As mentioned in my guest post about the publishing process, my favourite thing to do is to write. The surrounding bits, such as publishing and marketing, were long uncharted territory for me. However, I have begun to put more effort into these aspects of being an author. In this post, I will go through a few tips for new writers, and talk about what I have done when marketing my upcoming historical novel Princess of Thorns. It is worth noting that while I am self-published, marketing is equally crucial for traditionally published authors.
Firstly, I would give a tip which is fairly obvious nowadays, namely to maintain an online presence. Aside from an author website, you need to be consistently active on some kind of social media. Pick 1-3 platforms that you can dedicate your time to. I have personally been a little lacking in my twitter presence, but post content on Instagram every day. Indeed, Instagram has been my main marketing tool for Princess of Thorns.
My second tip would be to send free pre-release copies of your book to anyone who might be interested in writing a review. Of course, it is a bonus if the person has a large following on social media or is a fellow author, but each review counts. When raising awareness about Princess of Thorns, I acquainted myself with numerous experienced readers of historical fiction. Some of them were glad to collaborate with me. What I think is important to remember, though, is that no one owes you anything. Many will not respond to your messages, others will say ‘no thank you’, and still others will give bad reviews. That is entirely up to them.
Related to the practice of sending out pre-release copies, you should also contact bloggers and podcasters. It can be daunting when you are a new writer, but one never gets anything if one does not ask, as my grandmother once said. Reach out to people. This is an area in which I can definitely improve myself, but with Princess of Thorns, I have felt like a part of the writing community more than ever.
Lastly, there are paid book promotion sites and giveaways. Giveaways are quite self-explanatory. As for paid book promotion sites, they can be effective as long as you choose wisely. Also, if you pick a site that only promotes, for example, free ebooks, be certain that you run a Kindle promo simultaneously. Otherwise, your book will not actually be free to download. I know plenty of authors who consider it a pity to give away one’s book like this. Nonetheless, I am of the opinion that the more people who read my work, the happier I am, whether they pay for it or not. I should mention that I am not dependent on royalties for my upkeep.
When you begin marketing, writing all of a sudden becomes a business. That was a tough pill for me to swallow at first. I still do not measure my ‘success’ or ‘failure’ by how many copies of my book people buy or download. Instead, I look at the reviews, the lovely comments I receive, and at whether I am happy with the finished book itself. Most authors will never be bestsellers. In fact, most authors will never be able to make a living off their writing.
Saga Hillbom
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