The Brutal Truth of Book Marketing
If you're an author like I am and you enjoy world building along with writing great fantasy scenes, then good for you. That's the first step of being an author and one that should not be overlooked at all. However, the reality is the publishing world has changed so much and with the advent of social media, writing a great book isn't good enough anymore. Back in the day if you could land a publisher with your story, then more than likely you were going to sell a decent amount of books because publishers had to market your book themselves. Although the author had to market their own books to a certain degree, but not to the degree like in today's world.
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The tough reality in today's world is that becoming an author has become a two-part business. The first part is writing the book to your creative desires and the second part that many of us hate including me, marketing the damn thing. Of course, marketing is more that crying "Please buy my book, pretty please... :(". That is not going to cut it, it never did and certainly, never will. Now I'm not a bestselling author yet, but I've had a strong month in sales and one of my writer friends asked me for advice, as her book isn't doing too well. I will say this now, results will vary and will depend on how much work you put into promoting yourself and your book. Also, it will depend on how good your book really is. So as interesting as these ideas will be, it will be up to you, the author to make them work for you. Of course, if you're writing non-fiction or a self-help book you will be at an advantage over one who is taking the riskier fictional route in genres.
Ways to promote your book:
1. The most obvious way to make sure your book sells is to make sure that it rocks! Yeah, write the damn book and make sure it really is good. I've seen some real garbage in Amazon, but I'm not the one to review them. Instead, I return it and tell my friends not to get the book. A poorly written book is a surefire way for your name to spread like wildfire, but for the wrong reason. So edit...edit...edit your book or if you're overwhelmed get somebody to look at it. Although you should learn how to edit your own work, you will save money and gain a new skill to promote to other authors. For me doing your own cover shows you have imagination and people will look upon that favorably. However, if you're unfamiliar with photoshop or not an advanced user of Microsoft Paint, then I recommend getting somebody to do your cover. Remember that your cover is your selling point besides your blurb. Nobody wants to read a sucky book, don't let your book be one of those regarded as infamously bad. Speaking of book blurbs...
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2. Write a great book blurb for your book. Besides the cover, this is the first thing a potential reader will see. For me, this is my favorite thing to write, although sometimes I get carried away. The blurb is not a summary of the book, but one that points out the major details your reader should look out for. Make sure you end it with a punch line or your right hook. Best lines are questions such as my second book, Framed. "What do plutonium, dirty politics, and a virtual world have in common? You'll just have to find out, in the story of the century! Where no stone will be left unturned!" Boom! Now that is not my whole blurb, but my punch line. Make it count!
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Now that your book is written, proofread, you got a winning cover, and you got a kick-ass blurb. Now it's time to get it out to the world!
3. Go on a social media blitz... Yup use all the social media channels you can to promote not only your book but as seen above, your author brand. Face it you'll have to market and introduce yourself even if you're traditionally published. People have become fickle and want to know that you're an author because you love what you write, not just the money. What do you want people to know you as? A romance writer, a kick-ass sci-fi writer, a steamy thriller writer or an informative non-fiction writer. Depending on what you write, brand yourself to that and have fun with it. People will appreciate you more if they see you show an actual interest in your work that it's part of your actual personality. So how do you go about showing your inner author?
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4. Throw in a quote from the book on social media. Doing this will give your potential readers a taste of the mood of your story and a taste of your characters. People like sneak peeks, so go look for your best quotes and make it the focus point of your particular status. The best ones are those from the heroes and villains, avoid quotes from characters that are minor. People want memorable quotes that will stay stuck in their heads forever.
5. Make a promotional poster for your book. This means showing pictures of your book, characters, and setting(s) of your book. You can put your punch line and reviews (Customer or Editorial). An example of a promo pic I made for my latest book is shown below. Most importantly, have fun with it. Your fans will be able to tell.
6. Do a blog about your book. I made a Facebook page for my new book and did something called the "ex-files" where I write the character bios of the characters, settings, backstories, and thoughts from characters while they are out of character in the book. Giving your fans backstory or content that they might not otherwise read in the book will enhance their reading experience and might even alter their train of thought which is also a bonus.
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7. Do a giveaway of your book once in a while. By doing a giveaway you will attract readers who want a chance to get a free copy of your book. Right there you are getting free publicity to your book because what bookworm doesn't want a freebie. However, the trick is if your book is so good and the person did not win the free copy they might decide to purchase a copy of your book anyway and might even spread the word of your book like wildfire, this is the wildfire you want, not like #1 in the list. I do not urge you if you are self-published to do a free book kindle countdown deal. I mean you might get a decent amount of downloads, but they rarely translate into actual sales after the promotion. Plus most people who get the book won't even bother to review the book, which is what authors live on.
8. The final thing you can do is get book reviews for your book, after all the odds of getting a sale is having multiple rave reviews of your book. I know getting a review can be tough and it is. However, there are legit ways to getting a review. One is to send a free copy to a reviewer, just be careful as not all reviewers read all genres. Make sure they read your genre before sending them your book and if you aren't sure, just ask. I review books as well, drop me a comment if you wish me to review your book, I'm open to all genres. Another way to get reviews is to do a review swap. You can do it where you send each other copies of your respective books and review them. While that's ok, just make sure when you review on Amazon that you indicate that you got a free copy in exchange for an honest review or Amazon might pull the review. There is a final way and that is to do the swap by buying each other's books, while Amazon is trying to crack down on this, I think is a simple act of kindness with a noble cause. It will also help with your sales rankings on Amazon as well. Just beware not every author is ok with this, so ask.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this article and hopefully, you learned a few new tricks to use in your marketing journey. So happy writing and good luck my dear author friends!