Tuesday 24 October 2017

Book Marketing for Dummies


As many of you will know, two week's ago saw the publication of my Christmas short story collection, Silent Night. It's been exciting seeing my third collection hitting the Amazon shelves but books don't sell themselves... oh no.

You can read about my launch here.

I knew that if I wanted to make Silent Night visible to readers, I would need to take action. That means using the M word. Yes, you know the one... marketing. As anyone who has tried to publicise their book knows, without it, you might as well just print the pages out and read them to yourself. Particularly if a) the book is self-published b) it's a collection of short stories c) your book baby is coming out in the two months before Christmas along with everyone else's!

I am by no means an expert in marketing (hence the title of the post) and it's difficult to know what things work without publishing a control book on the same day and doing no marketing, but I will try to help a little.

Below, are some suggestions for those starting out, based on what I've done and learnt so far.

1. Say "Pretty please" to book reviewers

A few weeks before publication day, I put out a request on the fabulous Book connectors Facebook group (if you don't belong to it, you're missing out) asking whether any lovely, kind book reviewers would be willing to take a look at Silent Night. It was a nail-biting wait after I'd clicked 'post' as I know that I'd left it very later to ask and most of the reviewers have a toppling pile of novels waiting to be read from traditionally published authors. Imagine then my delight when several reviewers said they'd be happy to have a read. Who knows, maybe they thought my thirteen short stories would be a quick and easy read after a 90,000 word manuscript. Whatever it was, I was very happy.

Of course the risk is that the reviewer might not like your book (that's the price you have to pay for requesting an honest review) but I'm delighted to say that the first reviewer, Rachel Gilbey from 'Rachel's Random Reads', really enjoyed my collection, commenting that Silent Night is 'a great showcase to Wendy Clarke's writing talents'. How lovely! You can read the rest of  Rachel's review here.

I've also had a review from across the pond. This time from Kathryn at Book Ink Reviews.
She said, 'Within a few pages, you become attached to each of her characters'. You can read the rest of her review here.

I'm looking forward to reading what the other book bloggers have to say when the reviews come in. Next time I won't leave it so close to publication date to ask (I'm aware that Christmas publications have a short shelf life).

2. Don't be afraid to ask to guest on someone's blog

Again on the Book Connectors Facebook group, I asked if anyone would like to interview me on their blog or have me write a guest post for them, linked to something in my story collection. Having hosted over fifty guests myself on Wendy's Writing Now, I didn't feel bad asking and it was lovely how many people were happy to oblige (especially authors and bloggers who have been guests on my own blog). What a lovely supportive bunch writers are.

Here's where I've been so far - many thanks to all of them. Why not pop over and have a read. I love the variety of questions I've been asked.

Brook Cottage Books  (interview)
Clare Flynn                  (interview)
Lynda Stacey               (guest post - Christmas through the eyes of different characters)
Angela Petch                (interview) 
Books and Wine Gums   (interview)

...and last but not least, a huge thank you to Jessie Cahalin from the amazing Books in My Handbag blog. Considering Jessie and I have never met either in real life or on social media before, she has given up an inordinate amount of time to voluntarily promote my book. 

First there was the picture of my collection in her handbag gallery linking to my Amazon page and then a short interview and extract from my book which can be read here. She has also tirelessly tweeted and promoted on Facebook and twitter, going above and beyond what I'd expect and I can't thank her enough.

Here's a picture of Silent Night in my handbag.



I have more guest posts lined up in the next weeks.

3. Learn how to do it properly

A bit late I know but a few days before publication, I went up to London to take part in the Neetsmarketing Social Media for Writers course, run by the fabulous Anita Chapman. Anita has got masses of great advice on her Neetsmarketing blog and you can read the guest post she wrote for me here. I'm pretty good with social media but there's always something new to learn. After attending this course, I came back determined to do numbers 4 and 5 below.

4. Set up a Facebook Author Page 

I've only ever had a Facebook profile page, as I joined Facebook after I started writing and the only 'friends' I had were other writers. However, with a new collection to publicise, I knew I was stepping on thin ice using my personal profile for marketing so decided to bite the bullet and set up an author page so I could put up an Amazon link every now and again without being thrown into Facebook gaol. What I've since learn, though, is that unless you pay to 'boost' your post, very few of the people who 'like' your page actually get to see your post. Grrrr.

If you wish, you can find and 'like' my author page here.

5. Try out a new social media

After going on Anita's course, I decided to try a new social media - Instagram. To be honest, I had absolutely no idea what it was or how to use it. I do now... and it's so simple! Basically, you post pretty pictures (after making them as good as you can by using the different filters) then adding relevant hashtags. That's it. Simples. So far I really love it but how does it work with book marketing? Every now and again, I've put up a picture of something book-related (my book cover, or the bookmarks my husband has made for me)



Then I've added appropriate hashtags and mentioned the link to Amazon that's in my bio (you can't add live links to your photo). It's too early to say whether this is working but it gets your book info in front of a new and diverse audience.

6. Make some good adverts



This is one I made earlier. It's my favourites and I think it deserves a Blue Peter Badge. It's a Twitter banner which I made on my ipad using Canva. I just love this site. The trick is to make several different ones and change them around frequently. I also try not to bombard people with 'buy me' posts but slip them in amongst other things.

7. Don't be scared to mention your book

I took my bookmarks and a sample copy of Silent Night to my choir practice. Many of the ladies are in the age bracket who read the magazines I write for and have bought my other collections. I've had several paperback sales already. These ladies may not be on social media and if I hadn't told them about Silent Night it would have been a market I'd missed. Think about who goes to your pilates/badminton/swimming club - might they like a book like yours?

And that's it... so far. 

The only marketing tip I've left to try is the Amazon Countdown price drop (I've used this promotion for my other collections with varying degrees of success). It will be happening very soon... watch out for it.

So, if you're a dummy at marketing like I was, why not try giving some of these things a go. They might not get you into the best-seller list but at least you'll have fun trying.

If you have any marketing ideas that have worked for you, please feel free to put them in the comments.

37 comments:

  1. A really interesting post, Wendy. Thank you for it. Marketing a novel, whether or not the book is traditionally or self-published, faces every author today, no matter how well-known the author, and every bit of advice is good to have. Good luck with the latest collection of your short stories! xx

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    1. Thank you, Liz. It's like wandering around in the dark half the time. I couldn't have done it without other's advice and generosity.

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  2. Great blog Wendy I will take onboard some of that valuable advice xx

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    1. I'm by no means an expert but every little helps, Sue.

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  3. A great guide! I wish I could draught better Adverts!

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    1. Thank you, Nicola. Glad you like it 😀.

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  5. Thanks for sharing your experiences, Wendy. I will need all the help I can get when 'Paisley Shirt' my collection of flash fiction comes out with Bridge House Publishing.

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  6. Really helpful advice, Wendy. I'm terrible at marketing, but now I feel newly inspired! xxx

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  7. Some very handy tips, Wendy, thanks. I always groan when someone mentions Instagram - not because I don’t think it might be useful but because it’s “yet another” something to add to the list of stuff to keep up with. But visuals are often a good way to grab attention so with your endorsement as to how simple it is, I might give it s go! ��

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    1. Honestly, have a go. It really is very, very simple.

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  8. Wow! You have worked hard, Wendy, and deserve to succeed. The marketing thing is what no one tells you....until you find out (usually rather too late!). Very good luck with the new book.

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  9. That's a very good overview of things to try, Wendy - well done for being proactive as it's the only way people will know about your book (s)!

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  10. Some excellent advice - thanks, Wendy.

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  11. Great tips here and sorely needed! Best of luck with sales.

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  12. A very useful post, thanks Wendy. All the best with the new book, Wendy.

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  13. This has arrived at just the right time for me as I'm the final trimester before delivering my first short story collection, 'Nine Lives'. One thing I've been thinking about is bookmarks to give away: that's today's task, then. Thanks for all the good advice.

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    1. That was definitely good timing, Julia. Good luck with the bookmarks.

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  14. Great advice here Wendy-many thanks for taking the time to write this post and share your top tips with us!

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  15. Thanks so much for the lovely mention, Wendy-it was great to have you on my course! Congrats on the great reviews, and wishing you lots of success.

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    1. Thank you for giving me the push I needed, Anita 😀

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  16. Some great tips. I've only recently set up a Facebook page and FB keeps telling me to put things on it. I haven't quite worked out how I want to use it.

    I hope all goes well with the anthology.

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    1. It takes a while to make it work for you (and don't expect many people to see your posts!)

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  17. Thanks for including a link to my review.

    The only other thing I would add to those tips is to have a blog tour, as they are great marketing tools too (and I promise I'm not just saying that because I organise them!).

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  18. Thanks for all those tips, Wendy.

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  19. Excellent post, Wendy and thrilled to see Silent Night being supported by the wonderful book blogging community. xx

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  20. Excellent advice, Wendy. I'm rubbish at marketing and really should try harder.

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  21. Thanks for this Wendy, a brilliant post. I'd just Patsy's post about the Writing Magazine / Lulu comp and was wondering how on earth to develop a marketing plan, so your post has been a real inspiration. Thank you!

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