Hi, Jacob. A couple of responses here. (I’ll try to be brief, but I suck at that. These usually turn into huge posts...)
You said your family/supporters aren’t into fantasy? I say WHO CARES!? You can - and you should - still get their support. That’s on you. You have to make them see that the actual book doesn’t matter. They can tear the pages out for kindling if they need to once it’s published. You need to switch your frame of mind on that - they’re not supporting the book, they’re supporting YOU. YOUR dream. Make them see that the minimum $10 e-book - even if they never download it! - brings you one step closer to achieving that. Do not take no for an answer. ...which loops back around to the point about bugging them again and again. Keep a spreadsheet with names and dates so you can see exactly how long it’s been when you last reached out. And then STAY on them.
You might get 1 or 2 people who flat out tell you to F-off... And ONLY then should give up. And honestly, if they tell you that, then they’re probably not worthy of being your friend/supporter anyway. You’ll be surprised to learn that not a lot of people will actually refuse.
(Ah crap... This IS getting long.)
1-Media = YES. Get a video done. Even if it’s just you talking to a camera. Doesn’t HAVE to be fancy. 3 minutes max (even though I broke my own rule here). Explain who you are, what the book means to you, what inspired it, and give your ’elevator pitch’ (which should be 2 of the 3 minutes). Then the call to action: "If this sounds good, then lend me your pre-order!" And for the record, book ’trailers’ with periodic, typed captions/slides set to ominous music or your favorite band, interspersed with screencaps from deviant art are NOT fancy. Videos have a better impact when we can see the wizard of oz behind his curtain - you, the author. At least I think so.
2-Recommendations. Exactly what Karr said. Find some interesting books and recommend them. Even if you only have a dozen followers - it’s not about reaching THEM, it’s also about getting yourself on inkshares Buzzing page. They’ll see so-and-so recommend this-and-that, and you might get a couple onlookers asking ’who’s so-and-so?’ Recommends are a good way to participate in the community. BUT, don’t just recommend everything. Actually spend TIME with other projects around here. Be authentic. Recommend stuff you LIKE. Don’t be a rec-spammer.
3-Reading the projects. Yup! Just like Karr said. Read, and leave reviews. Every author likes a glowing review. (I wrote a, uh, ’review guideline’ post somewhere on these forums... Just more info about how I see those.
4-Here’s where I might disagree slightly with @Karr Leroy ... Don’t update constantly. Just don’t. Once per week, maximum. But make sure they are updates of substance! Something engaging. Pose a question. Start a discussion. ADD LINKS! To forum threads, other authors’ books, websites related to your story, etc. I get a hundred updates a day, and I do not read all of them. But I do read the first two sentences of all of them, at least. Which is the next thing: do NOT make updates overly long. Writing a good update is an exercise in engaging a reader powerfully right when it starts, then making your point as quickly as possible....
...which is something I obviously still struggle to do... :(
Also, a question. How many authors have their whole manuscript up? How did you decide when to stop uploading your chapters? Do you find it is better to have more or less of your book up for viewing?