I LOVE MARKETING AND PROMOTING! I love teaching other writers how to market and promote. What I teach is hopefully the shameless type of self promotion. not SHAMEFUL self promotion.
When we release a book we really want to sell 1,000 copies the first day out, or more. We spend all our time refreshing the page to see if we even sold one or ten within the last time we had refreshed the page. Or as a traditional author, you try not to obsess on checking the stats.
When you don't see the numbers you want. . .PANIC SETS IN!
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What do you do? You rush to Twitter and tweet your release a few times, head over to Facebook and update your status (for the tenth time) that your book released that day, you send out mass emails to your writer friends and beg them to promote your book.
STOP!!! Move away from the social-media. Step away from the computer. RETHINK your SHAMELESS self promotion that will effectively help you sell more books!
1) Do you have an opt-in newsletter on your website or blog? I do! And I have over 600 people who have subscribed to it. Creating a newsletter about your new release and sending to your subscribers is a great way to spread the word.
They opted in to receive your news, so they obviously want to know what's going on with your writing career. Do NOT email everyone in your contacts from your email list, only your opt-in list.
2) Do you belong to Facebook groups that allow you to post promotions? Be sure to visit those groups on the day of your release. When you receive a notification that someone left a comment, DO NOT go in right away and comment back a thank you, wait.
Why wait? Because every time you comment on a group page, it brings that update back up to the top of the group page. If you have three comments about your release from others, go in and thank each one, but make sure you thank them an hour apart. This way your release status you posted earlier in the day continues to go to the top of the group page and is visible to the group throughout the day and doesn't get lost.
DO NOT send a group message to your writer friends on Facebook to ask them to spread the word! That's rude and completely SHAMEFUL!
3) Do you belong to any tribes on Triberr? Of course you do! So yes, on the release day you can use your blog to promote your release. When you belong to a tribe on Triberr, your post will automatically go to your tribes where your tribe team will help get the word out. BUT you have to be sure that you are participating and paying it forward on your tribe too.
4) A great way to get the word out about your other novels is to make sure you put a plug in the back of each book. If the reader bought your book, they will be interested in knowing what else you have out there. Or if you have a PR BUDDY that you trust for LIFE, ask them if they would like to promote their novel in the back of your novel and vice-versa.
5) Be sure to watch your Twitter feed throughout your release day. If someone mentions you, be sure to tweet them back and thank them "for mentioning my new release A Charming Cure". The tweet will go in their streams and that is NOT SHAMEFUL self promotion.
By watching your manners, doing SHAMELESS promotion will not only make you stand out from all the other authors out there, you are building on your image of an amazing author with great marketing techniques that work!
Do you have any SHAMELESS promoting tips to add?
Great tips.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tasha! I hope you are doing well!!
DeleteGreat article and tips.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mila. It's such a fine line sometimes that gets a little blurred.
DeleteReally interesting and great tips. Thank you
ReplyDeleteHi, Wendy. So glad you stopped by!
DeleteGreat tips about the Facebook groups. I learner something new today. If only I could figure out how to the news letters on my blot and website.
ReplyDeleteHi again , Tonya.. As you know, I'm a great believer in letting the whole Universe know about stuff. You are absolutely bang on the money about the difference between hammering it to deathly non-recepetion, and hopefully, with enough marketing nous and quirkiness, amusing people into at least having a look at your work without feeling the ol' 'spam' effect .. great post, thanks..
ReplyDeleteBTW, my first novel from last year, THE VIOLIN MAN'S LEGACY, which did 25,000+ downloads through only networking on the 'Sosyal Medya' has recently tapered off in downloads, so it'll be getting the ol' Kindle Free Promo treatment this week, August 15-19.. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.. This is still SUCH a blast !! Cheers !! :):)
Good luck with your free days. I did that ONCE....and won't do it again. I found that the readers who poach for the free books aren't my readers and I got one star reviews. They aren't invested in the free. When someone has to spend their money to buy something, they are more invested and will actually read the book. Plus I think that KDP select has made it much harder for the free thing to really work. Let me know how it goes.
DeleteGreat tip about the group posting. I had noticed the posts get moved up when someone comments but hadn't really thought about how to use that to my advantage.
ReplyDeleteI have a newsletter signup on my website and my pen name's website. But how do you get people to actually sign up? I have a note on it that people who sign up are in the quarterly draw to win a copy of my pen name's book (on her website) but not many people have signed up for the newsletter yet.
Hi, Cindy!
DeleteWhy don't you post on your facebook a couple times a month to sign up for your newsletter for chances to win free Cindy merchandise and keep updated on your news?
Thanks for these tips, Tonya. Very useful :)
ReplyDeleteAs always, Tonya, excellent post. I'm such a newbie. Didn't know anything about Triberr.
ReplyDeleteSome authors really tick me off with their hourly Twitter posts, and I really was hoping that I would post about my debut novel (launched last week), my friends would read it, they'd post and I wouldn't have to put myself out there again. Right. So far, I don't know if anyone outside my circle of friends has read my book, but I'm also okay. Reviews are good, feedback is very positive, and I know it takes time to build a following.
~Martha
It does take time, Martha. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteHi Tonya! I recently swore off using twitter and facebook to promote my books, at least in the more negative ways you describe, above (http://christinelockebooks.blogspot.com/2012/07/why-i-will-not-sell-my-novel-on-twitter.html). I've been trying blogging and tweeting in character, http://carinatmallacemansion.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteand Griffin Carter @CarinsGriffin
Have you ever tried these methods? It's a little too early for me to tell...
Hi, Christine. I'm curious to why you swore off the two biggest promo sites out there? If it's done correctly, they are GREAT tools.
DeleteYes. I have done blogs and interviews in the characters perspective on reader blogs. It worked for me because I did it on reader blogs that are looking for my type of genre.
Great blog as always - thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi Tonya! I like Christine's idea of tweeting in character, in addition to these tips. As for shameful self-promotion, I know that, personally, I will unfollow authors whose last 3 tweets are nothing but "Buy My Book!" Twitter's a great way to get in touch with potential fans, but you've got to make friends the way you'd do it in person--by not being an annoying shill.
ReplyDeleteAs for some shameless tips, I have heard that many indie authors do well when they can organize readings of their books, whether at a local library, book club or bookstore. Any advice on that?
They talk about what they like and don’t like. I like getting a snapshot of my readers and feel like I was casting the net wider to really get a better picture of my demographic. cheap advertising
ReplyDelete