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She’s right, everyone. And one more piece of advice – bookmark this website and use it as a model for your own (hope that’s okay,Rachel).
Replythank you, Kevin! It’s great. Lori is awesome and I look up to her. She inspires me daily.
ReplyFor sure it is the only way to do it. I just wish I’d started working on marketing earlier.
ReplyNever too late to start — focus on building relationships rather than ‘buy my book’ spamming and you’ll get there.
ReplyI am so sorry you had such a hard time with authors! Everything you’ve said matches everything I’ve learned talking to other authors, marketers, SEO consultants, indie publishers. The marketing part is hard work!
I speak from the inexperience of an about-to-self-publish my first children’s book. It’s not going to be out until early 2017, and already I feel like Sisyphus, pushing a rock up a hill only to have it roll back down each day.
My friend and neighbor, Dennis Wood encouraged me to check out this post. It’s validating and daunting to confirm reality as I know it.
I’ve spent hours already, talking to librarians, teachers, parents, and basically anyone I run across. I’ve set up my Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Medium, and Facebook pages for my book and/or for me. I’m working on my Web site (what the heck can you put on a site with only one book, no awards, no reviews, and no testimonials??! <–rhetorical question). I'm in the process of changing it from a book site to an author site.
I'm creating author visit materials. I'm going to book fairs and talking to virtual schools.. I go to meetings that I think might have people attuned to my topic. For instance, because my main character is a little tree from the wild who [SPOILER ALERT] ends up in a city, I attended an urban forestry community meeting looking for networking opportunities there. Believe it or not, I found some people who work with educators about appreciation for trees. Hope that results in opportunities in the future. I'm scoping out chances to do readings at local nurseries, nature centers, and restaurants that have events featuring local creative people, talking to foster care and literacy programs.
So many possibilities, all of which are time consuming and pushing me beyond my comfort zone and skill set again and again. Maybe it's premature, since I don't even have advance review copies yet, but it seems like good practice. Maybe once I have paper and digital copy in hand I'll have made the worst of my mistakes. One can only hope!
And STILL I want a magic bullet. Ha! However, for me, the magic bullet is anything that will tempt people to click through from social media and actually sign up for my newsletter. With followings in the low double digits, the experimentation seems endless and unfruitful…so far!
Well, enough of staring at my Sisyphean mountain. I'm so glad Dennis told me about your post, and I appreciate your taking the time to spread a dose of reality. Best wishes for better reception back in SEO land.
ReplyHI Diana and thanks for your comment. Much of what you are struggling with is this: branding. We publish the author not the book — so keep in mind that focusing solely on the topic of your book will only get you so far. Look through the many articles I’ve written here and for Lori’s site (http://BookPromotion.com) and you’ll find lots of tips from her, myself, and other experts. Her book HOW TO MARKET A BOOK 2.0 on Amazon is also very helpful.
You might want to start attending my weekly #BookMarketingChat on Twitter also (Wednesday, 6pm pst) and take a look at past chats on our public Facebook page to learn most of the answers you need. The info is out there. Good luck!
ReplyBranding–precisely! Yes, that’s what I’m in the midst of. This is exactly why I’m moving from a book site to an author site. The book site arose from my view of the project as a collaboration between myself and my illustrator. Think Rogers & Hart or Lennon & McCarney (might as well aim for a bright star, eh what?) But I’ve made the decision to make it a solo site. I’m working on how to turn “eclectic” into a brand. Ha!
Thanks for the links; I’m always happy to learn. Sign me…
The marketing info sponge,
Diana
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ReplyAwesome post and right on time. Reading it lets me know that I’m not crazy in my thinking although I feel like I tend to teeter back and forth. I just released my second novel on the first of December. My lack of consistent and persistent marketing has my first novel practically collecting dust. By now I should know better, and I actually thought I did. I started marketing early, even going the “pre-release” route. Never-the-less, I’ve already started to experience the book marketing blues.
I realize that none of us are immune to the roller coaster wave of excitement that comes from releasing a book, followed by the plummet your heart takes when the marketing seems in vain. But there are only two possible courses of action to take if we ever want to succeed. Keep marketing and keep writing.
For me, the trick is finding the right balance. I’m glad I found your blog. What better way to learn how to succeed than to following someone who is successful? Thank you for all your candid words of wisdom. Based on your author “must have” checklist, I know I’m on the right track, only now it’s time to turn things up a notch! I’ll be following you for more smart book marketing solutions. Thanks again.
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ReplyI agree there’s no magical shortcut, especially for indie authors who are essentially a one-person publishing house. But what strategy do you recommend for authors who don’t have several hours a day to devote to networking? I work a full-time job in addition to my moonlight novelist gig, and it’s challenging enough finding time to write the darn books, much less hawk them online. How would you advise someone like me to maximize the impact of their limited marketing energies?
ReplyHi JK, good question. Well, think of it differently than ‘hawking your books online.’ IMHO, it comes down to building relationships with readers. If you want to sell books, building connections with your readers is the way to do it. There are any number of ways to do so (you can read my other blog posts or books on how to do so – there’s simply not enough room here to review it all and it would be redundant).
Creating interest in your books by sharing snippets, run contests, ask questions, blog, be generous, use a social media management tool for time management purposes…and use your mobile apps. We all have time challenges and here’s the main thing–marketing isn’t an option if you want your work to be visible. There are plenty of ways to make tech work for you — just don’t lose the personal component. 🙂
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