What Authors Should Know About Marketing

by Nadia Brown
(Dade County, Florida, USA)

For authors, no matter how you are published (self-published, POD, traditional publishing) having your manuscript published is a rewarding experience; however, if your desire is not only to be a published author but to be able to share your literary works with a broad sector of the public, then there are certain aspects about marketing you must know.

Create a Marketing Plan

Marketing should begin before an author is published and not after. Authors must put together a marketing plan and begin to implement that strategy prior to being published, which means you should have a website created, made contacts to book reviewers, book clubs, marketing services, libraries, universities, schools, scheduled interviews, made business cards, bookmarkers prior to being published. … There is a lot to do; therefore some of what I've mentioned should be done before you are published. Each author must decide what plan best fit them and the amount they are willing to spend on marketing. There are many ways an author can promote their books. However, the process should start before and not after an author is published!

Author Promotion

Book promotion is not only about marketing books; it is also about promoting the author. Author Promotion means to provide readers with the life story of the author. For instance, a 15-year-old girl wrote a book about surviving cancer. She was able to appear on her local news because her story was unique. She was a 15-year-old published author who had survived cancer. If an author have a unique story to tell, have a special talent aside from writing, or is an expert in a field, then that particular attribute should be used as part of their marketing approach. Most of the time those distinctive characteristics would have a greater appeal to media outlets than the contents in the author’s book. Even if you don't fall into any of those categories, you should add a photo of yourself to your website and provide as much information about yourself, your book or perhaps your reasons for writing it. Readers will have an easier time connecting to authors when they are willing to reveal something personal about themselves.

Getting Others Involved

Authors, no matter how they are published, do the bulk of promoting and must invest considerable amount of time, effort, resources to this endeavor, which can be an overwhelming task for one person. There is a limit to what authors can do individually. For that reason, part of authors’ marketing strategy should be to involve others such as their family, relatives, or friends into the marketing process. Certain family members, relatives, or friends can be assigned to doing a specific task. Perhaps they could mention your book to their friends, pass out flyers, bookmarkers, business cards, or give your website address to their co-workers, friends or associates. They can even bring a copy of your book for co-workers to sample. When you get others involve in helping you promote your book, it makes the task of promotion a less stressful and difficult one, and the author may see more results because of it.

Joining Organizations and Online Communities

It is important for authors to network with fellow authors and meet potential customers by joining writing and non writing organizations and/or online communities. Authors can obtain lots of ideas on ways to best market their books from one another. This could be of great benefit to all authors in particularly an aspiring or new author. Authors who are members of a church can find out how they can add their books to their church bookstore (if they have one), and/or tell members about their books. Also, joining a group such as Gather, Xanga, or Myspace allows authors to have a potential consumer base. Some of your sales may come from fellow authors and people you meet in a conference, or an online community. It is a great way to connect with people nationally (as well as internationally) and those you wouldn't ordinarily reach.

Using Articles to Sell Books

Authors who use articles as a means of marketing their books will have a greater potential for book sales if their article is related to the books they have published. Not only should articles inform readers, have no grammar and spelling mistakes, but it should also be related in subject to the book you are promoting if your desire is to affect book sales with your article. For example, if you wrote a romance novel, you'd have a better chance of getting sales if your article is on subjects that are related to romance such as dating, relationships, finding love, soul mates… rather than writing an article about the environment or subjects non-related to romance. Your article on the environment may be a well-written piece, but it may not target the audience you hope for. There is no rule stating you must write on subjects related to your books, but it will increase your chances for sales if you do.

Be Patient

What is most important for authors to know about marketing is, if you do become a best-seller or generate a considerable following it won't be overnight. It can take years to have a best-selling novel or garner a significant fan base. Too many have unrealistic expectations in the short-term when authors should be prepared for a long-term process. This way an author won't give up promoting their books after several months if they find themselves unhappy with sales.

Book marketing is a difficult undertaking, and the more prepared and knowledgeable you are about the promotion process is the better off and perhaps more successful you will be as a bookseller. Knowing these helpful tips will indeed serve as a guide to both aspiring and established authors alike.

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