Part 2 – Are you serious about your
eBook? Being Indie, is being ‘inBUSINESS’...
1. Once your book starts selling you will attract a
certain amount of reader interaction. Don’t engage in this lightly. It should
be genuinely desired and encouraged. In my humble opinion it should be the goal
of every author (yep - EVERY author) to chat and connect and interact with their
readers. I absolutely love receiving the hundreds of messages of enquiry and
encouragement from my readers. There was a tough time not so long ago where the
heartening messages were the only thing that kept me stuck to my gruelling
schedule. Don’t forget – they like your stuff so much they took time out of
their day to contact YOU.
2. Following on from the above...it is important to
include a personal contact email address in your book. No, include it at least
twice. Make sure it’s at the beginning and, because Kindle books can start on
Page 1, also include it at the end. In addition, include links to your website
and blog where, again, it will be easier for readers to contact you personally.
3. The email address is the starting point for your
next big project - The Mailing List. Once questions and contacts and queries
and messages of support start flooding through your email then create a
contacts list. This list will be the first thing you turn to when you publish a
new book and, like me, you might find it useful to bounce new ideas off some of
your readers.
4. You become a serious Indie author when, as the
title of this post suggests, you understand it’s a full-time business. To help
with this, direct traffic from your established social marketing site to the quieter
ones. Create a circle. Call it a ‘nail that sale’ circle. Direct traffic from
twitter to your website to your blog to Facebook to Goodreads to Pinterest to
LinkedIn etc, etc, and leave an easy and helpful link on every site that leads
to your ‘buy’ page. Take some time to learn the way these sites work (I am
sadly guilty of not doing this myself – yet.)
5. Twitter may or may not be your best social
medium, but it has been mine. Do not let your marketing tweets grow stale.
Change them regularly. Think up new tweets, almost as if you were an advertising
agent. Oh wait, you are! Freshen them up every week or even every few days. Get
a friend or loved one to give them a brand new perspective. Once the great reviews
start rolling in use the rich content within them. Keep it inventive, original.
And don’t forget your fellow authors – they will support you and you should
support them.
6. Speaking of keeping it fresh – change your
marketing strategies often. One month write a new and interesting blog post.
Another, write an informative or a personal blog. On another engage in several
interviews. On yet another month host a guest blogger or a fellow author. Each
new approach introduces you to a different audience and lends greater
visibility to your name and what should fast be becoming your brand.
7. Join an author group on Facebook or Goodreads and
other Social Marketing sites. You will find new friends and new outlets for
your work. Listen carefully to what these people have to say. Share your
experiences and give your advice freely.
8. Here’s one I intend to try soon, but haven’t yet had
the chance beyond a single interview. If anyone has had any success with this
perhaps you could drop me a line of advice. LOCAL marketing. Most places have a
local press, a free paper, a giant supermarket and coffee shop that enjoys promoting
‘local’ initiatives. Some supermarkets have a free paper. Perhaps there are
some book clubs in your town?
9. Organise a Blog Tour. There are many bloggers out
there interested in your stuff, but it’s unlikely they will come to you. It
sure can’t hurt to send a note of enquiry, and there are guidelines around to
help you write it. Clearly, it would be useful to coincide the tour with a new
release, but be careful – I’ve seen these overdone, and it can be boring as
hell!
10. GIVEAWAYS! Everyone loves a freebie! Maybe coordinate
one before a new release (this helps to form your marketing campaign.) There
are many ways to organise a giveaway, KDP being the most obvious. There is an
Amazon page that links you to all the sites where you can advertise your free
book, along with the respective forms to complete. Check it out - http://authormarketingclub.com/members/submit-your-book/
It’s a tough one, this giveaway lark. I personally
don’t believe it has ever helped me sell more books, but then I haven’t
embraced it to the max like some of my author friends. Not yet. In addition,
you could have paperback copies available and run an entirely more personal
giveaway. Goodreads also offer coupons.
11. Please remember, there are many forms of ‘art’
out there, and many people trying to self-promote their work. Diversity is
good. Help your fellow ‘artist’, as well as your fellow author and your
potential audience broadens dramatically.
12. A final and important point- this is a self-fulfilling
journey, no matter how you measure a person’s success. If you can’t try to help
your fellow author to sell more books than you, then you shouldn’t be here. If
you are a genuine supporter of the new author movement – then hop on and enjoy
the ride! The way ahead, though veiled in mystery, promises to be a thrilling
one.
13. Brag a little. You wrote this thing. You created
this entire world from nothing. Someone out there is reading your creation
before they go to sleep or instead of watching Greys Anatomy. They bought your
work and they’re loving it! It’s stopping them turning the light out! Damn,
isn’t that just one of the best feelings in the world?
