Whether we writers like it or not, when you write a book you have to market that book to get any sales. An we all know we’d rather be spending that time to write something else wonderful, whether it’s another mysterious fantasy or paranormal book, an action-packed adventure, a steamy romance, a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat or something historical to transport you to another time and place.
Marketing has always been the dreaded, but necessary evil. Of course I don’t spend near the time I should to market my books and I’m not that good at it since my imagination lies in other places, like mysterious and magickal fantasy worlds. But here are ten things you can try.
Some things I have tried and think are necessary:
1.) Put up a website, even if it’s just a blog right now. That is free if money is an object and it usually is, unfortunately.
2.) Set up a Facebook page for your book. You can load pics and links there. And it’s also free to get started.
3.) Set up a Twitter account, another freebie.
4.) Post on as many writing sights as you can with links to your books, but be careful not to use the same post on all the threads, especially with Amazon. Reword them first. It’s a pain, but it will keep them from deleting them for you. Posting is also free.
5.) Find other writing blogs that you like and make comments about things that interest you. This is another free one.
6.) If you live in a place that has any bookstores, try to set up a book signing. Again, it’s free.
7.) Submit a press release about your book to the local paper. Again, free unless you snail mail it.
8.) Donate a book to your local library. This will only cost you the price of one book.
9.) Join a local writer’s group, if there is one in your area, and if not think about starting one. This may cost, but probably would be free.
10.) Have business cards, flyers and bookmarks made to pass out to readers. It’s especially nice to give a bookmark with each book purchase. If money is a problem here you could make them yourself, if you have a picture program on your computer and a color printer. Nice stock can be found at the office supply stores these days. Or you could look on the net for a cheap place to have your things printed. I think there are also free photo programs on the net you could check into for doing your artwork.
Good luck all of you, and as always comments are welcome. If someone else has other good marketing ideas we can all benefit from, please feel free to post them here.
2 comments:
You got the most important points here. Marketing is one of my favorite topics and I've written about it frequently on my blog. The main thing authors have to understand is that initially a book is not going to sell itself--somebody's gotta do it and usually that's mostly on the author.
Lee
An A to Z Co-Host
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Lee,
That's unfortunate the marketing falls on the writer because I'd rather be writing. I think all of us would, but there are so many books out there, people won't find you unless you spend time marketing.
Sunni
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