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Now that I’m fed and have gone on-line, I can talk about my experience with Thunderclap. I got 102 supporters and it went live at noon. So you can imagine the boost in sales I got for my books:
Well, you’re going to have to imagine it because nothing happened. Wait! Don’t go running away just yet. There are benefits to this experience even if sales didn’t occur. As an indie author, you have to think outside the box. Did anything beneficial happen from this experience? Yes and I’ll get to it after I make a few points:
Thunderclap Observations
- My highest joining days were the first 24 hours and the last 24 hours. It seems you’ll get your trusted allies at the start and then you’ll have people step in to save the day at the final hour.
- A LOT of people retweeted, reblogged, or shared about the campaign without joining it themselves. If you do one, make sure to factor this in because you can’t assume a slew of retweets is a sign of enlistment. This can be disheartening, but take solace in the idea that they are at least trying to help. Honestly, even if they reblog and don’t join, there’s always the chance that a friend or follower of them will. Every little bit counts.
- Many people told me that they didn’t want to sign up with Thunderclap because it asked for their email contacts. Took me a second to figure this out, but it really asks for permission to use the social media offering (Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter) for the successful post. They don’t spam or anything like that, which is something you might want to say early on if you do one. It’s entirely understandable that someone won’t sign up for a foreign site since Thunderclap is still gaining steam in the indie author world.
- I got more supporters by writing a blog post and adding a few hashtags into the title. As far as Facebook goes, I got very little beyond the first day. More on that later, but you should focus your energy on your blog and twitter to gather supporters. Hashtags are essential in this one.
- There is a Thunderclap Facebook page that will help you out if you like. They stepped in during my last 24 hours to give a good boost.
- VERY IMPORTANT! Remember to include hashtags in your Twitter message that will go out upon success. I think this is where I screwed up. I forgot and added one at the last minute, but I still didn’t get anything.
- Know your social media power! Aim for the low amount if you aren’t sure you have enough influence. If you reach too far then you’re bound to fail. Low ball the number because getting more than the minimum doesn’t hurt you. It just means you have more than expected.
So, what were the benefits if there weren’t any sales?
- I made a lot of new friends on Twitter, Facebook, and WordPress. Just gathering supporters introduced me to people who I hope will help me if I ever do something like this again.
- I realized my own social media influence. It’s rather minimal. Mostly, I learned that the majority of my non-computer friends and family didn’t join in. That was pretty disappointing, but I’ve been wondering about that for a while. It’s a strange silver lining, but it’s nice to know where I stand.
Suggestion for Thunderclap Use?
While it might not help with book sales, Thunderclap could help if you’re doing a sale or a special event. For example, Chris McMullen is thinking of using this to promote READ TUESDAY this December. I think it could help a lot with this. Even the act of gathering supporters can bring attention to the event. After all, it looks to be used predominantly for events and causes.
Well, that’s my thoughts on Thunderclap. Will I do it again? Probably not for my books, but maybe for any special events that I do in the future. Anyway, that’s it for me on this one and I’m glad to put this baby to bed. By that I mean the 5-year-old is still awake and hyper.
Legends of Windemere 
Very interesting. I was wary about Thunderclap, but I ended up joining in anyway with both Twitter and Tumblr. Glad I did. 🙂
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Thanks. I joined for all three and haven’t seen a peep beyond the successful campaigns that I joined. So I think the ‘permission request’ threw people off.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this experience, particularly as related to your books. I might look into it more deeply when my book is ready for either pre-sale or if I offer specials on it…
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You’re welcome. A special offer would be interesting. The tough part is making it match up with the campaign timewise. Something I was wondering about is the time one should take with this. I gave it 3 weeks and barely made it, but I’ve seen some people do 1 week and go well beyond. Probably works with the social media influence.
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If and as it gains popularity it might be more useful. I could see people responding well for Read Tuesday, just to get the word out. Interesting observations, thank you for sharing.
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No problem. You’re right that it could be more useful down the road. Though I do think it will always be geared more for special events and causes. Something about the structure of it makes me think it doesn’t have the spark for a basic sales boost. Maybe because Twitter and Facebook are the big ones, but those have a habit of new posts getting absorbed within a minute or two.
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Glad you survived the fast.
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Thanks.
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I’m glad you reached your goal. Maybe it will have some good indirect, long-term branding effects. I think you’re right that gathering support in itself gets you good exposure. I think we’ll give this a shot for Read Tuesday, especially as gaining supporters is more important than the actual Read Tuesday tweeting if it’s successful.
Thanks for sharing your experience and adding a few valuable tips (I wouldn’t have thought to ask, but I’m glad you mentioned them).
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It doesn’t hurt to try it. I forgot to mention in the post that a big bonus is that it’s no risk whatsoever. You can pay money for boosts and help, but it isn’t mandatory.
I began thinking of Read Tuesday last night in regards to this, so I was aiming in that direction with the post. It helped me see more of the benefits.
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Reblogged this on chrismcmullen and commented:
Congratulations to Charles for reaching his Thunderclap goal. In this post, he not only shares his experience with the promotion, but offers several valuable tips. Thanks to everyone who supported his promotion.
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Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog….. An Author Promotions Enterprise! and commented:
Results of Charles’s Thunderclap Campaign 😀
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I’m glad you achieved your goal of 100 supporters Charles. Shame it hasn’t translated into book sales but it sounds like it was an interesting experience for you and something you can learn from. 🙂
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Thanks. It was always a possibility and I had a feeling near the end that I made a mistake by forgetting those hashtags. Live and learn. If I ever manage to get in a position where I can know my release dates well in advance, I guess I could try one of these for that. I don’t see that happening though.
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The permission request threw me off, and I’m sorry about that, now that you’ve explained it. The wording on the request (theirs, not yours) was really off putting. Still, next time, I’ll be there.
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I think I didn’t really notice because I’ve seen stuff like that before. I’d have to find a way to look at it again, but some of those things can be worded rather ominously. That might be why I wasn’t sure what people were talking about at first.
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Its one of those un-measured things… you cant be sure of its effectiveness till you’ve tried and tested it. But you also cant ignore it, because the potential is huge. At least now you know. And thank you for sharing your results so we can all learn. You commented on the apathy of friends and family when it comes to lending support, well, you are not alone there… its such a strange and disappointing phenomenon that the people you love most are the least likely to take an interest when they have so much power to make a difference. Oh well, keep on going on, as the saying goes…
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You’re welcome. It really did have a lot of potential, especially for something that cost nothing. So I considered it a ‘no risk’ attempt. If it failed then I lost nothing except promo time and a little bit of pride. At least if I had any left after the shameless promotion I did on this thing. 🙂
The apathy was a tough one. I do think Facebook’s wall system had a little to do with it. I remember a while back they changed it so that you only saw posts of those you interacted with through likes and comments. I don’t do much on FB beyond promotion because nobody was reacting to my writing progress posts. They only commented when I posted that I was sick or annoyed about something or a picture of my son went up. So the long period of non-interaction might have made it so that nobody even saw it. Then again, most of them haven’t liked my author page and several won’t even talk to me about my books. Yeah, strange and disappointing is a good way to put it.
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Thank you for sharing your experience, Charles. I am going to do a Thunderclap as a competition to give away a book from a featured author on my blog in little over two weeks. I will take your comments to heart and hope that people will join because there is something in it for them for taking part. I will share how mine went. Linzé Brandon
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Sounds like an interesting idea. Good luck. Looking forward to the results.
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Interesting recap. I can also say as a supporter there was no reaction from any of my followers to the Thunderclap message. I also talked with another author who could not track Thunderclap to sales. It may have been a coincidence, but Twitter locked my account for suspicious activity. No big deal (just a reset of password) and I can’t really say it was related just strainge. I’m glad you got some good out of the campaign on a social basis.
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Twitter can be such a baby at times. It could be someone reported something or you reblogged too much. I know I got frozen for a day when I reblogger a lot. I had just started and didn’t know the rule. Then again it could be anything.
It is a little frustrating when you see no reaction from followers. Maybe Twitter isn’t a great urgency medium for recruitment since things get drowned in the tweet sea so quickly.
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You’re right to look for benefits other than direct sales. We can sabotage ourselves if all we think of is money. Finding new ways to meet the public and connect is equally important to long term platform. I would also suggest you arrange to create a few paper copies so you can do in-person events. Again, you don’t necessarily make sales, but it’s something concrete that people can look at and hold.
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I’ve been looking into that, but I haven’t had any luck. The bookstores are all big ones that won’t touch indie authors and I got nowhere with the library. I do have a few hard copies to work with, but I’m doing a little editing on them now that I know more. The goal is to be ready for a convention table next year. I’m aiming more for connections than sales there.
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I have no idea what Thunderclap is, but I do know your frustration. I did a Kickstarter campaign back in July & August. It was excruciating for exactly the reasons you mention. I had a public Facebook “Author” page and I believe in the end I got maybe 2 non friends to support me. In fact, if I had not gotten an infection and been unable to go out or do much of anything, I probably would not have made my goal.
After it was over, I told people I would not have done it, had I known what I know now. I was very emotional as people I really thought would support me didn’t (though several did pledge in the final hours). I lied though as I plan to do it again for the Spanish translation. Only the translator will be in charge of that one. I think she will be much calmer and a lot more detached than I was so it should work out.
Anyway, I look forward to learning more about you! 😉
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That’s exactly why I didn’t want to try Kickstarter. I felt Thunderclap was lower risk since money wasn’t involved. Friends might be more inclined to help if it’s free. Guess I was wrong. Good luck with the Kickstarter.
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Reblogged this on sherriemiranda1 and commented:
My comments to Charles:
I have no idea what Thunderclap is, but I do know your frustration. I did a Kickstarter campaign back in July & August. It was excruciating for exactly the reasons you mention. I had a public Facebook “Author” page and I believe in the end I got maybe 2 non friends to support me. In fact, if I had not gotten an infection and been unable to go out or do much of anything, I probably would not have made my goal.
After it was over, I told people I would not have done it, had I known what I know now. I was very emotional as people I really thought would support me didn’t (though several did pledge in the final hours). I lied though as I plan to do it again for the Spanish translation. Only the translator will be in charge of that one. I think she will be much calmer and a lot more detached than I was so it should work out.
Anyway, I look forward to learning more about you! 😉
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I am very happy that you finished the campaign succesfully and I congratulate you! I am taking all you wrote into my memory, because these events just lure me to try them and my sci-fi trilogy is almost over. I am thinking, seeing basicly nobody even knows I have one (two actually….), whoever will even click on that thing for me, when you had to go through so much trouble and stress and you promote your book every day…
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It’s a certain headache, but it really depends on how you pitch it. Billing it as something new and using the proper tags to bring attention to the campaign could help more than you realize.
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Reblogged this on theowlladyblog.
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I did the Thunderclap ‘thing’ for you after seeing it on Chris McMullen’s blog. Good for you for trying all these different approaches. I’ve pretty much given up on Twitter, I just don’t ‘get it’ — I don’t have that many friends/followers, 500 maybe? I’d say that 90% of the feed I get is for someone trying to sell me something. If I turn on the feed, which I rarely do because of this, I’m getting a tweet every few seconds. So unless someone is glued to the feed, what is the chance that the tweet is going to be noticed? (I suppose the exception would be if you have a very closed twitter list of just friends, but wait — that’s facebook!)
Facebook works for me in that all my friends will certainly repost any book announcement I make, just because they are being friendly and helpful, even though they may not be into my genres themselves. I just pre-released the first part of my new epic fantasy series, and I got sales and requests for reviews, etc from people I didn’t know who were friends of friends who saw the shared post.
Best of luck to you!
Bill
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Thanks. I’m kind of in the opposite camp with Facebook and Twitter. I rarely get anything more than a spammer when I post on Facebook groups. On my own Facebook page, I get one or two regular friends who hit like. It’s on Twitter that I get a bunch of retweets and contacts, but I honestly don’t know if it turns into sales. I wish I knew what I did that got sales, so I can repeat it. Feels like I’d spend all my time doing that instead of writing the next book.
That’s really cool that you already have sales and review requests for your book. Good luck and I hope you have a big debut.
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Now that is interesting. Success may come in time. People need to get to know you, before they will buy your books. Good luck!
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Thanks. Though I’m not sure what you mean by getting to know me. I try to present myself on this blog without going into the areas that will get me into trouble. It gets hard to do when one comes from a rather private family.
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People will watch your style of writing before they buy. I keep my private life separate from social media and blogging too, I think it’s a great idea, but whatever you publish openly, does work for you and will attract readers.
Good luck!
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Thanks. I do try to post about my process and my thoughts on various aspects. I’ve had requests for my personal life, but I’m on the fence about how far to go. This week I’m posting about my son since I’m full-time author and full-time father. It’s a really tough balancing act.
No clue what attracts readers any more. Not even sure I should obsess about it and just go about my business.
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Obsessing never works. I can never pick which posts will be popular. It’s better to just be myself anyway, I figure.
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The natural way tends to be the best way. 🙂
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