Writing a book is one thing, promoting it is a whole different animal. But what
if you could, right out of the gate, know exactly what to do to create an
outstanding, well-received book that was promoted in such a way that it sold
better than you expected? Sound like a dream? Well, certainly nothing is without
risk but in working and speaking with thousands of authors, I have found that
there are certain things that work every time - and others that don’t. There is
a formula for success, and though varying degrees of it may be modified to
better serve your audience and genre, most of the things that propel books to
success are the same across the board.
In July, I was honored to speak
at Romance Writers of America and you know, of all the genres out there romance
(especially contemporary) is possibly the toughest one. Why? Because it’s so
cluttered. During that event most of the speakers and attendees buzzed about a
list of items I’ll share with you below. But these aren’t just exclusive to the
romance market, they can be applied anywhere. The fact is, there are certain
things that work very well in book promotion. So well in fact that they can help
push book sales in a way that might surprise you. Let’s have a
look:
Stay on top of changes: Before we even dig in
here it’s important to remember that things do change so when you implement a
strategy you want to monitor it. Most things in marketing aren’t “set it and
forget it.”
Keep an eye on changes to the campaigns you are running and
also stay in touch with what’s going on in general. I will typically follow
author blogs, marketing blogs, and publishing blogs. Compare and contrast what
you find. When I was at RWA I would listen with interest when I heard an author
talk about a particular successful strategy, but when I heard it a few times
from different authors my interest would increase. That’s the start of a trend,
something you need to pay attention to.
Newsletters:
With social media changing formulas for exposure, it’s becoming harder to get
seen in social, that’s why now, more than ever, you’ve got to have a newsletter.
Start building your list early because in the next year or two you’re going to
see a big boost towards paid exposure in social media. Facebook has done it, G+
is ramping up to do ads, and soon we’ll see Twitter and Instagram going the way
of paid exposure. While none of these sites will go into a 100% paid format, you
will see a sharp decline in engagement if you have a free
account.
Upgrade your Ethical Bribe: There was a time
when giving away a chapter of your book was a great thing, not so much anymore.
You really need to make your ethical bribe interesting enough to get folks to
sign up for it. Don’t give them something they can get elsewhere without having
to give up their email. Sample chapters can be read on Amazon, for example.
Checklists, tool kits, all of those are great. If you’re a fiction author
consider a monthly drawing for a gift card. There’s a system called Rafflecopter
we use that will take names and signups and randomly pick a winner for you. It’s
a pretty sweet system actually.
Multiple Books: I see
this over and over that authors with more than one book always do better than
authors just pushing a single title. This means that you can no longer just
publish one book and hope for the best, you have to promote multiple titles. I
know it sounds like a lot of work to write and promote multiple titles, but bear
with me, because the next point will expand on that
idea.
Shorter is the New Long: Not every book you put
out needs to be a full-length tome. Sometimes 10,000 or 20,000 words is more
than enough to get the message across. Keeping books shorter allows you to write
more, and lets you bundle them into sets for a variety of promotional
purposes.
Audio Books: If you haven’t looked into audio
books you might want to. It had authors all abuzz at the Romance Writers event I
mentioned earlier. Turns out, audio books are the new black and a strong, rising
market to reach readers. Turning your book into audio is pretty easy, check out
ACX via Amazon and sign up. You can also find audio talent there. Typically a
book will take about 8-10 hours to complete and cost you $300 per finished
hour.
Always Have Something for Free: One of the
biggest things I learned at Romance Writers was the power of free. Having one
thing for free, all the time, is important. When you have multiple books of
course this is easier, but as you build your library you’ll find that rotating
free days between your books can really benefit your sales across the board. By
having one book for free, I don’t mean that it’s the same book that’s always
free. But I think having rotating freebies is a great idea.
Be
Everywhere: Sometimes I’ll have authors who say “should I really be on
this site?” to which I say: yes – be everywhere. It was pretty clear that most
of the bigger, bestselling authors subscribe to this. While I don’t advocate
being on every social networking site (because who has time to manage all of
that?) there are a lot of sites that you can list your book on that require
nothing but the time it takes to post the listing. Free eBook sites, for
example, are a good resource.
Here are a few:
http://www.pixelofink.com/sfkb/
http://bargainebookhunter.com/free-book-notification-form/
http://igniteyourbook.com/free-ebook-submission/
http://ebookshabit.com/for-authors/
http://www.freebookdude.com/2014/03/list-your-free-amazon-kindle-books.html
But
also blogs, in general. I have spoken to authors who will turn down offers to be
featured on someone’s website, or reviewed by a blogger who isn’t “big enough.”
I think this is a mistake. Accept invitations gracefully. They may not all be
the right fit and you can determine that for yourself, but 99% of them will
probably be a great/additional way to get your book out
there.
Street Teams & Super Fans: Now, more than
ever, it’s really, really important to engage your fans. At the event the term
“street teams” was thrown out a lot, but both super fans and street teams mean
the same thing: getting fans to help you sell books. How do you do this? First,
you need to make them feel important. Make them feel as though they matter
greatly to the success of the book (because they do). Offer them specials,
incentives, deals and other things that are exclusive to them.
Remind
them (often) that they are really important to you and offer them free “swag” to
share with their friends (other readers). One of the authors at Romance Writers
talked about how she has a reader who owns a hair salon business and she sent
her sample books, bookmarks and other swag to put in her shop. This went over so
well, the reader keeps asking for more stuff for her salon. Get creative with
your street teams, and if you need help with something, ask them. You’d be
surprised how quickly reader/author bonds are formed, and how most readers who
love you are willing to go the extra mile to help out.
They say that
success leaves clues, and I believe this is 100% correct. Following what
successful authors do is a big key to creating your own rock star marketing
plan. And while there are no guarantees, there are pathways that can lead you to
better places, a stronger readership, and bigger sales.
Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com
No comments:
Post a Comment