“Revisiting I AM TAMRA: Amazon, IngramSpark & Beyond”
In this, you’ll find details to win a FREE signed copy of I AM TAMRA. But first, a summary:
This is a tale of two Tamras. Only, for one of them, Tamra isn’t her real name. It’s the one she’s using until she escapes the Bots.
Separated by time, both live in SkyCity, but neither of them really belong. In the near future, one Tamra's economic status should have left her at ground level to rot. In a distant future, the other Tamra's allergy to love energy somehow results in the first human pregnancy in centuries.
Awoken in captivity, pregnant Tamra runs. Fleeing the skyplatform, she searches deep below the long-forgotten ground level to save herself and her unborn child. But in her dreams, she finds herself reliving the other Tamra's life. When she finally realizes the connection between them, the tragic events she set into motion are too late to stop.
This is the newest back cover summary for my first SkyWorld novel, I AM TAMRA. I published it in 2020 through Amazon KDP. At the time, I was too afraid to promote it. I had little to no writing experience to my name. My confidence was too low to believe it deserved a fair chance.
Now, I’m trying to change that. Here’s what’s in store for I AM TAMRA:
Step One: Broaden the reach
Self-publishing wasn’t my first choice. I pitched I AM TAMRA to over thirty literary agents over several months before finally making that decision. Struggling through query after query, researching agents and reading their recently landed novels, writing and rewriting my summary to craft something that would hook them: pitching had become a full-time job
But I wanted to keep writing. MY NAME IS GRACE000 was in the back of my mind, itching to get out. I found it hard to divide my attention between the all-encompassing work of pitching and trying to write creatively. So, I looked up the easiest way to self-publish so I could just move on.
But I AM TAMRA deserved more than that. It deserved promotion. It deserved readers. Revisiting I AM TAMRA in this blog post is the first step to righting those wrongs. Next up, it gets a little more challenging: 1) Moving away from Amazon, and 2) Giving away FREE copies. In both cases, the hardest part will be convincing people to read and leave reviews.
Step Two: Get into libraries & local bookstores
Publishing through Amazon KDP was convenient. And instead of having to shell out $125 for an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), Amazon offers one for free. But independent bookstores consider Amazon on par with “predatory publishers,” and won’t stock books sourced there. Even the local library will only order I AM TAMRA through established wholesale vendors.
So, my next step is to republish I AM TAMRA on IngramSpark. Ingram is known throughout the publishing industry and offers more flexibility for sales and pricing, which bookstores and libraries prefer. Since I’m not planning on becoming my own mini-publishing house, I’ll publish under a new free ISBN on IngramSpark. If a publishing house eventually wants to buy I AM TAMRA, they would republish it under their own ISBN anyway, so I figure I’m better off saving the money now while I’m still not making any from my writing.
And after reviewing more Reddit threads than I can count, I decided to leave my print and digital books on Amazon. In theory, Amazon should recognize the Amazon ISBN and Ingram ISBN as a duplicate listing and consolidate. Worse case, two are listed, but at least one of them won’t lose my hard-earned Amazon reviews. And bookstores and libraries consider reviews when deciding to stock a book.
But I’m hopeful that, as I give away more FREE copies, struggling to bring in reviews becomes less of a problem.
Step Three: Get reviews
Pay attention here: this is where you can win your own signed copy!
Before I published I AM TAMRA, a handful of readers read the manuscript in its first printed form. We bound it with nails and cardboard adorned with bits and bobs from a zero-waste facility in an off-grid community in India. After publishing, I went back and asked them to leave reviews on Amazon. But then I stopped trying to get people to read the book, and did even less to encourage people to leave reviews.
So my next big project is getting more readers to read and review I AM TAMRA. I’m researching various ways to do this, but to get the ball rolling, I’m raffling off three signed copies of my book during the month of August. I’ve already offered entries to my current mailing list subscribers, and this week, I’m opening it up to my Instagram and YouTube followers.
Here’s what you can do to enter:
Go to gbarrettauthor.com and sign up for my mailing list. That’s it! This will automatically get you one entry into the drawing.
Then, I’ll send you an email with several other ways you can earn more entries into the giveaway for more chances to win!
Then, I need you to read it. If you’ve been reading my short stories, you’ll notice Easter eggs that deepen the lore. If I ever get the chance to revisit I AM TAMRA, I would probably tweak the early chapters so that readers get hooked sooner, but the most common feedback is that, by Chapter 6, people can’t put it down.
If you’ve already read I AM TAMRA, I would be eternally grateful for you to rate my book on Goodreads and/or Amazon (both links take you directly to my book’s page, but honestly, Goodreads reviews are more valuable). Of course, I’m not expecting you to give 5 stars (unless you really mean it!). I just want honest, whole-hearted feedback. Reviews show the world that people are reading my book, and even a bad review can convince skeptics to want to read for themselves and make their own judgments.
If you don’t win a copy, you can soon buy one through my website. I’ll be launching a merch shop in the coming weeks, where you can purchase signed copies directly from me. In addition to mugs, totes, and T-shirts, I’ll keep copies of I AM TAMRA stocked at my home and will personally sign, pack and ship them out to you based on your preferred shipping method.
But remember: the most important part isn’t just buying the book. It’s reading it and leaving a genuine review. Reviews will make or break my book in a digital marketplace. They’ll gets my work into bookstores and libraries. Only by showing them that people are reading my book can I have a shot at reaching more readers. If you can commit to this, yours becomes the most cherished support an author can have.
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