A little over a week ago, I ran an experiment here to see if a friends suggestion would yield any results. He told me that I should be using the livejournal more aggressively for advertising the store. To that end, I ran a 10% off sale for a few days and promised to let people know the results.

For starters, I’m only on a few friends list. I knew from the start that this would probably be a large obstacle and despite a few people picking up the news and posting it again on their livejournals, turnout was fairly poor. There was only one person who ordered something while referencing the livejournal. (Thank you)

As luck would have it, some unexpected bills came in. I extended the duration on the sale and then promoted it on my mailing list and The Message Board of the Damned. By the end of the week there were 30 people who took us up on the sale. Here are the final totals for sales:

Livejournal : 1
Message Board of the Damned : 6
Clarkesworld Books Mailing List : 20
Word of mouth from Damned : 3

In the past, I’ve advertised in magazines, google adwords, convention programs, and web sites. This experiment generated more sales than any one of them did in a two month period. Go figure. I still have a lot to learn about promoting my bookstore. Suggestions always welcome.

-Neil

Neil Clarke
Clarkesworld Books
www.clarkesworldbooks.com