The world seems to be revolving around online platforms more and more as the days go by, and it’s easy to think that the only way to make your way is by using social media. While social media is great, it’s not the main way marketing takes place. It’s a tool we can use for marketing, but it’s not the end all be all of marketing.
Social media might make you want to hide away forever and consider not even writing your book if that’s the only way to succeed. The fact is, it’s not the only way to succeed. Word of mouth and making meaningful connections are still the best way to get the word out about anything.
You may get recommendations from friends or take to the good ‘ol Google machine in order to find something you want. Not everything is found on social media!
Let’s talk about some ways to grow your platform and establish your presence without wondering if you should be dancing to music on the internet in order to sell your book.
Build a Newsletter
Yep, I will preach this one until I die. A newsletter tells you that you have MANY people wanting to hear from you directly. This is a tried and true marketing tactic. Have you ever signed up for emails for a coupon? Yep, that’s email marketing.
What do we do and what’s the strategy?
Start Building Your List
My favorite email marketing tool is MailerLite. I use it for work and I love it. It has a free option with a lot of tools within the free version. A lot of automations for FREE!
Let’s talk incentives.
Offering something in exchange for a sign up nearly guarantees you get more sign ups. A free short story, a first look into your book, a novella you wrote, exclusive content only for emails, etc are all ways to get someone to sign up for your emails.
Provide value
This one is important. A good guide for you is to ask yourself, “Would I want to get this email?” You can send updates and news, but making sure your readers are getting exclusive information and have an expectation of what they will get in their emails in an automated welcome email everyone gets when they sign up.
Consistency
This one is the hardest one of all. Make a schedule YOU can keep up with. Not what you think you want. Once a month is FINE and it can be better in the long run.
Get people to sign up wherever you meet them. Invite your facebook friends. Invite your neighbors. The random people on the street. Wherever you meet people and make connections, get their email! It’s the guaranteed way to keep in contact with them.
A Website
Reader Friendly is Best
A simple one page is fine if you’re trying to get them to buy your book. Make sure you include essential information like your bio, book details, any events you might be going to, and your contact info (and email signup with an incentive!)
Write a Blog
If you’re not on social media, a blog is a great way to get discovered in searching. If you notice the title of this blog, it mentions an answer to a question you might type into a search bar. Making sure you understand the basics of SEO (search engine optimization) can help you in the long run. We can talk about that on another post.
Writing about what you’re reading, what you’re up to, and more regularly can help your readers find your content. It’s easier said than done, I know, but it only stands to help you in your efforts. A monthly blog update with good keywords and SEO to become searchable on the web will help you and it has a lot of valuable content your email subscribers may want to read.
Get Contact Info
Make sure your email subscription is easy to use and attractive enough to get people to subscribe. Long term goals means collecting contact information. It’s the name of the marketing game, especially if we are staying off of socials.
Collaborate with Book Clubs or Reading Groups
These are some of the best people who can recommend your books to others. This can be anything from hosting a book club with free books or just basic reach outs. Authors are usually in book clubs to find new books, too. Consider joining one to see what readers are chatting about.
Partnering
Offer to make a guest appearance and chat about your book with them. Offer to host a book club book. Offer merch like bookmarks for the club who picks up your book. Anything and everything is great and clubs love to feel loved by authors!
Guest Appearances
In my marketing career, this is probably one of my favorite ways to do marketing. There are literally millions of channels that you can get featured on, and there are so many looking for new content. You can tap into an audience immediately just by being a guest.
Pitch Yourself
Look for blogs, podcasts, or other platforms (could be a speaking engagement!) that align with your genre (or expertise if you’re a non-fic writer). Start with asking those around you if they know of any places they know of usually have guests or guest posts that may align with what you would want to talk about.
Podcasts are huge and so many smaller podcasts would love to host you–just start searching the web and asking around.
Share More Than Ads
Use these opportunities to talk about more than just your book, too. Share your story, your inspiration for writing, or other things within your niche that could be entertaining to the audience of that platform.
One of my favorite things to do is watch interview podcasts and learn about new people and how they got to where they did or things that they have learned. I’ve nearly ditched TV for podcasts and reading blogs, and you bet your butt many other people have too.
Book Events and Fairs
Adult book fairs? Sign me the eff up. These are some of the best events on the friggin planet. Meeting people like yourself and chatting about your favorite reads is one of the best communities I think I’ve ever been in.
Local Events (or non! We love travel)
Look for events or festivals in your area or somewhere you’d like to go. Book fairs and library events, too! These are great events to meet new people as an attendee. If they’re looking for authors to attend with a table, even better. Sign yourself up and go meet some new people.
Readings and Signings
This one is the scariest one I think I could write about. Talking to bookstores and libraries about setting up a table to sign and sell books? Horrific. But the results of authors who do this are so freaking amazing that it’s worth the existential dread.
Readings are also horrific. Reading out loud? Ahhh, I am literally screaming. But what’s funnier is… I love attending them. I actually adore going to see an author do a reading from their book and being happy to share their art. Go out there and read to new people who want to find their next favorite book–it could be yours.
Influencers and Bloggers
These are the people who have some serious power to sell things. A good reviewer with a decent platform can put your name in front of THOUSANDS of people. They really have superpowers, I swear. Creators are some of my favorite people. A lot of them are on social media and can really boost you if you’re unsure about it yourself.
Send Free Books
The scariest three words you could ever read. You’re not guaranteed a review, nor can you require one. BUT. You can partner up for promotional things. If they want to review your book, sending out that review copy is worth it.
UGC (user generated content) creators typically charge for their time and work. They can make great content and feature you on their platform. Use influencers wisely and try to check their previous collaborations to make sure you are working with a legitimate person.
The bigger creators and reviewers can help you, but I love working with creators that have under ten thousand. They tend to have a close knit community and enjoy feeling valued just as much as those with a million.
Giveaways
With influencers, a giveaway might be just the right move. A blogger, too! Anyone who hosts bookish content is a contender for doing a giveaway. Most of them have hosted at least one before.
Offering a signed book giveaway on their platform is a great way to get your name on someone’s radar. Check out some bloggers and reach out to see if they’d be interested!
One of my favorites is to partner with small businesses. A bookish business that makes bookmarks or scents may want to partner up with you and have a cute giveaway that also promotes their business. Using your email list for this can also be a good idea.
And finally…
Sell On Your Website
That’s it. That’s the post. Sell your book directly to readers. Sign the books. Sell the books. Offer book boxes that are sold only on your platform. Not only do you make more money and someone supports an artist at their own shop, you can make great connections with your readers by eliminating a middle man (retailer).
Sell. Your. Books. On. Your. Website.
If you have any follow-up questions at this post, no you don’t. Just kidding. Leave me a comment if you have topics you want me to cover in future posts. Now, go out there and market your damn self.