It’s really tough getting word out about your creative endeavours, so it’s good to know what works and when to start doing it.
With this problem in mind I asked a group of writers to throw their best tips at me, and they responded with some fantastic advice.
My own tip: Be the kind of person that other people want to be friends with by helping and supporting them whenever you can. (It doesn’t hurt to put the name of your latest book or your website address in your email signature either.)
Here’s some more great tips:
“My biggest one-day bump came from an article a newspaper reporter/recent acquaintance wrote about books featured locally. The second was from doing a reading at high school that then ordered a classroom set of books. Both involved being open to the opportunity. Neither was based on a sale or a paid advertisement. In 20 months as a published writer have seen no appreciable return from sales or paid advertisements!” Robert L. Slater
“Connect with – and support – other authors by commenting on their blogs, hosting them on your blog for releases, Tweeting about their books, etc. People are more willing to help promote authors that they already know and like.” Quanie Miller
“Every now and then try a new author promotion strategy. Ask yourself – Have I done anything new lately to promote my books?” Aditi Chopra
“Promotion also is all about presentation to the right market who is interested in your writing. Make sure you are targeting the market for success.” Debra Hargrove
“Promote soft or hardcover editions via a public book signing and leave a copy or two to be discovered in a public place to create a public awareness of your work.” Douglas Moore
“What I learned was that resistance is futile and you need to embrace this part of the process. Sometimes it is even – gasp! – fun.” Janine Donoho
“Think outside the box. That is where the growth occurs and if you don’t grow, you stifle.” Karin Halford
“Be patient. Maintain personal integrity, and hold on to your moral and ethical beliefs.” Armando Almase
“Create a writer’s platform, starting with a blog you own.” Carly Compass
“Social media is a must for any author who wants to earn a steady income from writing. Update your blog(s) and make use of Twitter and Facebook and Google + with a mix of self promotion and reposting other articles of interest. Self promotion alone will lose you followers on social media platforms.” Douglas Moore
“Write, write, write, join a critique group, critique, critique, critique. Then, rewrite what you wrote! [Start with a great book!]” Cholontic (Jen Christopherson)
“An author platform online should encompass many sites. Twitter, an FB page, website optional but definitely a blog, Google Plus, maybe YouTube trailers, Instagram & Pinterest, WattPad, Goodreads, if on Amazon fill out your bio area. Fill that out everywhere and utilize the free online real estate at your disposal. Update your LinkedIn.” Tosca Johnson
“Author promo is separate from book promo. Author promo begins long before you have a book on a shelf, the attention of an agent, or hit ‘upload’ on your first self-pub’d masterpiece. Author promo means standing up in the world, both visceral and virtual, and saying ‘Hello, I’m _ and I’m a writer.’ Author promo means connecting with peers, networking with the writing community, and making sure potential readers know your name long before you have anything other than yourself to promote.” AmyBeth Inverness
“Do what you love.” Joe Machney
“I wish I had known how to do it. I didn’t really promote my first book very much. I wish I had been friends with writers who could point me towards the better sites for helpful hints. Have an author page on all the major social media sites and keep it up to date with anything appropriate. They are a great way for people to get to know you as a person and want to buy your books because of it.” Karin Halford
Check out some of the other posts in the “Things I Wish I Knew About” series: Point Of View, Critiquing, Dealing With Rejection, Editing Your Own Work, Short Stories, Creating Characters, Story Development, Worldbuilding and Writing.
If you’re looking for a little help with your own writing, head over to Creative Manuscript Services and enter the free Structural Analysis Report giveaway.
Here is one of mine: look at the blogs, author pages and promotional activities of the people who sell really well. In other words: find the top 25 in your genre at the retailer sites. See what these people do for promotion. Copy one or two of the activities you think you can manage.
Most importantly: they write books that people want to read. Never forget your writing. A new book is the best promotion money can buy. Don’t put too much time into advice from writers whose books lurk at the bottom of the charts.
It’s extremely easy to get carried away with time consuming promotion activities. You want to make sure that there is a reasonable chance of success for the amount of time put in. Because promotion should never go at the expense of writing.
Thanks Patty! That’s some of the best advice I’ve come across. It’s definitely something I’ll be doing.
Always remember your target reading audience, but also remember they may not be the target buying audience. For example, children’s books are often bought by grandparents as gifts. Don’t spend all your effort targeting other writers as they are not necessarily your audience either.
Great points Paula! I didn’t even consider them. Thanks!
This is stay information, thank you very much
I’m glad you found it helpful!