Marketing Tips for Writers

Recently, I’ve attended several marketing workshops, and here are some good tips that I gleaned from the speakers.

Facebook and Social Media Sites:

Barbara Hinske, with the SinC Grand Canyon Writers, stressed that authors need to go where their readers are on social media. She recommended using Facebook groups as part of your marketing strategy. Set one up for your street team/super fans. Also look for online groups that share interests with the themes in your books.

Trends and analytics change almost weekly on the social media sites. You need to keep up with what’s in and out. Marketing ideas that worked last time, may not work the next time.

Nancy Cohen suggested making a list of all the Facebook groups from your genre that allow book promotions. She has a document with all the links, so when she has a post, it’s a lot easier than trying to find sites.

Newsletter/Email List:

Barbara Hinske stressed the importance of always building your email/newsletter list. This is a key part of your author platform. Make sure you have a signup sheet at every event you do. When I do Facebook parties and take-overs, I always include a link for people to sign up for my newsletter.

Other Resources:

Speakers in both of the sessions I attended recommended the following as resources for authors:

• Bryan Cohen

• Mark Dawson

• InkersCon

What have you added recently to your marketing toolbox that works for you?

Need Something? Make It Easy...

My boss at my day situation loves his “Easy” button. There’s something to that. People are bombarded with things, and life is crazy. Recently, I was on a team reading and ranking submissions that were applications to do something for us. Some were a joy to read; all the information was organized and ordered. But there were others that we really had to dig to find the information or the proposal was incomplete.

I heard the fabulous Jane Friedman talk about this. If you want someone to help you with a writing or marketing task, make it easy for them. She’s right. Always provide the person with context and enough information to complete the task.

Blurbs - If you’re asking for a blurb, send the person a synopsis of your book and your biography.

References - When you ask for a reference or a nomination, send them a SHORT copy of your biography and other pertinent information.

Time - Give the person as much time as possible. I had a publisher once who sent out book blurb requests with a short deadline. It didn’t give busy people enough time to read enough of the book.

Pay it Forward - Make sure you’re willing to help others too. You can’t always be on the asking end.

Give Them an Off Ramp - Give the person an exit that doesn’t cause hard feelings. Everyone is busy, and your timing may not be right. When you call or write your introductory email request, acknowledge that they’re busy and that you understand if they’re unable to help right now.

By providing enough information and time, usually people are more than wiling to help.

What would you add to my list?

Why Writers Need a Facebook Author Page

I’ve heard from several writer friends that they don’t want to maintain another social media site. That’s valid. To do a good job, it takes time, but I’d argue that as a writer, you need this platform to promote your work. And here are my reasons for having a site (separate from your personal page).

1. There is a 5,000 connection limit on Facebook accounts. You could reach a ceiling and be limited.

2. Based on your number of followers on an author page, you have access to analytics that you don’t get on a personal page. I can see all kinds of demographic information such as visitor numbers, time visited, gender, age, country of origin, etc. These help you get a better picture of your followers. And you can target ads to your biggest audience at the day/time when they are most likely to visit.

3. Facebook lets you schedule posts on author pages.

4. You can boost posts or run ads on a Facebook author page.

5. These pages allow you to see the number of people who viewed or interacted with your posts. This gives you information about what is most popular and what your fans are interested in.

6. Make sure that you check Facebook’s terms of service regularly. There are limitations on selling items on your personal page. (Facebook’s terms change frequently. I check them before I do each promotion.)

7. My friends and family post on my personal page or tag me in photos. I have security settings on this site for what I share with the public. If you have these settings in place, you have to remember to loosen them if you are doing some kind of book or event promotion, or people are not able to share your post.

8. On an author page, you can add “buy my book” links. There are also plug-ins and apps that you can add to the page.

What would you add to the list?

An Author's Many Hats

As an author, you will wear many hats along your writing journey, and each one represents a different task. Before I jumped into the writing world, I didn't realize how many expectations there were (and how many different jobs that needed to be done). 

Thinking Cap - Use this to plot and draft your story. You may need it to get your character out of a jam.

Research Cap - This hat is for all the research and interviews that you'll need along the way. (I picked a replica of Indiana Jones' hat. He's the right combination of research and adventure.)

Hard Hat - This is your working hat. You need this to build your draft and for your many rounds of editing and critiques.

Genre-specific - This is a must for mystery writers. And you may need a magnifying glass to complete the look. This is for adding plot twists, red herrings, and clues.

Marketing Hat - Marketing and promotion are huge jobs. It takes a lot of time and energy to set up blog tours, interviews, events, and social media sites. You'll find that you wear this one more than you ever thought.

Business Hat - You need this for all of your accounting and paperwork tasks. I wear mine for tracking mileage, collecting receipts, filing sales tax, completing forms, and tracking sales. It's also my analytical hat for reviewing sales numbers and web/social media metrics.

Party Hat - You need this for the celebrations! And I hope there are many along your writing journey.

27 Things I Learned about Writing at the James River Writers Conference

I had the pleasure of being a part of two panels at the recent James River Writers Conference. I also sat in on some other great sessions. Here's what I learned about writing...

1. Write first; edit later.
2. Practice. Practice. Practice. Keep writing - no matter what happens.
3. Your editorial voice and your writer voice have to be in harmony. It was recommended to just write during the first few drafts. Go back and fix things later.
4. Read your work out loud to find issues with your dialog and pacing.
5. You and your work are your brand.
6. Your brand is your promise to your readers. They expect a certain type and style of writing from you. That's why if you switch genres, many publishing houses want you to use a new name and develop a new brand.
7. Finding your own voice is key. It has to be your story.
8. Your job is the writing.
9. Know who your audience is.
10. You need to balance the creative and the business sides of your writing life.
11. Find your tribe - a group of authors who support each other.
12. Turn off the TV and write.
13. Writing should be your focus.
14. Take care of yourself.
15. If you're having trouble pacing your novel, take a screenwriting course or workshop. Screenwriting has a tight timeframe to work with, and pacing is key. It will also help with dialog.
16. Marketing and what's hot in the industry are lways changing. Do not write to what is currently in vogue. It will have changed by the time your work gets published.
17. Create a mailing list. This is the most valuable tool for an author.
18. Make sure that your blog is on your author website.
19. Be able to describe your book in an enticing way. Make sure you have practiced your elevator speech.
20. Publishing is a subjective industry.
21. While you're querying, make sure that you're working on your next book.
22. Make connections. They are important. Get to know bookstore owners, librarians, bloggers, and readers.
23. Market your book heavily during the presale period. Don't wait until its launch.
24. Don't over-extend yourself. Your job is to write. It's okay to say no.
25. Do your research.
26. Keep writing. Make sure that you're always working on your next book.
27. There is no magic secret to writing. You will know what works for you.

7 Ways to Help Your Friendly Neighborhood Author

After my short stories and novel were published, I was a little surprised at how much marketing is involved in the writing journey. If you like a book, here are some quick ways you can help spread the news (and help out your friendly neighborhood writer).

1. Leave a review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, or other book sites. It doesn't have to be a long, detailed literary analysis. It can be a couple of sentences. Book retailers use the number of reviews for ad placement, author ranking, and marketing.

2. Tell your friends about the book and the author. Word of mouth is the best endorsement.

3. Share the link to the book or a book review on your social media sites.

4. Request that your local library purchase the book.

5. If you're in a book club, nominate it as a future read. Many authors will visit or Skype with book groups.

6. If you blog, post about your favorite books and authors.

7. Buy the book for yourself or for a friend. Books make great gifts. My author friend supports other authors by buying the book and then doing a give-away on her site. I love this idea.

Authors are small business owners, and they always appreciate recommendations, referrals, and social media shout outs. Happy reading!

Which Author Events Should You Do? How Do You Decide?

I love meeting readers and writers at book and writing events, and I'm fortunate to have quite a few near me. But as a writer, how do you decide which ones to participate in -- especially when your primary job is to write your next work? Traveling and marketing are an investment of your time and money.

1. ROI (Return on Investment) should be a consideration. Selling books is important. But I've done events at indie book stores where we didn't have a great turnout, but the store ended up selling a case of books during the week when there was more foot traffic. I've also made some invaluable contacts at events. Sometimes, building relationships is worth more than selling tons of books. If there is a cost for a table or an event, you need to consider whether or not it is worth the effort and value. If you've never attended the event, ask around to see what other authors have experienced.

2. I try a lot of events (at least once). We've done several over the years where the readers weren't my target audience (mystery). I attended and had fun, but I probably won't go back.

3. I believe in helping other authors, so I do a lot of writing workshops. Again, you may not sell hundreds of books, but you do make contacts, build email lists, and pick up fans and followers.  

4. I am also fortunate to be a part of several writing groups, and we plan events and signings together. There is nothing worse than sitting alone at an author's table. When we band together, our social media and fan reach grows exponentially. Plus, we often carpool, and that saves some money.

5. We've done some signings at some unconventional places for mystery authors (e.g. a Hallmark/gift store, a gas/restaurant/gift store complex on the way to North Carolina's Outer Banks, a winery, several museums, and several farmers markets). You would be surprised. We've sold more books at places like this than traditional book stores. Be creative when you book signings.

6. Be prepared -- no matter what the event. Make sure you have business cards, bookmarks, or postcards. Sometimes, folks don't buy a book at the event, but if you have something to give them, you may make a sale or referral later. I even take bookmarks on vacation. We stop at a lot of little gift shops that sell books.

7. I appreciate the events that do a lot of publicity, and I always make sure to share, tweet, and post. I want to be a part of groups that are organized and interested in building their audience. (I've attended several events, where there was little to no publicity. Surprise, surprise, the attendance wasn't that great either.) 

Best wishes for the marketing of your book. It's a lot of work. I logged over 2,000 miles this year for book events.

How to Market When It's Not in Your Nature

When I dreamed of being an author, I envisioned working at my computer and writing brilliant books. I never realized how much marketing and promotion was involved. These days, writers are expected to promote their books. It's in my contract.

Writing is a business, and marketing is a key part of that. The hard part is that it's often trial and error to see what works for you. I schedule my marketing campaigns, and then I track the analytics (e.g. sales numbers, blog hits, ad metrics, and costs) to see if there were positive results. Use your analytics on your website, blog, Facebook, and Twitter. There's a lot of good information there.  I created a spreadsheet to track this information. I'll have details when I get ready to run the next campaign. Make sure all your hard work is paying off.

It feels weird to post about myself all the time. There are people who are uncomfortable with it. Try to balance your posts. The 80/20 rule is a good guideline. Twenty percent of your posts should be "buy my book." The others should be about other interesting things. Post recipes, pet pictures, hobbies, or other interesting things you do. And make sure you share others' content.

There needs to be a balance. Look at your newsfeed and see what your last twenty posts look like. When I'm cruising my Facebook newsfeed, I tend to hide or ignore the noise. I pay attention to sales (but not the ones that run every week). We have a furniture store here in Virginia that has a SALE!!!!! every week. The joke at my house is, "Oh, look. They're having another sale." I pay attention to contests too, but the "Hey, I got another 5 Star review" posts get mixed up in the noise of the newsfeed.

There are a lot of Facebook groups and sites to post your book information. Be careful if you do your posting all at the same time. People will see a string of the same post to different sites. Spread out or schedule your posts. I would also mix the content up too because a lot of readers visit the same sites too.

It also helps if you can find a group of writers to assist you. I'm in several groups for writers and bloggers, and we comment, post, and share each others' information. This helps get the word out without you having to do all the "Hey, look at me" posts.

It is definitely a challenge to get the word out and to keep your book in front of people.  And sometimes, what works once, doesn't work a second time. Best wishes with your promotions. Drop me a note and let me know what works for you.