An online... Book Faire?

Yes, it happened, and may happen again. We don't know who is reading all those wonderful books, but more people than can be calculated have browsed, bought, shared — and may yet still browse, buy, share — and enjoy them.

Multiple authors (including Yours Truly) and LOTS of great reads experienced exposure galore, with vast audiences untapped before!

A screenshot of my Facebook page during April 2021.

The #Bookfaire idea is really very simple.

It's the taking of the #Writerslift concept to the next level.

It's a bit more labor-intensive for the person hosting it, than just a Writerslift, but the potential extra rewards are well worth the effort.

To host an online #Bookfaire...

STEP 1. 

First, announce a Bookfaire with a promo for your own book, the same way you would to announce a Writerslift. 

STEP 2.

When other authors send you a link to their books, Retweet them the same way you would for a Writerslift. Then...

STEP 3.

Share their books on your own personal online platforms outside of Twitter.

Do you have an author website? A Facebook page? An Instagram account? A Pinterest account? A blog? A... whatever (some free Tattoo space?) 

THIS is the "Faire" aspect... like renting a booth at a faire, and using it to expose/market/sell your and their books together, like an informal free market mercantile... online!

Yes, before, you used your platforms to sell only your book(s), but you're being a host here... a conduit for other authors like yourself.

STEP 4.

Here's the hard part. Be magnanimous. Give your friend-base (on each platform, especially the ones you know are voracious booklovers) the message: Help these authors out — browse, shop, and if you don't buy, would you be so kind as to SHARE whichever links you browsed, with your own friend-base(s).

***

This sends a brave little booklink on a never-ending journey... a quest... across the entire Worldwide Web, to find a sale. It may just go one more layer of new audience, or a thousand layers.

It can be large-scale or small. You decide. But the important thing to remember is at first — in the beginning stage — it's all on YOU, the host. Transferring the links you receive over to other platforms, is work. You decide what form it takes, how simplistic or sophisticated. But commit to doing it.

You are providing a service — for a finite time period; with your own energy and time — and space — to make this "event" spark. But it's something that a Writerslift alone just cannot do.

You may even make a few booksales yourself if you include yourself. 

Buyers buy through the usual channels — all sales of a given book go to its author, as usual.

No one is getting a commission on the sales, no one is taking anything "off the top." Sales are legitimate,  and all new contacts made are completely confidential, unless a given author makes them public. 

Authors are still in control regarding their individual book(s). No one is dipping into their till, other than the usual 3rd Parties with whom each individual author has a separate deal with. 

The #Bookfaire is simply a conduit to fresh audiences and new sales opportunities.

(THIS is the business model I came up with, just by "making it up as I went." I own no copyright on it — take it and run! It's to make the whole marketplace expand, to create a broader path — that can include ME along with everyone else. And if one of you thinks of an IMPROVEMENT to this model, by all means, be brave, and public, with it.)

 

Happy writing, and happy sales!

— Rob

Oh, and by the way...

So funny it's scary:

THE FUNNIEST GUY IN THE CASKET

Oliver Akers thought he was the worst stand-up comic in Hollywood. That is until he saw the act of a guy named Joey Lou Dillerbacher… along with the rest of the Dillerbacher showbiz clan. It only gnawed at him more, that they got gigs despite being awful. Gig after gig after gig – they are so under-talented and over-rewarded, they'd p.o. the Pope. Even worse, Oliver suddenly finds himself on a relentless loop crossing their path! On a multi-state road trip yet. With his own career going south fast, Oliver must somehow pull his funny out of freefall to survive, physically and emotionally – especially when he stumbles onto the secret side mission of these horrible, but well-connected, performers, and becomes one of their targets.

Rob Foster is the author of other well-reviewed novels in the humorous, science fiction and superhero genres. He lives and writes somewhere in the mysterious mountains of central California, near Sequoia National Forest.

Want to see some nice boo... ... ... ooks?

Book marketing is not as straight-forward as it may seem. There are some tricky curves to navigate to get to the twin peaks of sales and readership base building. 

The market can change moods; what it craved last month may not even get a nip of interest this month. Something not even on the radar of reader interest yesterday might have a bullseye of demand drawn on it today. 

The tasty trick to tame market mayhem is to create stories with universal uniqueness! Books that titillate and incite attention no matter what context in which they are advertised. It can be a challenge, but there's a reward for perseverance (we hope) and relentlessness in staying visible and available at a fair market price.

If you find one of Foster's books at a second-hand store, or a library, we say "jump!" We know that reading one will spark your curiosity and enthusiasm to read them all! Just don't forget, they're all browsable, buyable, readable and enjoyable RIGHT HERE! 

Make your move. They're affordable. They're waiting for your hot hands and absorbent eyes! 

Or click View All Titles above, to see the whole collection (so far).

RETURN TO DUNWICH

Evil is reborn. Henry Armitage, grandson of the man who vanquished the cosmic anti-deity Yog Sothoth a century ago, finds himself at Miskatonic University, in search of the mysterious Necronomicon... after surveillance cameras at his own Boston College reveal their copy being stolen – by someone bearing an unnerving resemblance to historical descriptions of Wilbur Whateley, thought to be long dead. Armitage’s fears double, when he discovers a neo-satanic faction of the U.S. Military exists in an underground annex below Miskatonic. They have located the Sleeper of R’lyeh – Cthulhu – and plan to waken, and weaponize him, to pull mankind back to the dark age of ethereal galactic rule upon the Earth! Henry Armitage must prevent the redawning of an evil from beyond the cosmic veil, aided by a monster his grandfather battled, and a rogue group of Miskatonic faculty! Rob Foster creates a modern-day Lovecraftian nightmare – soaked in future technology and ancient blood. The rational and the incredible collide in unholy battle; a tale that will keep you awake, with the lights on – to the last word, which may not be the last.

MURDER SHE LAUGHED

This book will keep you up at night… unwilling to stop reading, desperately in need to find out who survives, who gets away with the vilest of acts, and who walks away without a whisper of suspicion. Or you’ll simply lie in bed, staring into the darkness… wondering, dreading, unable to find relief even in the privacy of your own thoughts. The terrors, manmade or otherwise, are relentless in a world where blood, and alliances no matter how loyal or grudging, are cheap. Whom can you trust when surrounded by strangers with unknown intentions? Or completely alone in a landscape of peril? How confident are you of your own resourcefulness amid a maze of killers? Long lost tales of the famous and infamous dubiously light the way to your escape, in this nerve-rattling anthology. Sherlock Holmes faces his own unending nightmare in 'The Sleeper Rises,' and the forever elusive Zodiac Killer resurfaces to solve, and keep hidden, his own identity in 'Mr. A, Alias Mr. Z'… plus other spine shivering tales of horrible revelation and mind-bending visions of mysteries past and future. Stay awake! Beware of what lurks just around that dark corner.

YOU CAN RUN

"They are beyond anything you can do... except run." – 'Henry' (last known words)

Who are they? What are they? The world of supernatural lore knows them only as "marchers." Ancient ethereal predators from beyond the veil. For centuries they have hunted humans, silently, relentlessly. With no concept of mercy, they cannot be pleaded with, and pursue their victims to the death – those whom by unholy mischief or betrayal, become marked. Once a marcher has latched on, the hunted have only one option – to run, for as long as possible, with a desperation to pass the mark onto some other unwitting soul, and hope the new victim can as well, lest the mark fall back to them after that person is caught and devoured.Troy Terrill, a young upstart in the game of paranormal investigation, finds himself the only hope of not one, but two cursed people with marchers on their trail. Can he rid them of their pursuing abominations? Can anyone? Don't dwell upon the answer too deeply, the act of pondering a marcher gives it your scent.

Plus, don't creep past Rob's latest — so funny it's scary:

THE FUNNIEST GUY IN THE CASKET

Oliver Akers thought he was the worst stand-up comic in Hollywood. That is until he saw the act of a guy named Joey Lou Dillerbacher… along with the rest of the Dillerbacher showbiz clan. It only gnawed at him more, that they got gigs despite being awful. Gig after gig after gig – they are so under-talented and over-rewarded, they'd p.o. the Pope. Even worse, Oliver suddenly finds himself on a relentless loop crossing their path! On a multi-state road trip yet. With his own career going south fast, Oliver must somehow pull his funny out of freefall to survive, physically and emotionally – especially when he stumbles onto the secret side mission of these horrible, but well-connected, performers, and becomes one of their targets.

Rob Foster is the author of other well-reviewed novels in the humorous, science fiction and superhero genres. He lives and writes somewhere in the mysterious mountains of central California, near Sequoia National Forest.