AUGUST 21, 2022 – With one month to go until launch day, horror author Isaac Thorne is working hard at preorder and prelaunch marketing efforts. The hardcover, paperback, and ebook editions of Hell Spring ship on Sept. 21, 2022.
“I envy anyone who finds this stage of independent publication easy,” he says. “I’m an introvert by nature, so this whole aspect of the process feels alien to me.”
That said, Isaac indicates that his previous experience with both Road Kills and The Gordon Place lent him some comfort in getting the word out about Hell Spring. “Prior to Road Kills, I spent a great deal of time building up my social media presence, which itself was a process I had no faith in my ability to accomplish. I focused primarily on Twitter, but have since branched out on Facebook, Instagram, and even TikTok.
“But there’s a hell of a lot more to marketing an indie author’s title than social media,” he adds. “I’ve also reached out to horror magazines, both online and print, about reviews and advertising. I’m advertising on sales channels. I’ve even placed some ads with some popular video streaming, audio streaming, and podcast services. If you subscribe to those, you might see or hear one sometime over the next few weeks and months.”
Specifically, audio podcast ads for Hell Spring will begin running on Spotify’s network on the book’s launch date. In addition, an audio/video ad will run on Spotify’s music network beginning Sept. 15. On the same date as the Spotify podcast audio ad, a video ad will launch on Hulu.
“I’m really curious to see what kind of results I get from these advertising formats,” Isaac says. “I’ve never explored this territory before.” Advertising via other platforms will follow.
Meanwhile, Isaac says the preorder phase of Hell Spring‘s launch seems to be going well. “Hell Spring already has a number of reviews on blogs, Goodreads, NetGalley, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok,” he explains. “I’ve been pleased with the reception so far. And I hope it continues to be received well. It’s fun to watch different readers extract different ideas and experiences from the book. As the author, I had a specific intent, of course, but it’s not fair to cloud individual reader judgments with what I think it’s about. I’m very much enjoying what they think it’s about.”
When asked whether he has any specific goals for Hell Spring now that the advance reader copy (ARC) is out in the world and the launch date approaches, Isaac laughs. “Not at all,” he says. “There are things that I hope will happen. There are things that I’d like to happen. But those things are too pie-in-the-sky to count as goals. Long term? I have no idea. I just wanted to put something out there that tells the story I want to tell and that, hopefully, other people can relate to.”
Hell Spring is available for preorder now from this site and other retailers. It ships on Sept. 21, 2022.
