All About the Buzz
Every day, there are roughly 500 books releasing into the writing industry. Every day. Competition is fierce, no doubt. So even if you’ve got the best novel in the world out there, you won’t get anywhere without publicity – something indie authors tend to struggle with.
I’m embarrassed to say it, but in the first 10 days of December, only 1 copy was sold. 1. And the book was only released at the end of October. It’s burning pressure on my shoulders now – publicity is falling, people are forgetting about the book, and something needs to be done about that. And it’s up to me, because I’m the author and the publicist and everything in one. It’s scary, just thinking about it – if I fail to get the buzz going, my career will die away. So today, I’m going to share with you some tips on making yourself heard when you have something you need to market.
Tip One: Start small. Get involved with the local social scene in your town. Is there a local charity or a program that does auctions? Great! Write a polite email asking if one of the items for sale could be a signed copy of your book, or whatever you’re selling, and offer to throw in a personal touch as well, like a personal handwritten dedication towards the highest bidder. It’s a great way to promote both yourself and the foundation that’s hosting the auctions – plus, you’ll be there yourself.
Tip Two: Don’t neglect social media. There’s nothing out there that gets news and publicity to millions of potential consumers faster or more effectively than social media. Twitter and Instagram hit a lot of different age groups, too, so no matter who your target audience is, you’re sure to have some readers there on those sites. Another trick is to use one social media to promote another. On a blog post you could write, Tweet me questions on Twitter, like I often tag onto the ends of my Q&A posts.
Tip Three: Let the buzz travel. If someone hears about something interesting, strange or fascinating, their general first instinct is to tell someone else about it. Often times, all you’ll need to do is give it a starting push and it will pull itself across the finish line, supported by other people along the way. The bottom line is not to stress too much over marketing, because at the end of the day, the most important thing is to keep coming out with content to be marketing!
I hope this has helped you, and it’s good to get some of that weight off of my shoulders by writing this. I apologize for not having posted in a while – I’m trying to find a good schedule that I can work off of on a weekly basis. I’m going to try to get up one post a week at a minimum. So, see you later!
- CVSUTHERLAND
