From Edie: Learn how to market your self-published book with confidence. Discover relational, authentic ways to share your stories without feeling pushy.
Self-Publishing Success: Two Keys to Effective Marketing as a Self-Published Author
by A.C. Williams @ACW_Author
When was the last time you got excited about something?
I mean, really excited. Maybe it was about a movie or a television show or a new restaurant or even maybe a recipe you prepared at home. We can get excited about all sorts of things, can’t we? And when you are excited, what’s the first thing you do?
I guess it’s different for everyone, but for me, when I’m really excited about something, I tell people.
That, in its most basic sense, is marketing. Marketing is sharing what you’re excited about with someone else who might benefit from it too.
So far in this series on self-publishing, we’ve talked about setting your goals, understanding your legal rights as a self-published author, ISBNs, distribution channels, market research, and book cover design, the different types of editing, and formatting both for physical books and ebooks. And now, at the end of our 10-month blog post series, we’re going to tackle the topic that terrifies everyone: Marketing.
I am writing this post because I need it more than anyone else. I’ve figured out most of the other steps of the self-publishing process, but marketing is one that I still struggle with for whatever reason.
I constantly fear that I am bothering people when I talk, talk, talk about my books, and I usually fall back on the “just mention it a few times” strategy. I tell myself that people who actually care will go looking for my book. But there are several problems with that approach.
First off, the way media and information works these days is all powered by algorithms, and if your audience isn’t intentionally building an algorithm in their virtual lives that will serve up your book, they won’t see it.
Secondly, considering your audience with that mindset turns you against them if they don’t buy your book. If they don’t buy your book, that means they don’t care, right? Of course not. That’s not how this works.
I have many wonderful relationships in the writing industry, but due to some choices I made with my branding almost 10 years ago, most authors in the industry know me as a website developer and tech person. So a few years ago, when I started talking more openly about my writing and publishing experience, a lot of people who thought they knew me were shocked. Yes, I ran a small press for 10 years. Yes, I have more than 20 published books. But how were they supposed to know if I didn’t talk about it?
If you want to make a career out of being an author, you must talk about your books. And, no, that doesn’t mean that’s all you talk about, but the more you convince yourself that you’re bothering people, the less you’ll talk about your stories.
So, how do you do it? Where do you go? What platform do you use?
Well, much of that depends on your audience, and there are many teachers who are far better qualified than I am to coach you on those questions.
Here are two key points to remember as you build any marketing plan:
1. The most effective marketing is relational.
Do you know your audience? Have you put real thought into who you are writing for? Have you prayed for them? Have you made space in your professional life to consider what your writing can help them accomplish? Yes, that’s a real question even for fiction writers. Who are your readers? If you don’t consider them as real people, you can’t communicate with them, and storytelling is all about communication.
If you aren’t invested in building a relationship with your readers, you’re going to struggle when it comes to marketing because you don’t know who you’re talking to.
Every author wants a relationship with their readers. Now, not every relationship is the same. Many of the most successful authors in the industry simply want a transactional relationship; they write a great story, and readers pay them for it. It’s that simple.
Is that what you want from your readers? That’s completely valid. Don’t try to turn your marketing pursuits into something deep and philosophical if you have no interest in building a deep, philosophical relationship with your readers. None of you will be happy.
Be clear in what you communicate to your readers so they know what they can expect from you and what you expect from them. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that.
2. The most meaningful relationships are authentic.
Be yourself. Don’t pretend to be heady and cerebral if that isn’t who you are naturally. As much communicating as you need to do with your audience, they will see through an act.
Presumably the book you’ve written means something to you, so talk about that. Share what you learned. Share why you wrote it. Talk about the things you care about. Share the life stories that mean something to you. The right audience will stay with you, and they will tell others about you.
Where do we go from here?
This is far from a complete guide to self-publishing, but hopefully something in the last ten months has been useful or helpful in guiding your journey toward producing a quality book on your own.
The best advice I can give you is to keep writing. Discouragement will always try to creep into your perspective, and when you find it, kick it out. Keep learning. Keep moving forward. Keep planting good seed. The harvest will come if you don’t give up.
TWEETABLE
Don't Miss the Rest of the Posts in This Series on Self Publishing:
PART 1: WHY DO YOU WANT YOUR BOOK TO BE RE-PUBLISHED?PART 2: WHY CONTRACTS MATTER IF AN AUTHOR PLANS TO SELF PUBLISH
PART 3: DO I NEED AN ISBN IF I SELF-PUBLISH MY BOOK?
PART 4: HOW DO I DELIVER MY SELF-PUBLISHED BOOK TO A READER?
PART 5: HOW DOES A COMP TITLE HELP A SELF-PUBLISHED BOOK'S MARKETING PLAN?
PART 6: DO I REALLY NEED A PROFESSIONAL BOOK COVER FOR MY NOVEL?
PART 7: EDITING FOR SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHORS: TYPES OF EDITS AND HOW TO FIIND THE RIGHT EDITOR
PART 8: HOW TO FORMAT YOUR BOOK FOR PRINT AND EBOOK (VELLUM, ATTICUS, KINDLE CREATE & MORE)
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