If you came to this blog, hoping to hear from a professional on how to best market your book, well, this may not be for you. But if you've written something, an article, or perhaps like me, a novel, and wonder how the hell to sell it now that the creation part is over, I hope you find some nuggets in here. I've learned a ton after my debut novel was published. I've made mistakes, and hopefully even gotten smarter over time.
First of all, regardless of how you published your book (Self-publish, traditional, hybrid, Indie. . .) YOU need to market yourself. My publisher only does print on demand, so I had a lot of catch-up to do from the beginning. They did offer radio interviews and press releases, and if I had to guess, I'd say little to zero sales have come from that. Here are some of the things I did do.
Grow a social media community BEFORE you publish your book. Find your people. Those amazing book people who you can and will need to tap into at some point. I created a book Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts (LeahOmarBooks - shamefully plug) and I engage daily. And not engaging for the sake of growth. But real engagement. I post all the time, I comment on people's social media constantly. I do reels. I do stories. I bring my authentic self. I rarely try to sell. It's the community I want most. With community, sales may come later. I've met the most bad-ass community through this approach.
I've tapped into book clubs. There are so many. Made up of my kind of people. The type that loves reading, critical thinking, AND supporting a local author. Through this, they buy my book, I come and talk about it, while sipping wine usually, and I meet people, who know people, who know people. Look, I'm an introvert, this doesn't come easy to me, but I show up, bring my whole self, and hope that they support me. And you know what? They do.
Because my publisher is print on demand, my book is only available online. But I have the ability to change that. I've called libraries, local book stores, and brick-and-mortar stores. Sometimes I ask them to stock my book, and other times I offer to donate my book. I've met a lot of people who don't want to support Amazon, and I get it. But this has been an uphill battle. And sometimes, it takes money to make money, so they say. I donate a lot. But I'm hoping through this method, I'll eventually not have to.
One of the hardest parts for me has been asking my friends and community for marketing assistance. But I am one person. I cannot do this alone. I tell my friends, if you liked the book, review it. Then post about it. Then tell ten of your friends about it. After that, reach out to your local library and/or bookstore and ask them to stock it. Friends support friends. No matter what. Being an author is HARD. And few people make money off it in the long-term. So friends. . . Show up, and be the boots on the ground that your author friend needs.
Writing a book is hard. But if you're like me, you put your blood, sweat, and tears into it because you want people to read it. To think about it. To learn from it. I'd argue, that marketing is harder than writing.
Let's support each other and learn from each other. What marketing tips do you have?
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