Yesterday was launch day for my novel, Toys in Babylon – a thinly-disguised parody of Duolingo and its quest to replace live educators with AI. Sales were sluggish when I logged into Facebook to check my feed. For whatever reason, there was a deluge of posts from KDP Free Book Reviews, a public group with just 9,100 members. Most were single sentence pleas to furnish a link to your book or share cover art with the group. Harmless, I thought, even if the vast majority of posters are racketeers in Nigeria or the Philippines who want to follow up by selling marketing “services”.
Somehow, I thought the threads were initiated and monitored by real people – perhaps just boiler-room scam artists, but real people nonetheless. I was wrong. Here is one such exchange:
Akinleye Mariam - Top contributor
Authors Kindly show off your book Link
Dozens of Facebook members responded, each posting a few words about their book and its listing on Amazon. I added mine:
Patrick T. Finegan
Things go horribly wrong when a Duolingo-like company replaces staff with AI so adroitly that its cast of cartoon educators begins thinking on its own. What follows is a madcap romp as the company struggles to put the genie back in the bottle. https://www.amazon.com/Toys-Babylon.../dp/B0CYDNGNX2
15h15 hours ago
Sixty minutes later, my phone chimed with a reply:
Reply: Akinleye Mariam - Author, Top contributor
Patrick T. Finegan Congratulations on your book! What actions have you taken to boost your sales?
14h14 hours ago
Fair question, I thought. Why not share my approach with others?
Reply: Patrick T. Finegan
Beginning late February, when I completed my first "clean" manuscript, I began writing to newspapers, magazines and bloggers globally. In each instance, I identified a writer who had written an article about Duolingo (anything, really), and centered my letter around that article. By June, I surpassed 250 individually-crafted letters. In 90% of the cases, I was able to email the writer directly. In 5% of the cases, I emailed the editor in chief, asking him or her to forward the letter on to the targeted writer. In the remaining 5% of cases, I used pen, ink and a stamp.
I followed up with a reminder mailing at the beginning of July. In each outreach letter, I included a link where the writer could download the latest author's proof in PDF format. I loaded the PDF on a server where I could track daily downloads, including geographic origin and IP address. The book was downloaded approximately 300 times, but there was considerable duplication. My estimate is that only half of the writers glanced at the file. Whether they write anything remains to be seen. The book was released to the public today, but I asked writers for reviews "following" publication. Fingers crossed.
In addition, Goodreads will give away 100 copies beginning 8/18 and Reedsy Discovery will invite reviews beginning mid-September. Other than that, I have not done much. My first novel, Cooperative Lives, sold approximately 750 copies but cost a small fortune to market -- 2 dozen book contests (21 awards!), 10-12 professional reviews, Amazon ads, plus several large giveaways. Selling books is gratifying, but not if marketing costs are prohibitive. I'd rather just write for a smaller audience. My first-day sales: just 7 copies.
14h14 hours ago
In the blink of an eye:
Reply: Akinleye Mariam - Author, Top contributor
Patrick T. Finegan Congratulations on your book! What actions have you taken to boost your sales?
14h14 hours ago
It turns out, every person who responded received the same automated inquiry. Lesson learned. Thank you.
There may, of course, be a real Akinleye Mariam out there. The associated profile and photo may even be genuine. But what does it matter? Yesterday her seat was occupied by a Bot – a really stupid one.
Fear not, the bots in my novel, Toys in Babylon, are smarter. Much smarter. Thankfully, they are still only fiction.