Adventures in Self-Publishing (part 2)!
As I promised in my first post about adventures in self-publishing, this post will talk briefly about book marketing. Now I am the first to admit that I am not a marketing guru (I am an HR and Management degree holder and have spent most of my post nuclear Navy career in Supply Chain), so the nuances of a marketing campaign are new to me. One of the things I can do well, though, is research. So I fired up the laptop and started looking. Here I go with self-publishing (part 2)!
The research:
What I found is truly mind-boggling. There are hundreds of thousands of suggestions, websites, blogs, and other sources of advice on how to market books and ebooks (including books and ebooks about marketing books and ebooks). There are sites that will do a full marketing plan (for a price), others that allow you to post a sample of your book on their site (for free unless you want them to do a marketing push for it), and still others that are completely free. How to choose?
I think an author has to decide why they are marketing their book and to what audience they want to entice. For me, the answer to the first question was pretty easy. I wrote the books for my grandchildren. Since they were already written, I decided to see if they would sell. The second question is a bit trickier. I wrote my books for a middle grades/young adult audience, but I tried to make them entertaining enough to appeal to all ages. So, whom do I target for any marketing efforts? That is the part that I struggled with then and am still struggling with now.
Marketing Methods:
As for marketing methods, I chose to create a Facebook page and author pages on both Amazon.com and Smashwords. Hard as it is, I’ve really tried not to become annoying to people as I talk about my book. I still want them to read it and like it and write reviews.
My research revealed many different marketing ideas. I don’t use them all, but I may try to incorporate some of them as I go along. I promise to provide updates on what worked, what didn’t, and lessons learned. And who knows, maybe I will find the right formula to propel The Gemstone Chronicles to the top of the bestseller lists!
Connect with me:
One of the best things about self-publishing is I get to make great on social media. If you would like to connect with me, I can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads. You can also send me an email at bill@williamlstuart.com. Subscribe to the blog so you won’t miss a post!
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