How to Market Your Book By Giving Away One Chapter At a Time

Tony Eldridge is the author of the action/adventure book, The Samson Effect. He also runs Marketing Tips For Authors, - a blog through which he offers valuable information on Book Marketing, even if you are on a shoestring budget. Recently Tony started to market his novel in a very interesting and unique way. Here are a few questions we asked Tony.


Your book ‘The Samson Effect’ has a unique mix of history, politics and religion. Can you tell us a little about the book?

The Samson Effect looks at a biblical story in the Old Testament and brings it into modern time in the same way that the Indiana Jones movie took religious artifacts (i.e., the ark of the covenant) and built an archeological story around it. In The Samson Effect, archeologist are on the trail of the substance that gave the biblical Samson his great strength; but so are some other not-so-nice people. If found, that substance can shift the balance of power in the world.



What inspired you to write this story. Can you share the story behind your book?

I was a minister for over ten years and had a passion for studying the Old Testament stories. No modern writer could match the intrigue, adventure and action found in many of those stories. In The Samson Effect, I found one of my favorite stories and wrapped one of my favorite genres around it. The result is a fast paced, action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler called a “first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure.”


Tony you are giving away your book albeit one chapter at a time, when quite a few authors are still reluctant to share even one chapter. How did you think of doing this?

Well, as a professional marketer, I learned early on that you can often increase sales of your product by giving it away. This concept sounds counterproductive and some people have a tough time wrapping their minds around that concept, but it has a lot of results to back it up. After studying cases where authors have done the same thing, I decided to put it to the test with The Samson Effect. So far, it seems to be working. My sales are up substantially. Part of the reason I think this is true is the format I have chosen to use in giving away the book. By blogging it a chapter at a time, and by releasing it through BookBuzzr the same way, many people who buy the book do so because they get into the book and can’t wait until the next chapter, so they buy the book. These are people who may have never had bought the book had it not been offered for free. There are other factors I think this strategy is working for me, but this is one of the biggest factors in my opinion.


What are your expectations out of this unique marketing method?

My biggest expectation is recognition. The more people who know about the book, the more people who will buy it. Word-of-mouth is a powerful force and if you can capitalize on it, it will reward you more than any ad you could purchase. By giving the book away for free, I am hoping that The Samson Effect will get in front of more people than it ever could have otherwise.


Would you recommend more authors do this? Why?

I think that giving away your entire book depends on a lot of factors. The biggest one is that the author needs to totally understand the strategy, know what they want to accomplish from it, and be 100% behind it. Otherwise, this strategy can be a poor one because the author constantly focuses on “lost sales” rather than the benefit of exposure. An author also needs to look at timing (I wouldn’t personally use this strategy for a book that has been out for less than a year or two unless sales were much lower than I anticipated). For some authors, this strategy is best for them when they give away and old book to promote a new book. So I wouldn’t give a blanket recommendation that authors do this, but I would recommend that they look into it as a marketing strategy so they can make an informed decision about how to apply it to their situation.


You use BookBuzzr to share ‘The Samson Effect’ Chapters every week. As a BookBuzzr user what are your thoughts on the tool and how is it different from other marketing tools (how does it benefit you as an author).

BookBuzzer is a great tool because it is a versatile way to share content with readers. Not only do readers have the look and feel of a book as they read, but I, as an author, can post links to this, add it directly to a blog post, update it easily, and study some rudimentary stats on readership usage. The BookBuzzr website is also set up where readers can create profiles which means that I can get exposure to new readers just by being part of the community.


Could you share some of your leanings from marketing ‘The Samson Effect’.

I would say that as an author, if you find a way to interact with readers and if you find a way to get your book into the hands of bloggers who can help you share it with others, you will be well on your way to doing some guerrilla marketing activities that can help you find new readers. In order to do this effectively, you need to be willing to help others in the same way you would like to help them. This symbiotic relationship can exponentially increase the results of getting your book in front of new readers. In fact, my blog, Marketing Tips For Authors, aims to help authors do just that.