Hi Myra,I assume you're publishing it on Amazon? If not, I would consider starting there. They do a lot of the promoting for you...and that increases exponentially as you get sales and reviews under your belt.To get those initial sales and reviews, I'd enroll in Amazon's KDP Select program (assuming your book is priced between 2.99 and 9.99), and schedule a 5-day sale where you offer your book for just .99. Then reach out to your emai list, blog readers, Facebook Fans, and Twitter followers (in that order). If they follow you on those channels, chances are a good percentage of them will be thrilled to buy your book.At the same time, sign up for a few of those book promoting sites. I can think of the names right now, but a quick Google search will bring the cream to the top. They will post/Tweet/share your book with their followers either for free (they make money on third party ads) or for a small fee.Work hard to promote the book yourself that week on social media. Then sit back and watch the magic of Amazon's algorithms do their thing. The real "secret" to Amazon success is to keep publishing new books in the same genre. Nothing help sells a first book better than publishing a second book. Again, this goes to Amazon's algorithms. Build up an entire series and you'll have a nice little passive income stream. I know, I'm not making it sound very sexy, or "writerly," but there you have it... To be successful, you have to find a balance between creativity and the task of self-promotion.It takes a bit of planning and busy work, but if you've already got a good audience, this formula has been proven to work for many self-published authors. Good luck!Rick
Ciao! Yes, living in Rome is great, and I highly recommend the experience. But DEFINITELY don't come here looking for job opportuities. Either, 1) come with a job already lined up, or 2) create your own job (this might be "slightly" illegal), or 3) don't work at all, and just stay as long as the money holds out!Really, there are no job opportunities, even for Italians. Every once in a while someone gets lucky and "wins the lottery," but it's unreasonable to expect to find a job in Italy as a foreigner who doesn't speak the language. The exception? Teaching English. They love native speakers. But the money you can make just barely pays the rent.Still...I'm with you, the experience is worth the financial/career trade off. Do it if you have the chance! Foolish, yes, but oh-so wonderful...Rick
Thanks Georgette...just my opinion, of course. I dislike having a car in general, even when I'm in the US where it's totally necessary. Life without a vehicle is one of the things I like most about being an expat. And I should have mentioned that I actually walk as much as possible, which is my preferred method of transportation.
Don't Buy a CarUnless you live in a very rural area, you'll be a much happier expat if you don't own a car. I used to say, "don't even drive a car," but I've changed my mind about that. The truth is, owning a car while living in a city like Rome or Florence is quite expensive, AND inconvenient. There's nowhere to park, and many more areas are now being closed to vehicular traffic (and rightly so).Instead, use public transportation to get around town. While not perfect, it works most of the time, and it's much cheaper in Italy than in other European countries. Furthermore, if you really need a car for the day, many cities have introduced car sharing programs which are very easy to use and fairly inexpensive. And when you’re ready to get out of town for a long weekend, just rent a car and hit the highway. The cities are congested with cars, buses, and motorini, but the highway system (marked by green road signs) is generally excellent with much less traffic than you’ll find on the local roads (marked by blue road signs).Seriously, owning a car is a headache and expense that most expats just don’t need. Use a smart combination of other options to make your life as stress-free and relaxing as you dreamed it would be.
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Hi Myra,I assume you're publishing it on Amazon? If not, I would consider starting there. They do a lot of the promoting for you...and that increases exponentially as you get sales and reviews under your belt.To get those initial sales and reviews, I'd enroll in Amazon's KDP Select program (assuming your book is priced between 2.99 and 9.99), and schedule a 5-day sale where you offer your book for just .99. Then reach out to your emai list, blog readers, Facebook Fans, and Twitter followers (in that order). If they follow you on those channels, chances are a good percentage of them will be thrilled to buy your book.At the same time, sign up for a few of those book promoting sites. I can think of the names right now, but a quick Google search will bring the cream to the top. They will post/Tweet/share your book with their followers either for free (they make money on third party ads) or for a small fee.Work hard to promote the book yourself that week on social media. Then sit back and watch the magic of Amazon's algorithms do their thing. The real "secret" to Amazon success is to keep publishing new books in the same genre. Nothing help sells a first book better than publishing a second book. Again, this goes to Amazon's algorithms. Build up an entire series and you'll have a nice little passive income stream. I know, I'm not making it sound very sexy, or "writerly," but there you have it... To be successful, you have to find a balance between creativity and the task of self-promotion.It takes a bit of planning and busy work, but if you've already got a good audience, this formula has been proven to work for many self-published authors. Good luck!Rick
Ciao! Yes, living in Rome is great, and I highly recommend the experience. But DEFINITELY don't come here looking for job opportuities. Either, 1) come with a job already lined up, or 2) create your own job (this might be "slightly" illegal), or 3) don't work at all, and just stay as long as the money holds out!Really, there are no job opportunities, even for Italians. Every once in a while someone gets lucky and "wins the lottery," but it's unreasonable to expect to find a job in Italy as a foreigner who doesn't speak the language. The exception? Teaching English. They love native speakers. But the money you can make just barely pays the rent.Still...I'm with you, the experience is worth the financial/career trade off. Do it if you have the chance! Foolish, yes, but oh-so wonderful...Rick
Bruce, you've cut right to the chase, and effectively reduced the Italy expat experience to three helpful (and very accurate) observations! Bravo!!
Thanks Georgette...just my opinion, of course. I dislike having a car in general, even when I'm in the US where it's totally necessary. Life without a vehicle is one of the things I like most about being an expat. And I should have mentioned that I actually walk as much as possible, which is my preferred method of transportation.
Don't Buy a CarUnless you live in a very rural area, you'll be a much happier expat if you don't own a car. I used to say, "don't even drive a car," but I've changed my mind about that. The truth is, owning a car while living in a city like Rome or Florence is quite expensive, AND inconvenient. There's nowhere to park, and many more areas are now being closed to vehicular traffic (and rightly so).Instead, use public transportation to get around town. While not perfect, it works most of the time, and it's much cheaper in Italy than in other European countries. Furthermore, if you really need a car for the day, many cities have introduced car sharing programs which are very easy to use and fairly inexpensive. And when you’re ready to get out of town for a long weekend, just rent a car and hit the highway. The cities are congested with cars, buses, and motorini, but the highway system (marked by green road signs) is generally excellent with much less traffic than you’ll find on the local roads (marked by blue road signs).Seriously, owning a car is a headache and expense that most expats just don’t need. Use a smart combination of other options to make your life as stress-free and relaxing as you dreamed it would be.