by Allison Maruska
Now it’s time for the super secret post you’ve all been waiting for. Remember this Twitter poll?
It launched this whole mini-series on where writers get stuck. Be sure to check out planning, drafting, editing and revising, and querying or publishing if those are your personal struggles. While the poll was live, this comment happened:
So, to wrap up this series, let’s talk marketing! Is everyone excited??
I know. I can’t fake it very well. But stick with me. It’ll be worth it.
Marketing is a sticky point because, well, it kinda sucks. And by kinda I mean totally. Especially for us usually-introverted author types, having to talk about something we created and be excited about it isn’t natural at all. My alter-ego on Twitter gets it.
Add to that the reality that book marketing often yields weak results, and it’s easy to get frustrated and bail.
But!
There are ways to make marketing more palatable and effective. We’ll identify the problems and address each one.
Culprit 1: Marketing feels like bragging and that’s uncomfortable
I created that image and used it in this post shortly after my first book was published, because that’s exactly what direct (that’s important) marketing feels like. It’s like that guy at a party who steers every conversation back to himself. Nobody wants to be that guy.
Solution: Work around marketing directly
Don’t get me wrong here: there’s nothing wrong with targeted marketing to an extent. It can be effective. There’s a reason all the cups at a stadium say Coke on them. Marketing theories suggest it takes multiple exposures (20, according to one theory) to a product before a potential customer buys.
However, a logo on a cup is more palatable than someone standing in front of the seats yelling “drink Coke!” would be. You can’t push all twenty exposures in too short a space, or the potential customer becomes an annoyed one who never wants to hear from you again.
But this point was about comfort, wasn’t it? The good news is by marketing indirectly, a writer can feel more comfortable because it doesn’t feel like they’re smashing their book into someone’s face and the risk of overdoing it drops.
There are a few ways to do this:
- Participate in Twitter chats with other authors/readers
- Weave non-book content (that’s entertaining) around book promotions. The ratio should be more fun, less promo. Post scheduling tools such as Hootsuite are great assets for this.
- Interact on social media at every opportunity
- Celebrate book successes
“Check out this amazing new review!” is an indirect way to offer another exposure to your book without you saying “buy it!” Look for ways to talk about your work indirectly, and be a real and fun human being.
Culprit 2: Marketing doesn’t work (or so it seems)
I’ve learned something about marketing over time: it’s a moving target. Paying to directly advertise with newsletters (such as FKB, ENT, and Robin Reads, among others) might work well for one book and not another (genre is a big player here). Even with the same book, one strategy might work for a little while and then stop working so well.
Solution: Grow, adapt, change
Since I joined, Twitter has changed as far as book marketing goes. New algorithms put “interesting” content first in home feeds, and spoiler alert, book promos aren’t usually interesting. I’ve definitely seen fewer promo posts than when I started, and I’m sure it’s not because there are fewer of them overall. They just aren’t being shown.
These days, Twitter chats (such as #authorconfession, #espressoyourself, and #storysocial) and targeted hashtags are the way to get your brand out there. I participate in three different writer/reader chats, and in every one I’ve had opportunities to discuss my work and my process. We get to know each other there. Just the other day, I connected with a reader who will write a review for one of my books.
On Facebook, paid promotions work to some extent, depending on what you’re targeting. You haveto follow their ad guidelines regarding % text or they’ll cut you off. If you don’t want to pay to promote (but keep in mind Facebook has a billion people on it. Just saying.), use high-engagement posts often on your page. More engaging posts = more engaging page = more people see an unpaid post.
Culprit 3: The writer gives up
This kind of goes with Culprit 2, but I’m singling it out because it’s the big killer. If the author doesn’t care about the book anymore, why should anyone else?
The solution: Be persistent
I know some days it feels like you’re doing nothing but planting seeds that will never grow. But remember that detail about number of exposures? Think of each exposure as a seed. Eventually, one will grow. As long as your content is good (I’m talking about the actual book here), your cover is professional, and your blurb is intriguing, your book will sell. It just may feel like it’s happening at the speed of glacial erosion at times.
Talk to other authors about what they’re doing. Try new things. Don’t assume that because something works it will always work. And most importantly, don’t give up!
Guest post contributed by Allison Maruska. Allison likes to post in line with her humor blog roots, but she also includes posts about teaching and writing specifically. Check out her website for more of her work.
So true! Thanks for the reminder to keep plugging away at it. Needed to hear that today.
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So did I! 😂
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I needed this post more than you know. Thank you ❤
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So glad it was helpful. 🙂
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Thanks for this info – 😉
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Thank you! For FB what link do you recommend using in the ad? e.g. to the author’s website or to an amazon page. I sell at more bookstores than amazon.
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I’d use wherever you have more sales (so if one of the bookstores has a website, maybe that). I use global links that go to whichever book’s amazon link I’m marketing.
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Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio and commented:
Check out this post from A Writer’s Path blog on the dreaded topic of marketing for indie authors.
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Marketing is indeed a trick, at least if you self publish.
Good info 🙂
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Reblogged this on Stow-away Book.
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There is so much to learn.
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pinned for future reference!
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I liked this post too! Most of us indie authors are bombarded all the time with posts on FB and other places with ads telling us “Take my course and guaranteed you will sell a million books” like I did! And then there are the others that say “You must have a Professional Cover or you will never sell one book. This is usually followed by I will design the Perfect Cover for only $$$$. News Flash! We know we won’t sell a million books right out of the gate, and we know that our “family affair” of working hard on good content, the best cover we can do, and talking (gently) to friends and other friendly ears is what we can afford. And we don’t have time to learn about algorithims or how to read them or in my case how to spell them. We just want to write, edit the best we can and get it out there and hope someone reads it and says something nice. Thanks for your time and letting me rant..
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Reblogged this on luna's on line and commented:
This article gave me a little prod of encouragement when it comes to marketing. I’m clearly not putting enough energy into my efforts and I need to re-double this for my forthcoming novel ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
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An encouraging post! I just reblogged to share the optimism and don’t I just wish that stack of R200 notes in the photo was under my laptop 😉
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Reblogged this on Author Steve Boseley – Half a Loaf of Fiction and commented:
Marketing has been on my mind recently. Here are some of the reasons we get stuck and how to unstick…
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Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
Every author’s favourite topic – Marketing 😀
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A great post, Allison. I find writing a post about something to do with my book, like giraffes for my new Sir Chocolate book, works much better for me.
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Some writers are not destined to be marketers. Let’s admit that. But it won’t hurt to be a writer who can market him/herself. Why not hire someone else to get that marketing job done the right way if a writer doesn’t feel like doing so? 🙂 Just my two cents. Anyway, thanks for sharing.
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Hey! This post helped me a lot understand the basics of book marketing. Thank you very much!
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