Category: Book Marketing

Alternative Marketing Methods, Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Promotion Strategy, Kelly Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Networking, Self-Publishing, Social Media Marketing

Navigating the Network | The Art of Self Promotion (part III)

Three weeks ago, I sketched out a few of the challenges facing self published authors looking to build their brands in the digital marketplace, and I made specific note of how great social networks can be as tools of self promotion.  Last time I blogged, I looked at the second and third of my top five points to keep in mind regarding self promotion, and recommended cultivating your physical network as well as developing physical promotional materials.  This week, I’m going to wrap up my top five points with a few words that count both as caution and encouragement––simultaneously!

To get right to the point:

4. Self promotion of any kind takes time.  And energy.  And constant attention.

Perhaps this is my caveat.  As I mentioned earlier, you’re not just in the business of self-promotion––as someone who’s interested in self-promotion, you’re actually in the business of writing.  So when weighing the pros and cons of starting a Twitter account or creating a blog on Tumblr specifically with the goal of promoting your book, consider the learning curve.  Consider the fact that the time it takes to establish a presence and reach your audience through social networks is directly proportional to how much time you put in, and that there’s a considerable element of pure luck involved.  Most tweets languish in the ether unread, and most Tumblr posts are not reflagged, and most Facebook followers are dormant, or run by bots.  So while all of these networks have potential to launch you into instant and global success, they are often high-maintenance and low-reward.  And they are habit-forming. 

As with all other forms of promotion, you must be deliberate about your use of social networks, carving out time on a regular basis to devote to building your brand.  Thirty minutes a day, three days a week, or every day during your fifteen-minute break between work shifts––whatever it takes, but not much more.  Because let’s face it: As someone who’s interested in self-publishing, you have other things to do.  You need to not just leave time for the other facets of your life––writing, working a job, working three jobs, family, and so on––but be able to throw yourself into them with passion and energy.

5. Everything changes.

If the rise of self-publishing and the ebook has demonstrated anything about the publishing industry, it’s that nothing can stand still for long.  This may be a disquieting fact for traditional publishing and the markets that rely on it, but opening up one’s options to change can also be a diversifying, enriching, and rewarding experience.  The digital and self-publishing revolutions are beginning to reach maturity, but on the whole they’re keeping a weather eye out for new changes, and new opportunities.  Perhaps the most key feature for success in self-publishing (and self-promotion) is a willingness to take advantage of them.  Keep asking questions.  Figure out what options work for you, and what feels comfortable for you, and what is too frustrating or too complicated or taking too much time––and adjust your daily practices as necessary.  Keep interrogating your options.  If a new technology becomes available, or a new acquaintance walks into your life, or a new story drops into your mind, don’t hold back.  After all, this is a business built on dreams.

This was just a primer!  You can find the first and second posts of this series here and here.  Check back every Wednesday to read more about the art of self promotion.  Over the coming weeks, I’ll be diving deeper into the how-to details of managing both social and physical networks.  If you have a question about any of these tools for self promotion, would like to hear from me about something specific, or have other big news to share, please comment below!

KellyABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.
Alternative Marketing Methods, Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Promotion Strategy, Kelly Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Networking, Self-Publishing, Social Media Marketing

Navigating the Network | The Art of Self Promotion (part I)

Ten years ago, self-publishing was by and large the province of wishes and dreams, and its successes were so rare that they warranted national attention.  In the early 2000s, authors like Christopher Paolini (author of the Inheritance cycle of fantasy novels) performed exhaustive regional trips to promote their books, visiting schools, libraries, and local coffee shops in a sometimes-desperate attempt to build a market base.  As the traditional publishing industry has struggled to overcome both infighting and growing competition from digital retailers––and as new avenues have opened up for authors looking to publish outside of these traditional structures––all parties have turned to a parallel revolution in hopes of finding assistance.  That revolution, you will have already guessed, is the tangle of startups, failures, and increasingly pervasive communications networks that we call, collectively, Social Media.

Fast forward to the present day, and you find yourself witness to the rise of these two new revolutionary forces––a self publishing industry with a substantial slice of the present ebook and print publishing market, and the aforementioned popular social networking platforms, typified by Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and so on.  It would be easy to link these two forces together, and to assume that a successful presence on the one side will equate to equal success on the other, but this isn’t strictly true.  Many new authors find themselves lost in the complications of navigating this network––so how might one make it safely through the white water? 

The task of building a brand, or finding a tribe, is tricky––but not impossible.  It is important to keep five points in mind from the very beginning.  Today we’ll examine the first of these points:

1. Social networks are fantastic tools.

Tweets can outdistance sonic waves, as the Daily Mail reported in May, and Facebook has proved invaluable in linking dissidents, outmaneuvering government censors, and supporting revolutions.  Social networks combine the appeal of a grass-roots movement with enormous computing power, a vast sociopolitical reach, and instantaneous delivery.  Authors like Hugh Howey and Amanda Hocking have become internet sensations (and self-publishing success stories) in part because they are so intensely engaged with their readers online.  You can use Facebook to build a fan page and coordinate events in cities across the world.  You can utilize Tumblr’s built-in question function to respond to readers’ queries about purchasing details or the more obscure details of a character’s backstory.  And with its 140-character limit and endlessly useful hashtag feature, Twitter is the ultimate paradise for spreading news and reviews.  While it might be a bit of an overstatement to say that social networks can do everything and anything, they can certainly do a great deal for the burgeoning author.

Check back every Wednesday to read more about the art of self promotion!  Next week, we’ll be looking at the analog social network––that is, what you can do to build your platform as an author even before you plug in to Facebook and Twitter.

If you have other big news to share, please comment below.

KellyABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.
Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Promotion Strategy, Book Signings, Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized

5 Ways to Promote Your Book in March

March is National Reading Month and Small Press Month. This makes it the perfect month to focus on promoting your book. Here are five ways you can promote your self-published book in March.

1. Read Across America Day

March 3 is National Read Across America Day, also known as Dr. Seuss Day. This is the perfect opportunity for children’s authors to promote their book. Schedule a reading at a local school, library, or bookstore. You can also get creative and host a Read Across America event for adults.

2. St. Patrick’s Day

Holidays are always a great opportunity to promote your book. Even if your book has nothing to do with St. Patrick’s Day, you can get creative with your marketing plan. Perhaps, host a St. Patrick’s Day give away or schedule a St. Patrick’s Day event. For instance, you could schedule a book signing, wear your favorite green shirt, hand out some Irish potatoes to your guests, and promote your book while “celebrating.”

3. Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2014

Bologna Children’s Book Fair will be held March 24-27. It is the most important international event dedicated to the children’s publishing and multimedia industry. Last year, the event had about 1,200 exhibitors coming from 75 countries and 25,000 international professional trade representatives. To learn more, visit http://www.bookfair.bolognafiere.it/en/the-fair/895.html.

4. Book Expo America 2014

Book Expo America will take place May 19-31. It is the #1 book and author event  that offers the book industry access to new titles,  authors, and education about the publishing industry. BEA is the best place to  discover new titles and upcoming books and meet face to face with favorite and  up and coming authors. To learn more, visit http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/.

5. Schedule an interview or book signing event

People won’t buy your book if they don’t know it exist, so schedule an event  that will help you connect with readers and gain some press for your book. Two great options are a radio interview or book signing event. Start by contacting local radio stations or bookstore to set up the event.

I’d love to know, how do you plan to promote your book in March?

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Signings

Book Stores, Book Signings, and Media Events for the Self-published Author

Successful book promotion involves both online and offline sales. There are a number of progressive online book marketing tools available for the self-publishing author today, but the tried and true book signing or media event remains quite viable and a lot of fun. Here we’ll take a look at a 3 part approach to promote your book through media events.

Media events and public appearances can fall into any number of categories and include any number of venues (bookstores, radio interviews, television interviews, writing group speeches, presentations, chat room interviews, public forums, and more).

First things first: identify possible venues. You may begin searching media events through your local bookstore. Local bookstores will often collect event calendars and maintain a list of contact people who provide those opportunities.

Media contacts often send announcements of upcoming events. Keep tabs on those listings and note if any relate in any way to your book content. It’s generally easy to develop correlations and tailor your approach to make your presentation applicable. When contact information is available take the first step and approach the organizer.

The art of selling—be prepared to promote yourself and your work. The true art of selling is bringing helpful and enriching information to people’s lives. In that light, sales takes on nobility. Be proud of promoting. You may not close the deal every time, but be sure to follow-up with every prospective media venue to confirm dates. Selling yourself and your book is a numbers game, and as any salesperson will tell you, the amount of contact is directly proportionate to the amount of sales. Be persistent without being annoying. If, after three or four unsuccessful attempts with a particular venue, move on to another prospect.

Finally, your self-publishing firm may offer assistance. Be sure to check with your representative.

ABOUT JODEE THAYER: With over 20 years of experience in sales and management, Jodee Thayer works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable customer service reps and publishing consultants; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process in order to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Jodee Thayer can put you on the right path.
Book Marketing, Rob Speaks

Why Your New Book Is Like a Start-Up Business – for self-publishing authors

So you’re considering writing a book.  Or you recently were published.  Did you take some time to plan ahead?  It’s not too late if you didn’t.

In many ways, writing and publishing a book is like a new start-up business.  There are many things to consider once you make that big decision to self-publish.  Your new book is your new business.  You need to keep many things in mind prior to, during and after publishing.  Take some time to sit down and plan ahead.  Taking time periodically to evaluate, and possibly re-evaluate your plan, is necessary to ensure that you are still on the right track.  Following a few simple steps will help to keep your book, and you as an author, in business for a very long time.

  1. Before starting your project, determine what business you will be in.  This is an important initial step and everything you do should build from this.  What things are you interested in?  Will your book be a product of your interests?
  2. Describe your product.  What are the features?  Benefits?  Is your book a niche product?
  3. What are your goals and objectives?  This is an important step when starting off your new book and your business.  Determine where you want this business to go.  Things to consider are if you want to market this book locally, regionally, nationally or even world-wide.  After you determine this, then there are many directions and goals that should be considered.  Set goals for yourself and for the sale of the book itself.  Sit down every now and then and find out if those goals are reasonable, or perhaps they need to be changed.
  4. Target market.  Who do you want to buy your book?  We all would love to say that everyone will be interested and want to buy our books.  But the reality is that this is never, and will never be the case.  There is a market for everything, and now is the time to think about who that market will be for you. Things to thing about are your customer’s characteristics, their geography, age, gender, possibly even their income status.
  5. Competition.  Check out your competition for your book.  Has someone written anything similar?  Do some research and find things out about other books that compare to yours.
  6. Pricing and budget.  Pricing is an integral part of being able to set a budget for your book.  Pricing can be a critical piece of the puzzle.  You don’t want to set the price too high, and you certainly don’t want to short-change yourself by setting it too low.  Consider your competitors when setting your price. When determining your budget, be sure to set this to your comfort level.  The budget is one of the steps that should be evaluated on a continual basis.
  7. Inventory.  The last thing you want to happen is to not have books available when a person wants to buy.  On the other hand, you don’t want to have too many on-hand.
  8. Strategy.  Now it’s time to consider just about everything.  Creating your strategy can be overwhelming  if you let it.  Creating the strategy involves taking all these steps and running with them.  This, along with the steps that follow need to go hand-in-hand to achieve all the goals and objectives you set out to achieve.
  9.  Marketing.  Now the fun part.  There are so many things that go into marketing your book and your business.  The first would be to create your brand.  Your brand should reflect you as a writer, and more specifically your book from your brand.  Everything you do marketing-wise reflects your brand.  Marketing involves promotions, sales, advertising, distribution channels and much more.  Create a plan that satisfies all these things, and all things you want to do to market your creation.  Where do you want to make your book available for purchase?  Who will be selling your book?  What avenues do you want to use to advertise your book?  Marketing can be critical in making or breaking the success of your business.

Now you have buyers and fans, and you’ve sold millions of copies of your book.  Now what?  Follow up.  Hopefully you have created a brand that reflects you.  You want to make sure you keep those fans.  Don’t let them go!  Always be sure to keep in touch with them.  While there are a number of ways to do this, you have to decide what the best way is for you.  I’m sure with the success you had with this book, you’re going to write many more…..right?  Keeping in touch with your fans will make selling that next book that much easier.

Rob MangelsonABOUT ROB MANGELSON: Rob is a seasoned marketing professional with over fifteen years experience in multiple industries. His experience includes both traditional and online marketing offering unique understanding of a variety of markets. Through his experience and education, Rob has developed a keen sense of relationship and loyalty marketing in leading the Marketing process. He is currently a Marketing professional with Outskirts Press, a full-service, custom self-publishing and book marketing company out of Parker, Colorado that offers services for authors seeking a cost-effective, fast, and flexible way to publish and distribute their books worldwide while retaining all rights.