You wrote a manuscript and that’s cool and all, but help help help what do we do now?

Well, first, congrats on the book. I bet you’ve spent many nights crying like I did.

Now let’s talk about getting to work (again) on your book in ways you literally never thought you’d have to work on your book.

Yep, marketing. Buckle up, bunny, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

… no no, don’t run. Sit down.

First order of business, social media

What I learned in school (yawn, I went to school and minored in marketing and thought I would be doing marketing for physical therapists, but here I am reading and promoting smut) is that promotion–the endless continuation of it–is boring. Yes, you want people to buy your shit, but if you scream “buy this!” they absolutely will not.

FIRST: CONNECT WITH YOUR FUCKING AUDIENCE.

If you’re a faceless author, it don’t matter. You need to be connecting and making friends with people. How do you do this?

Simple. It’s called forced networking! Kidding…kind of.

• Genuine connections are crucial for people to trust you enough to spend time and sit down and read your book.
  • Interact with your audience via polls, quizzes, and Q&A sessions.
  • Ask for feedback on the stuff you do so you can see if they vibe with you or not.
  • Talk about other books (we live in the book community)
  • What makes you a genuine human? Are you even nice? Prove it!

Did you know making genuine connections is self-promotion in disguise? People want to support people they like and feel they connect with.

• Be authentic in your engagements. Leave thoughtful comments for others (authors and readers) to show you’re interested in more than just selling a book to them.
• Do some behind the scenes content to show you’re a real life human and do real life human things. Show your writing process, what plot structure you chose, or how hard writing is and why you want to cry sometimes.

Also, be consistent in your posting schedule. I only post 2 times a week because that’s all my brain has the capacity for. It’s fine, we’re fine. I won’t die only posting twice. Neither will you. BE SUSTAINABLE, GODDAMMIT. I mean, don’t burn yourself out, babes.

The key with this is creating value beyond just book promotion because, eww, who does that? You’re not corporate or a scam.

TWO: THREATEN THEM IF THEY DON’T BUY YOUR BOOK. Kidding, this is just shouting into the void and asking for sales.

Okay, now we can talk about shameless self-promotion now that you made friends who care about what you have to say.

You want to sell books, right?

• Create a compelling narrative around your book that convinces people to fork over money to you (kinda, cause royalties)
• What makes your story stand out? Talk about it!
• What tropes do you have? Share them.
• Have a Pinterest board to share? Character art you’ve commissioned? SHARE IT!!!

Is your book out?

• Encourage your readers to share photos, quotes, or reviews of your book for a chance to be featured on your account, newsletter, or website.
• Host a giveaway for a copy of your book on social media.
• Consider partnering with some reviewers who read your genre.
• Host a sale price of your book so you have something to talk about.

Promotion is essential, but it shouldn’t feel like a relentless sales pitch. (Also, stop asking for pity sales. Hard truth, but like…no.) Effective promotion means showcasing your uniqueness as an author and how your story will make them FEEL. So focus on creating things that will resonate and engage. (What types of things do you see and share on social media? Take notes.)

THIRD: KIDNAP YOUR AUDIENCE.

Not like real kidnapping, but kind of. Keep them coming back for more by maintaining your current relationship with them via your support and continuing to share valuable content THAT THEY WANT TO SEE.

Once you have your readers, you wash your hands of them, right? Wrong. You need to take care of them like a Tamagotchi or they die. Yes, as in they will go away.

*breathes in dramatically* PUT THEM IN YOUR EMAIL LIST. Okay, rant over. But your biggest fans will want things like exclusive material. This means bonus chapters, character profiles, writing tips, and anything you can offer that isn’t just blasted out like your book is. Think of your bff. Don’t you call them to spill the tea? Well, this is basically the same thing with your loyal people who want to be bffs with you.

• Start a reader’s Facebook group to post things that are exclusive. Chat with people.
• If you’re partial to Discord, do that!
• Engage with people trying to talk to you. They love that and want to feel like they are just as important to you as you are to them. (just don’t be fake, people can smell that like rotten meat)
• Share early access, ARCs, beta applications, ask questions, seek input into your plot, anything you can think of. These are people who are willing to fight for you so let them.

And I swear to God, if you don’t have an email list to chat with these people, I will hunt you down. You can send them ARCs, bonus chapters, free books, and literally anything you want to send in emails. ANDDDDDD you don’t have to rely on a social media algorithm. (just do it, okay?)

ANY FKN QUESTIONS????

Try some of the NON promotional tactics on social media and see where it gets you on your platform. You need to be a person on there instead of a salesman and people know the difference. Your first fans who feel appreciated will help you and will grow with you. So send them cool stuff sometimes and love them like a bff.

Remember, we all question our life choices when deciding to be an author. That’s normal. So just be coo and it’ll be fine.