Make Your Own Karma
There are many ways we can market ourselves in this world. We have so many avenues to announce ourselves as new authors but as plentiful as the avenues may be, sometimes it can be a little intimidating for us. Keep in mind, we are our best advocates! We can start by building our social platforms and reading lots of great books by industry leaders and following some of the best influencer’s publications but don’t forget to use your own word of mouth! Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there because how else is anyone going to know what you have been working on for so long and get the chance to be interested in what we are writing?
Do you have a rapport with your local bookstore, drugstore, department store? Drop into these places and make some contacts. I’m writing this to share because I have done these things along the way by building friendly communications wherever I shop in my local town and now that I have these good rapports I don’t feel strange asking if they would be interested in helping me advertise my book. Here is what I did:
A few weeks ago as I was picking up some things in my local Shopper’s Drug Mart, I took a look at their book section. Then when I went to pick up my prescriptions, I had my usual friendly chat with the pharmacist (they are the owners of the pharmacies) and I casually mentioned in our conversation about my upcoming book Conflicted Hearts. He then offered that I should come and see him again when the book comes out with a copy. Last week I went to my local Chapters Book Store to pick up some notepads and I was speaking with one of the staff and asked her about their policy on Indie authored books. She told me they do take some Indie books on consignment and that I should talk to the manager about my book. I took her name and told her I would get in touch with her once my paperback came out. Another great opportunity came about a month ago when I was shopping at my favourite department store, The Bay. I ran into the manager who I’ve known for awhile through shopping there and we sometimes have little chats when we run into one another. So I told him about my upcoming book and he congratulated me and offered to do a book signing promotion for me as an event for the store and an opportunity for me as a local author. Also when I go on winter vacation this year I will be taking a cruise and I am taking some books with me because they often do little seminars on the ship and because I am friendly and talk to many people and I am not afraid to mention my book, there is a chance that I may be able to do a little promoting there as well.
All these things happened because I love to talk to people and I earned their respect in my community, so I wasn’t afraid to put it out there. These are just some ideas we can use to get our books exposed into the world.
One door opens and who knows where it will lead?
