3 Marketing Must Do’s for Authors
Marketing a book is extremely difficult for several reasons. Despite this obstacle most authors must market their books if they want to see sales. There is no other way about it unless Oprah Winfrey decides to promote your book you as the author must do the work.
The avenue for writers has changed drastically with the advent of digital publications. The once fertile ground of freelance writing jobs is drying up, making it harder for writers to make money from writing articles. A New York Times article titled Does It Pay To Be A Writer detailed some very dismal statistics. So what is a writer to do?
Embrace marketing tools both online and traditional to increase sales and visibility.
Sounds difficult, doesn’t it? I am not going to sugarcoat things. Marketing a book is extremely difficult for several reasons. Despite this obstacle, most authors must market their books if they want to see sales. There is no other way about it, unless Oprah Winfrey decides to promote your book, you as the author must do the work.
I know many of you are sighing right now, because as one of my author friends said to me in an accusing tone, “I don’t have time to market, I have to write my book!” I smiled patiently at her while allocating a list of things that needed to be done to raise her visibility.
Let me know if you have used any of these tips.
#1 Business Cards and/or marketing materials. I always have cards with me, even when I am out walking or doing errands. The only time I don’t have cards is when I am working. I meet people in all types of settings, and I want to be prepared to create a sale or develop a partnership with someone who can assist with my marketing.
These meetings have forced me to develop my 15-second sales pitch. I cannot tell you the number of times that I have been asked, “What’s your book about?” or “What do you write?” It is hard not to stumble here. I have worked on what to say in these circumstances to intrigue the listener to go to my website. And that brings me to my next point.
#2 Social Media presence. This is a two-part action, because an author not only has to have a social media presence at least in the top four sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube), an author also must make regular updates to the these platforms. It is easy to start on social media. I used photos from my events to put on my pages.
The hard part is to make sure you do regular posts. Readers want to see your world. They want to know about this author’s life. This includes participation in book fairs, writers groups, and author events. I also used press releases and banners to bring people into my writing world.
#3 Create and maintain an author website or blog. The first thing people do when they find out you’re a writer is they do a search for your name. A website/blog is the one place where the author can control 100% of the content. A stumbling block for many writers is that they don’t have the money for a professional site. WordPress and Wix offer great themes that can help you get a simple site. Don’t let not having the funds to create a perfect site stop you from starting a blog. (Check out my previous post, The First Steps to Creating an Author Website.)
I use my blog to connect with other writers. It is a work in progress, but I have seen the growth in engagement.
Please share in the comments what tools you think an author must do to market their books.
I know many of you are sighing right now because as one of my author friends said to me in an accusing tone, “I don’t have time to market I have to write my book!” I smiled patiently at her while allocating a list of things that needed to be done to raise her visibility.
Let me know if you have used any of these tips .
#1 Business Cards and/or marketing materials. I always have cards with me even when I am out walking or doing errands. The only time I don’t have cards is when I am working. I meet people in all types of settings and I want to be prepared to create a sale or develop a partnership with someone who can assist with my marketing.
These meetings have forced me to develop my 15 second sales pitch. I cannot tell you the number of times that have been asked, “What’s your book about? or What do you write?” It is hard not to stumble here. I have worked on what to say in these circumstances to intrigue the listener to go to my website. And that brings me to my next point.
#2 Social Media presence. This is a two-part action because an author not only has to have a social media presence at least in the top four sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube) an author also must make regular updates to the these platforms. It is easy to start on social mediaI used photos from my events to put on my pages.
The hard part is to make sure you do regular posts. Readers want to see your world. They want to know about this author life. This includes participation in book fairs, writers groups, and author events. I also used press releases and banners to bring people into my writing world.
#3 Create and maintain an author website or blog. The first thing people do when they find out you or a writer is they do a search for your name. A website/blog is the one place where the author can control 100% of the content. A stumbling block for many writers is that they don’t have the money for a professional site. WordPress and Wix offer great themes that can help you get a simple site. Don’t let not having the funds to create a perfect site stop you from starting a blog. (Check out my previous post, The First Steps to Creating an Author Website.)
I use my blog to connect with other writers. It is a work in progress but I have seen the growth in engagement.
Please share in the comments what tools you think a author must do to market their books.