Marketing means different things to different people. With my product, books, the challenge is to get the information to the people that will appreciate it and act on it. I've made a list of some marketing techniques used by myself and other authors. Please feel free to add other methods in your comments and to say what worked for you and what didn't.
If you are brand new to writing, don't get overwhelmed. Begin marketing by being consistent in one style or venue and then expand your efforts through time.
Start with a website. If you don't have the wherewithal to do it yourself, hire someone. Ask around your fellow authors for recommendations. If you have a website you can't manage, you can hire someone to transition it to a more idiot-friendly platform. I did this recently, and it eliminated a lot of the frustration I felt in the delays to content updates by my former web person.
Blogs have been popular for a while. You can set up a blog through your Blogger or Word Press, though many people have their blogs at their websites because that provides fresh content routinely. Large group blogs, particularly ones that are anchored by
top selling writers, are successful at attracting a consistent readership. If
you aren’t in one of those, consider searching for groups like that and asking
to guest blog. Alternatively, be aggressive and create such a blog. If you are
consistent with your single person blog, you can develop a readership over
time. The key here is consistency and delivering content that appeals to your
followers. Essentially you are painting a word picture of your expertise in
your “brand” area.
Social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, are delicate
marketing platforms. People love to see book covers and photos related to your brand.
They are not keen on seeing repeated messages to “buy my book.” These platforms
work great for people who already have a following, and once a post gains
momentum, the multiplier effect of reposting or sharing can go viral. There is
a caveat, especially on Facebook, where there are author and reader groups that
want you to publish your material. However, the number of posts in those groups
is high, so your selection is quickly dropped down the screen as more posts
come in. The more specifically you can target your groups, the more chances of
reaching an actual reader you’ll have.
Press releases work great in you live in an area with some
population. My county has 10K people total and no stoplights. Papers from
neighboring towns rarely cover my town, and even when I get a large spread in
the weekly paper, it doesn’t assure sales or attendance at book signings. Many
people do radio interviews now, or podcasts. Those are popular, but since I
haven’t done them, I can’t gauge their effectiveness. If you live in a city of
any size, you should be doing these press releases. Or you can contribute
articles that are in some way related to a topic in your book for some
subliminal marketing.
Newsletters get back to that one-on-one connection. I rely
on my electronic newsletters to get the word out about my book. I put out a
newsletter quarterly and make it as professional looking and engaging as I can.
The tempo is upbeat. I use color photos. I offer extras (contests, recipes,
appearances) when I can. All of my social media links are included in each
newsletter. I use an inexpensive service, Vertical Response, to create the
emails and send them out. Another similar utility is Mail Chimp. I’ve built my
subscriber list up through activities in a marketing co-op.
In person signings are a great way to spend time with
readers, but you have to be prepared to promote the event and to hand-sell your
books. The hand-selling is difficult for some introverts like me. Also, while
events with multiple authors at a book store are more fun for the author, my
experience has shown a dilution of sales for individuals. For local
book signings, I make sure it’s covered in the paper or place an ad. I also send
postcard mailers to every local reader on my snail mail address list. This
ensures a great turn out. The same is true for an Online Book Launch Party - make sure your fans know when and where it will be held.
Bookmarks are also valued at events where you have face time
with readers, whether it’s a signing or a conference or the dentist office.
Have some sort of handout in your car or purse that you can pull out. Some
people leave these items various places in hopes someone will pick them up. I
find that these items work best for personal interactions. Bookmarks can be any
size, from an inexpensive business card to a postcard to the more traditional
narrow rectangle shape. Vistaprint is an inexpensive online place to shop for
these materials, though you can Google and find a ton more.
Conferences, specifically fan conferences, are a great way
to connect with readers. Some conferences cater to authors and readers, but
cons like Malice Domestic, Bouchercon, and RT pull in a boatload of readers.
See if one of these is in driving distance for you to keep expenses down. You
may still only sell a modest number of books, but you are building a reputation
in that crowd, which will turn out to be worth its weight in gold. Be sure you
collect names and addresses for your newsletter from each interested party.
Marketing co-ops like Booklovers Bench also create a buzz
and a professional brand. I banded together with several mystery and romance
writers a few years back to do this because I write mystery and romance. The
net effect is that we’ve pooled our readerships, thus multiplying our potential
market. We send book information to readers of our genres routinely. http://www.bookloversbench.com
Crowdsourcing is the new buzz word, or at least it’s new to
me. The recent contract I won through the Kindle Scout program for my G-1 came as a result
of reader input and viral marketing. Many authors are using utilities like
Thunderclap to promote. As I understand it, authors get their friends to agree
to post word of their event or book release on Facebook or Twitter. The
Thunderclap utility has the tweet and FB post already uploaded. Folks agree and
give the utility permission to post automatically (once) for that event on a
certain day, thus ensuring a blitz of low-cost information hitting a wide
audience. You have to have a minimum number of people to agree to help you. I
think it’s 100 but I’m not sure.
To sum up, many strategies are out there to find readers.
I’ve found I can’t do everything or even half of everything. It just makes me
nuts. My advice is to do the things you like or that you don’t find
objectionable. It’s also easier for me if I do a little each day. You can
prewrite blogs or other social media posts. Heck, on my Facebook author page I
can even upload and preschedule posts. That’s great when I travel to
conferences and can’t “tend the gardens.”
Maggie Toussaint
writing science fiction as Rigel Carson
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