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When to start "talking up" my book?
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Personally, I didn't start talking mine up until I could slate it for a Kindle pre-order. That way I would advertise and potentially garner interest. I found this to be reasonably successful; I even had a few ordered before it went live.
Deidre wrote: "Personally, I didn't start talking mine up until I could slate it for a Kindle pre-order."Thank you for your reply! So, what did you do to try to connect with potential readers up until then, if you don't mind my asking? I have some blog ideas, and I'm trying to find potential readers on Twitter and reply to them (i.e., I'm being an active listener instead of just talking), but I'm wondering what else I can/should do, if anything.
*Edited to remove an exclamation point.
Hi Leah. In some ways, it's never too soon to build an audience, but how you go about it depends on you and what you feel comfortable with. Blogging about similar topics is a good way to build an audience. Especially social sci-fi. There's a wealth of information to talk about. (Side note: Octavia Butler is one of my all time favorites, so I can attest that there is a lot of material to work with just in discussing her themes alone.) Once you're closer to having it published, make it a big announcement post. Note: I'm not guaranteeing you will be a raving success, nor am I saying this is all you should do. This is just my suggestion based on my experience with the genre. You'll still want to set up author-specific social media and whatever else you think works.
Mod
Building your first audience is all about connecting to them. Social media is a powerful tool. If used correctly you can drum up an interest in your book well before it releases.
Christina wrote: "Blogging about similar topics is a good way to build an audience..."Thank you! So, for example, a big thing in my book is the government's citizen surveillance program. If I blogged about current events surrounding this issue -- mentioning that my book deals with the topic -- is that good, or still premature?
My current platform building plan -- *before* my final draft is finished -- is as follows:
Be active on Twitter and Facebook -- especially by responding to others (applying principles of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" if that makes sense; I don't want to just talk about myself the whole time, I'm trying to build relationships)
Blog, like I described above, but also about my own personal life (since the reason why I follow my favorite authors is because I want a glimpse of the person)
...Yeah. I think that's all I've got for now.
Mod
Thank you! So, for example, a big thing in my book is the government's citizen surveillance program. If I blo..."
Perfect. Think of your blog as a personal journal to share with your audience so they grow to know you better.
Leah wrote: "Deidre wrote: "Personally, I didn't start talking mine up until I could slate it for a Kindle pre-order."Thank you for your reply! So, what did you do to try to connect with potential readers up ..."
I've only recently started using Twitter, so I have no advice there. A lot of my talking up was on my FB page and my Goodreads blog.
Something I forgot to mention was that I set a release date and stuck to it; no excuses. I had the cover completed so I could show it off even before the pre-order went live. (It went through a couple revisions; I don't recommend that as I think it made me look unprofessional. Be completely satisfied with your cover before you show it off.)
Once the pre-order went live, I started advertising as well. There's advice littered around about how to go about that, but my method was to create the cover, a couple sentences of intrigue, and advertise it on FB. You do have to pay, and will likely pay more in advertising than you earn back, but promoting is business and at first you'll probably lose more than you earn back.
Know your audience when you do this. My novel was a supernatural romance, so I advertised toward fans of Richelle Mead, Vampire Diaries, 50 Shades of Gray, and a few others that fell in those ballparks.
Fiddle around with the advertising; just a few dollars here and there while you see which algorithm works for you. Weekends seem to be a good time to spread out an ad (Friday thru Sunday). I especially focus on military payday weekends and receive a modicum of sales/pre-orders that way.
Keep an eye out for people offering to review. Some are willing to read unfinished work, but not all. Also keep an eye out for author interviews and sign up for them when they're looking for works like yours.
And finally, don't forget to talk about things that aren't your book on social media platforms. People tend to like authors who share similar interests outside of their work.
Hope any of that helps.
Hi Leah,Congratulations on starting the 'talk up' -:) and good luck with the baby and the book.
Didn't quite understand why the book is slated for the end of the year, if you describe it being at its final 'cooking'
Nik wrote: "Hi Leah,Congratulations on starting the 'talk up' -:) and good luck with the baby and the book.
Didn't quite understand why the book is slated for the end of the year, if you describe it being a..."
Well, I suppose it's not "slated," but I really, really want to release it by then. I haven't announced a release date to anyone. This is because I don't know what life with two kids (toddler and newborn) will be like, and I'd rather push the release date farther into the future than rush to meet a deadline and end up not doing it as well as I could have.
You all have been SO HELPFUL. Thank you! It sounds like Facebook Ads really pay off, which makes me reconsider using my personal page as my author page. I had decided to do that based on Jane Friedman's post, here:
https://janefriedman.com/5-reasons-us...
My advice:1. Create an author profile/account on Twitter and start interacting and friending other people in the book world - authors, reviewers, bloggers, publishers, and creative types in general, etc...
2. Create an author page on FB, separate from your "personal" FB page.
3. When you're ready to release your book, do a pre-order on Amazon and set your release date about three weeks later.
4. Start talking up your book about a month before its release date.
5. Later on, look into Facebook advertising. Depending on your genre, it can be incredible cost effective.
6. Most importantly, make sure your book is professionally edited and proofread, and arrange for an attractive and compelling, professionally-designed cover that represents both your story and your genre well. Yes, people do judge a book by its cover. And yes, editing and proofreading matter. You might write the best book in the world, but if it's not done to professional standards, your book may get passed over. Readers are very astute.
Best of luck to you! And welcome to a wonderful new world of authoring. Make author friends, because they can advise you on how to go about it.
Leah wrote: "Christina wrote: "Blogging about similar topics is a good way to build an audience..."Thank you! So, for example, a big thing in my book is the government's citizen surveillance program. If I blo..."
Perfect! Definitely try to keep it more personal and less promotional, but as long as your audience knows you're an author, any post will be promotional in its own, secondary way.
Leah wrote: "Hi everyone!Brand new here. I finished writing my first novel (a social sci-fi, along the lines of 1984 or Parable of the Sower) last summer, did a couple rounds of edits based on my critique grou..."
I agree with Christina's comments above, and I'll share a few observations I've made since we published our first book in 2013. These may not apply in your case, but for what they are worth, here they are. (Apply as many grains of salt as you wish.)
We found that our readers are not especially social. They don't seem to look to social media to find new books. Some do like to talk about sc-fi, and social sci-fi readers do seem to like to discuss that more than some other sci-fi subgenres, but what interaction they do engage in appears to be weakly linked to buying decisions. (Some sci-fi authors have very popular blogs, but I’ve seen no evidence they get appreciable sales from them.) For ourselves, we get little interaction thru our blog. People mostly seem to check to see if we've announced a release date.
Overall, our readers are a "hard sell". They appear to dislike "marketing". If they feel they are being "pushed", they leave. They don't get as "involved" and review and comment infrequently.
Paid ads we are very dubious about. We have tried targeted "pay-per click" campaigns, and got plenty of impressions but no clicks. The various service we investigated were geared much more toward other genres, and not sci-fi. What appears to sell sci-fi on Amazon are the "also bought" lists. If your book appears high in the "also bought" list of a popular sci-fi book, that will drive visibility and (hopefully) sales. Little else does, as far as we have seen.
As a result of the foregoing, we do essentially no marketing.
Your situation is not the same as ours, and your readership may be more socially oriented (and less cranky) than ours. Building a platform and taking other steps mentioned may be of some benefit, but don’t be surprised or disheartened if that is not the case. Sci-fi is different than some other genres, and books can take off with little or no marketing by the author.
I won’t go so far as to say marketing is a waste of time (even though it was in our case), but if you do not enjoy it, or if it will be a distraction from writing, our experience – and what I’ve observed overall – suggests you can not bother. Concentrate on putting out the best book you are capable.
Overall, sci-fi is one of the more “indie-friendly” genres. Independent authors are well represented in the Amazon Top-100 lists, and in some sub-genres, they dominate. So indie books can and do sell – extremely well in quite a few cases. The readership just doesn’t seem to like marketing. They prefer find books on their own through the “also bought” lists and word of mouth.
One last thing: My observation is that ARC reviews are to be avoided. The words “I was given a copy in exchange for . . .” send a negative message to our readers. It tells them the book is not worthy of being reviewed and the review can’t be trusted. When checking out a new author, sci-fi readers seem to check the negative reviews first and put less stock in the positive reviews (which they assume to be FB friends etc).
I’ve noted that sci-fi books (including ours) often sell best before there are any reviews at all. So I’d recommend letting the reviews come in organically. Don’t submit to review sites, because they don’t have much credibility with the readership. Let things develop on their own.
And best of luck to you!
Owen wrote: "Leah wrote: "Hi everyone!Brand new here. I finished writing my first novel (a social sci-fi, along the lines of 1984 or Parable of the Sower) last summer, did a couple rounds of edits based on my ..."
Ahh, this rings true to me, because it sounds like you're describing me. I am pretty skeptical of reviews, unless there are tons of them. Excellent, excellent info. Thank you for taking the time to write such a thorough response.
Thanks to you all -- I look forward to getting to know you through this group :-)
Owen wrote: "Leah wrote: "Hi everyone!Brand new here. I finished writing my first novel (a social sci-fi, along the lines of 1984 or Parable of the Sower) last summer, did a couple rounds of edits based on my ..."
Oh, as a follow-up, Owen: Have you tried Reddit at all for connecting with readers? I've only been a lurker (in the paranormal groups because I'm a ghost story junkie), but I have this gut feeling that maybe Reddit is a key access point for this demographic.
Leah wrote: "Oh, as a follow-up, Owen: Have you tried Reddit at all for connecting with readers? ..."We have not. Thanks for the pointer. Some lurking over there may be in order.
Owen wrote: "Leah wrote: "Hi everyone!Brand new here. I finished writing my first novel (a social sci-fi, along the lines of 1984 or Parable of the Sower) last summer, did a couple rounds of edits based on my ..."
Owen makes some interesting points -- i.e. readers do not like marketing, or hard sell. Readers do not look for new books on social media. ARCS are not worth doing.
As a new author just starting my marketing of my first novel, now I'm even more confused as to what to do! I don't disagree with him but everything I read about indie pub marketing says the opposite.
The basic problem is that there are three tasks to writing:writing a cogent tale
adding value to it (edit it into a sellable commodity) including interior design and cover art
Sell the thing.
The last is by far the least pleasant for me but I think it is learnable.
I started a blog one year before I had a product to put before the public. In the interim, I published excerpts, back stories and political rants, to create and audience.
In the last analysis, I wish I had started earlier
Jennifer wrote: "Owen wrote: "I don't disagree with him but everything I read about indie pub marketing says the opposite...."Jennifer: Based on what we experienced and observed, there are a number of things going on here. First and foremost, markets are different and things that are ineffective in one market may work better in another.
Next -- and when it comes to what people say we "should do" this is I believe this a major reason -- there tends to be a strong urge to do "something". That there is [or should be] a direct correlation between effort and result is deeply ingrained; to say otherwise is to say we are largely powerless over our own affairs [in this case, selling books]. That is hard to swallow and so we rarely read advice to that effect.
Third, the criteria for success is personal and (as far as I've read) rarely defined in the advice I have encountered. Indeed, since every book is different, it can hardly be defined. But in defining "success" for ourselves, we should consider if our goals are realistic -- yet that also presents a problem, if we want to define them qualitatively (by dales or income).
To put it simply, I suspect no one know what the "expected value" (in the statistical sense) of annual revenue from a book is. I've heard people quote such figures based on sales stats, but population on which these stats are based is so varied and subject to so many factors, that confidence in any such estimate is so low (statistically, the confidence interval is so wide) as to provide almost no useful guidance.
Boil of this down and marketing by authors begins to take on the appearance of an "act of faith". In my view this is not necessarily a bad thing. And it depends, of course, on what you define success to be.
There is, however, a different aspect to all this which should not be ignored. Building a platform and reaching out to readers (as best we can without being annoying) creates the "infrastructure" that will help us build on success should the "lightning strike". This can happen at anytime, and if we are prepared it, we can benefit in a sustained fashion. If we are unprepared, we are much more likely to be a flash in the pan.
Finally, indie publishing is (as if often stated) a very long game. Small successes do accumulate over time, and to the extent we expend effort in prudent fashion, suited to our market, we can lay a foundation for success (however we define it).
That is a long-winded way of saying: figure out what you want, evaluate the market you are in, and filter all advice accordingly.
But most of all, we can't succeed if we don't stay in the game, and that means writing more, to the best of our ability, avoiding distractions that inhibit or dishearten us, and having faith in our own success.
Brand new here. I finished writing my first novel (a social sci-fi, along the lines of 1984 or Parable of the Sower) last summer, did a couple rounds of edits based on my critique group's notes and feedback from beta readers, and now I've handed it over to a professional editor so I can really take the final draft to the best it can be.
I hope to publish at the end of the year, but I'm having a baby in April and so this goal is subject to change. But I know that it's important to try to "build a platform" (sigh) well before the book's release, and I'm grappling with what to do.
When should I start "talking up" my book (like blogging about it/current events related to it, sharing the title, blurb, etc)? It still feels premature to do such things, since I'm still working on the final version...
I'm new as a writer and even newer to the marketing/visibility aspect of things. Any insights you can offer me are MUCH appreciated!