The dos and don'ts of Promotion - blog post

[A.L.]

Ok, I found this on googleplus. I am not sure I entirely agree as, certainly on GR, mentioning one's book at every available opportunity is likely to make one rather unpopular.

http://voices.yahoo.com/article/98967...

[Peggy]

Thanks, Alexandra. I'm giving it a try.

[A.L.]

Promotion seems to be one of those things - what works for Fred doesn't work for John and Jane might find success with doing x whilst Jenny won't.

[R.A.]

A little encouragement is always nice. Thanks.

[Joe]

Thanks for this link. Although I'm new to this, I've learned several of the things she presents are true. I particularly like her points of what to expect and not.

[Mike]

It's not always easy knowing what to do, especially when you're a first time author and your heart is set on sharing your message. Maybe it's my naivety and youth.

Anyways, thanks for the post Alexandra. Was definitely an insightful read.

[Justin]

Yeah, I don't know if I agree either..it's all rather basic ideas and not everybody has those simple requirements or tools.

[J.D.]

Alexandra wrote: "Ok, I found this on googleplus. I am not sure I entirely agree as, certainly on GR, mentioning one's book at every available opportunity is likely to make one rather unpopular. "

You don't have to mention that you are an author on Goodreads for people who are interested to find out. You "mention" that you are an author by setting up your author profile and linking it to your personal account. Anyone who is curious about whether you write can find out by clicking on your name, so you are free to just hang out and talk to people, knowing that anyone who cares is going to notice that you write books.

It's one of the things I love about this place. It takes a lot of the pressure for self-promotion that might otherwise be there away.

[A.L.]

That is true JD and there are plenty of groups which don't allow authors to activity promote. GR is mainly a reader site and as you say people will look. I do have to say I often don't bother to look when I chat to people.

Yes Gr has its advantages, create an author account, pop your books up and sooner or later someone will find it. I think I get most of my books via GR or various facebook groups now.

I have seen other articles similar which say promo like made and I have seen others which say avoid it...

[[deleted user]]

I wrote this somewhere else. I usually have profiles where ever I join and I don't really have to promote my books. I usually engage in conversations. I was almost banned from somewhere, because I decided to share a link to my book. I thought that was unfair, but I can see why they almost did. I rather just write profiles where ever I go. It's much better. Like that I won't bother anyone and I won't be bothered by anyone.

[Kim at 24/7 in France]

I agree in theory with these promotion tips, but in reality, there are other factors that influence people and their choices. Self promotion does goes hand in hand with self publishing, so best to not be timid about spreading the word.

[Vardan]

The truth of the matter is that there is no one strategy that works or does not work. Take the example of movie industry, which sometimes rolls out a blockbuster-wannabe material with tons of marketing and a budget of a small country (like Armenia) and absolutely fails. Then you have instances when the marketing is almost non-existent along with the buzz and the production budget is what a producer would spend on his/her holiday getaway and suddenly you have a hit that millions of people see and like and share. I think the most honest way to address the issue is to say - I don't know...but let it not stop you...keep trying.

[Owen]

Great link, Alexandra. I was on the verge of postponing the writing of my second novel in order to focus solely on promotion and building up my online presence for my first novel, Hindsight. After reading that link, I realized that while marketing yourself is important, the most important thing is to keep writing.

[Dennis]

Thanks, for sharing the interesting article, Alexandra. Having just self-published my first novel, I am torn between spending my time between promoting, and writing the next in the series, and feel like I'm spinning my wheels getting nothing done. I agree, though, that writing is more important for us unknowns. The more books we have available, the more likely we're going to pick up readers.

[Mike]

During 1980s, only 11,000 books are published in that year. Now with the rise of the internet and with easier access to self-publishing, over 700,000 books are published on a yearly basis. Pre-internet, majority of books are taken down so that new books can have their turn but with POD (print-on-demand) technology and Espresso Book Machine, old books can stay forever available. Overall, the marketing and promotion of books is starting to become much more important as it is becoming much more competitive as we go forth.

[Thomas]

That article is all very common sense. I've been working as a publicist for more than 20 years but "Which One Am I?" is my first book. Even though I know where to look for reviewers and places to get the book's title out, promotion is still very difficult. It's very true that what works for one person may or may not for another. Many reviews result from a personal or at least perceived personal connection between the person asking and the person delivering. It is also the case that, no matter how wonderful you feel your book is, someone else may not agree.

I've done the blog tour and found it lacking. The best results I've had come from podcasts and radio interviews in the extremely few places where they are offered.

I'm not shy at all about sharing my placements. My previous hits are on my Web site: www.WhichOneAmI.net. If any of those are appropriate to your books, make your best approach.