreciate it very much.
3. In writing about the book, you’ve discussed ways in which you’ve approached psychological, spiritual and religious issues within the narrative. You said you hope “Communion of Dreams” appeals to a wide variety of readers. If someone doesn’t see themselves as “the science-fiction type,” what do you feel like the book still has to offer them? How can a story divorced from our present world sometimes illumine current tensions or concerns better than something set in modern times?
Well, that’s what all fiction does, isn’t it? Through a story we get to see with the eyes of others, live their lives, maybe even learn things we may not otherwise know. That’s true whether the stories are from another culture or another time, whether it is historical fiction or Greek mythology. Science fiction does the same thing, though perhaps it gives us a little more distance for perspective. The world of Communion of Dreams is just 40 years away, putting it considerably closer than the world of Jane Austen or even F. Scott Fitzgerald. Just putting a label on a book that calls it ‘science fiction’ doesn’t necessarily mean that only those who are fans of that genre will enjoy the book. Quite the contrary, as you can see in this review by ‘writercop’ on Amazon’s page for Communion of Dreams:
As someone who hasn’t frequented the science fiction genre for some years, I would be hard-pressed to consider myself an enthusiast. Jim Downey might have single-handedly changed that; at the very least, he has re-introduced me to the possibilities of the genre away from the tropes of Geo. Lucas and company. The narrative of Downey’s “Communion of Dreams” is suffused with with a variety of concerns. At one level, it is the story of a group of explorers investigating a deep space artifact whose unknown origins carry grave implications for mankind. On another, it touches upon the ethical concerns of science – both contemporary and not; both real and imagined – and explores the sometimes unanticipated paths our knowledge takes us.
I should hear later today whether CoD made the cut for the next round of judging for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, and will post something here one way or the other.
Jim Downey
I wonder whether this is some small payback from other members of the European Union who resent some of the silly bureaucratic rules which have come out of Brussels.
What is?
The fact that it seems to be impossible for someone who lives in Belgium to download the Kindle version of Communion of Dreams. Oh, plenty of people have downloaded it in the UK. And Germany. And even one person in France. But a fan who ordered a signed copy of the paperback, and lives in Belgium, wanted to also get the Kindle edition. And he can’t. I’ve even tried sending him a ‘gift’ copy of the e-book.
Nothing works. At least nothing that we’ve been able to come up with.
Anyone have any suggestions or work-arounds?
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Art, Feedback, Kindle, Marketing, Promotion, Publishing
Got another very positive review of Communion of Dreams. It goes over a lot of ground, but here’s an excerpt that’ll give you an idea what the author thinks:
One of the things I enjoyed most, as a science fiction fan of many decades, was finding little bits of reference to various other writers, either in a conceptual sense or, sometimes, in a name used or a place mentioned. So many science fiction novels touch on psychology, sociology, scientific and technological progress, philosophy, religion or just sheer adventure. This one has it all, and I do mean *all* of it. My mind was a whirl of ideas and thoughts, all intertwining as I read about the discovery of the artifact, watched different people react based on their perception and frame of reference, and saw their attitudes change over time as more and more was discovered.
Check out the whole thing, along with the other reviews so far, and vote whether the review was helpful to you.
I am very happy to see a positive review, of course, and hope that this helps to spread the word (hint, hint) about the book to others. But I am even more pleased to get the feedback that the book ‘works’ for the reader. That’s always a crap-shoot for any author or artist: you work to produce something (an artifact, if you will) which is then put out there for interpretation by each and every person who encounters it, and at that point it is out of your hands.
So yeah, it is very rewarding to get this kind of reaction. Of course, additional sales and riches would be nice, too . . .
Jim Downey
Communion Of Dreams 