Since I wrote the last article I’ve sold between one to ten copies of my book Battleframe per day. Not bad when you consider that all my marketing efforts have cost exactly zero dollars. So what’s the next steps?

I’m doing a number of things, all of which are important and all are crammed into the time I have available while I keep on working in my company ParkLogic.

Grow the Content

Marketing is useless unless you are also growing the content on your website. You’ll find that michaelgilmour.com is constantly changing and being tweaked with upgraded graphics, new articles, forum posts and anything that would be of interest to a potential reader. I’m also encouraging people to sign-up to the website by providing free maps of key locations from the book, news updates and access to the forum area.

I’m the first person to say that I’m not an SEO expert but there is one thing I know and that’s Google loves regularly updated content. In fact, I’m a bit of a cynic when it comes to SEO….just give Google what it wants and be done with it!

My wife Roselyn, videoed me opening my box of books and seeing Battleframe for the very first time. If you every want to see raw emotional joy then check out the video. I hope that it puts a smile on your face....you'll see that it did for me.

If you want to pick up your copy in either ebook or paperback formats then go to my authors page at amazon.com/author/michaelgilmour.com

For the past few days I’ve been watching my UPS package traverse the world with the first copies of my book, Battleframe. As I tracked the package I’d say to my wife Roselyn, “It’s in Honolulu!” This was then followed up by, “It’s now in Australia!” and then finally, there was a knock at the door…..

With our son Timothy taking photos and Roselyn on a video camera I slowly opened the box with the order of five books. Seriously, my heart was racing and I felt like I could barely hold the knife to cut the tape!

Seeing the first copy through the packaging on top was nothing short of one of the best moments in my life. Don’t get me wrong, I love ebooks but seeing a physical copy of something that you’ve worked on for so long was awesome! I think that the above photo captured the moment for me when I held Battleframe in my hands for the very first time. I was deliriously happy!

After enjoying the moment with my family I called my Mum and Dad who have both been such a great support in the writing of the book. They were around in about 10 minutes! I kept book number one but I presented my father with his own copy of Battleframe. The first thing that he asked was how far I was through book number two……Dads! LOL!

I couldn’t resist screen capturing the UPS delivery docket (see below).

If you’ve ever wanted to write a book, I hope that the happiness in my photo inspires you. It’s a magical experience seeing your writing in print and one that you’ll never forget.

I also want to take this time to thank all those people that have purchased their own copies of Battleframe. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Don’t forget that after registering at michaelgilmour.com you can get access to maps of key locations, discussion forums and more content over the weeks ahead.

I can’t resist…..if you want to buy your own copy of Battleframe then it’s available on Amazon by clicking here or the image below.

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Michael Gilmour has been in business for over 32 years and has both a BSC in Electronics and Computer Science and an MBA. He was the former vice-chairman of the Internet Industry Association in Australia and is in demand as a speaker at Internet conferences the world over. Michael is passionate about working with online entrepreneurs to help them navigate their new ventures around the many pitfalls that all businesses face.

A number of weeks ago I promised to discuss how I was going to market my new scifi book, Battleframe, as a case study for any online business. To make it a little harder I’ve decided to not spend any cash on advertising other than from what my book brings in….this will mean that I’ll need to do some creative thinking.

Friends and Family
When launching any new business the first port of call is to sell your product or service to friends and family. Some people feel a little guilty about doing this but I personally believe that if you’re part of a family then you need to support one another.

For example, my brother launched a wine importation business and I was one of his first online customers. So in launching Battleframe I contacted my family and hit them up to buy my book!

Wider Business Contacts

Each one of us has developed a network of colleagues that are just looking for an excuse to help you out. When you’re launching a new business or product this is the group that will cheer you on and often provide some very sage advice.

One of the great things about the Internet and the domain industry is that over the last fifteen years I’ve developed a huge network of friends all over the world. I count them as friends because I would like to think that our relationships have transcended just business.

So what have I done so far? I’ve let everyone that pays attention to my linkedin, facebook, google+, twitter and my blog know that I’ve just written a science fiction book. The result is a lot of congratulations combined with some sales.

I must admit that the flood of good will towards me has been really humbling. I would really like to thank everyone for their good wishes. Thank you, thank you and thank you yet again!

  After nearly 2 years of writing, rewriting and correcting I’ve finally published my debut science fiction book, Battleframe. It was an incredible experience clicking a button and then a few minutes later seeing it appear on Amazon! It was almost like Sheldon and Leonard in the sitcom “Big Bang Theory” when they published a paper together!

For all of you that have been wondering what the book is about here is the synopsis.

Battleframe

Resource rich planet Alpha Three becomes the focus of a galactic wide conflict. In the midst of a remorseless Scourge invasion a lone human battleframe pilot, call-sign Whizzbang, strives to find and rescue his closest friend from the invaders.

With the extermination of the human colony seemingly inevitable, Whizzbang's squad of veteran pilots struggle to turn the tide of the war. Just when he thinks they may have a chance, members of the squad begin vanishing before his eyes and the odds of winning the battle become slim to none.

The mysterious nano-robots, unknowingly developed by an alien intelligence, appear to be all that will enable humanity to survive the onslaught. But all is not what it seems as the micro-machines begin to dramatically transform Whizzbang's friends in astounding ways.

Safe within his command dome, the enemy General plots on how he can cover the world in the enigmatic Barrier, a force that kills humans in seconds. It is then that Whizzbang discovers that the Earth may be the next Scourge target.

Book one in the “Mindwars” opens with our galaxy in turmoil and humanity on the brink of extinction.

The plot is fast paced, has lots of action and the novel has a number of twists and turns that I hope really keeps the reader’s attention. I couldn’t resist using the call-sign of “Whizzbang” in the book!

I must admit that there is a certain amount of trepidation in releasing something that you’ve been working on for a long time. If you don’t like it then please go easy on any hate comments…..but if you do like it then cheer me on to release book two as soon as possible! A great comment on Amazon would be awesome as well :-)

I’m also releasing a lot more free content on my website at http://michaelgilmour.com for registered users. So far, I’ve added a map of the world plus a floorplan of a key location. You can also get access to the forum area to ask questions about characters, the plot, setting etc.

Battleframe is available in both ebook and paperback formats. Feel free to click here to purchase a copy. Don't forget to tell your friends about it as well :-)

I want to take a moment to thank all my friends from around the world that have inspired me to keep on writing. If it wasn’t for you and your kind thoughts then I’m not sure if I would ever have completed Battleframe. So thank you one and all.

I would also like to publicly acknowledge the tireless work of my team of beta-readers/editors. They are Roselyn (wife), Timothy (my son), Ray (father) and Laci (best friend). They made suggestions to improve the characters, tightened the plot and made the world of Alpha Three an exciting place to visit. More than that….they fixed a lot of my Engrish. ;-)

I hope that you enjoy reading Battleframe as much as I did writing it.

Cheers!