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Shannon Reber
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What's myth and what's fact in marketing a book?
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Shannon
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Jan 08, 2016 12:43PM
Ok, so next week, I plan to release book 3 in my novella series. The first two, all I did was announce the fact I HAD published them and put the link up on Twitter, Facebook, my blog and here. My question...how much do the other marketing tools help? If I were to do a Facebook party, or a blog-tour, is that going to do me any ACTUAL good?? So...suggestions? I'm in the middle of writing book 4 and there will be 5 in the series, so should I simply wait until I've finished the series to do anything major?? Help...PLEASE? 8-)
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Moved to Marketing & Promo questions.The short answer: Fact: there is no one size fits all marketing solution. Sorry. ;p But... Yes, the more you write, the more visibility you'll have and complete series do better than those that aren't complete.
There's not really much way to tell but to try it. If you know your audience, and can cater a blog tour to it, I've heard others say that helps. But it's a case of the right blogs, and your skill in writing a post. If you do a Facebook party (I'm not a hundred percent sure what that would involve, other than you and your fans chatting on Facebook for a bit) then it's going to be dependent on who 'shows up.'If there was one hard-and-fast answer, everyone would be doing it. My advice is to try something and see.
My philosophy with marketing is "it never hurts to try." There's a ton of cases of certain things working for people but other things not working, so all you can really do a kind of taste-test of what others have done and see what comes of it. Give a blog-tour a try, then a Facebook Party, or do both a party and a blog tour at the same time. Or try something else all together (for my next book I plan on doing character introduction posts, and maybe a short story or two based in that universe).
Ok...so do you guys want your virtual hugs now, or later? !-) Thanks and likely, I'll go all out for book 5, as the conclusion to the series. Fingers crossed etc. 8-) Thanks!
This, of course, is the vexing question that seems to most concern us authors, and especially new authors. Christina has already given the short answer, which is quite correct. But maybe it is beneficial to break down a few of the points that often come up.Do reviews sell books? Some do, some of the time. Sometimes positive reviews can hurt sales. Sometimes negative reviews can help sales. It depends.
Does promotion on social media work? For some books in some genres, yes; others, no. It depends.
Do blog promotions work, including an author blog? For some books in some genres, yes; others, no. It depends.
Do free giveaways work? For some books in some genres, yes; others, no. It depends.
Do paid ads work? Some can, but less often for a new author. It depends.
Are mailing lists valuable? Sometimes, but less often for a new author. It depends.
In general, is marketing by the author important to selling a book, or is it a waste of time? It depends.
I suspect a trend is noticeable here. : )
Now none of the above was probably very helpful, because I didn’t say anything about what “it” depends on. What it depends on is where your readers are, where they look for new books, and what they respond to. Some reader are more social then others: they hang out on FB and Twitter; others avoid these. Some follow blogs, some don’t Some seek a more personal connection with authors; some couldn’t care less. Some read reviews, some go by the blurb, some read the sample. To market effectively, all these things need to be understood.
Regarding your situation more specifically, you have some work out there, so you are ahead of the game in many respects. But my co-author’s experience is that fantasy is a tough market for Indies, compared to romance and sci-fi. This appears to be supported by Amazon’s bestseller lists.
I tend to agree with "it never hurts to try" philosophy . . . as well as it really doesn’t hurt. If it becomes a distraction, that hurts. As for the specific things you mention doing any good, how is that defined?
Yes, any marketing effort will benefit all your books, so marketing later has a better chance of paying off than marketing early. So personally, I’d wait to try anything major. Keep building your base and learning your market..
Wishing you every success!
Owen wrote: "This, of course, is the vexing question that seems to most concern us authors, and especially new authors. Christina has already given the short answer, which is quite correct. But maybe it is bene..."Wow, thank you! Great advice...sometimes! !-) I guess this just means I need to get off goodreads and get back to writing!
One thing I do know, selling a book is not like the "Field of Dreams." Just because you publish it, doesn't mean they will buy it. It takes nearly as much effort to market as it does to write and edit it.
Myth: What other people tell you works.Fact: What works for you.
Micah wrote: "Myth: What other people tell you works.Fact: What works for you."
Like this.
Micah wrote: "Myth: What other people tell you works.Fact: What works for you."
Exactly. That goes for all writing advice, too.
Micah wrote: "Myth: What other people tell you works.Fact: What works for you."
Amen to that.
