When you write a novel, chances are, you aren't done after the first draft. For some authors, it takes three drafts to get it right; for others, a dozen times a charm.
Before you send that MS minus Little Darlings, you go over it with a fine editor's pen, axing everything unnecessary, adding detail where needed. You seek the advice of critique group members and, sometimes, book doctors.
You spend an infinite amount of time tooling and retooling until you get it just perfect.
Writers have no problem spending immeasurable amounts of time on their manuscripts, yet they cringe at the thought of even using one minute for marketing. Their aversion is fierce and dedicated - and it leaves them out of the mass market loop.
Authors who dawdle with marketing - or outright refuse to do it - are doing themselves a great disservice. If you do not market, how is anyone going to know about that wonderful MS that you finally got published?
The fact is, many publishing houses - small and large - will not put money behind you. I know many authors who bemoan the fact that their publishers won't help them out. They don't have the money to hire a publicist, but refuse to spend time creating and nurturing their own publicity resources.
The biggest excuse I hear is: "I don't want to loose any writing time."
My response: "You won't need writing time if you don't sell anything."
Writing is a business. Scary, but true. If you want to succeed on your own terms, you need to take the marketing bull by the horns and own it, instead of letting run away from you.
Spend at least three hours a week marketing. It is not that hard. You spend more time than that on e-mails each week. Marketing can be anything from a bookstore signing, or a reading, to a virtual book tour pitstop, or creating items for future virtual tours. Marketing is making friends on MySpace, inviting fans to your Facebook Fan Page or Group, making connections with book reviewers, contacting local media just for a chat, so they remember you when your next book comes out.
Marketing isn't difficult. You need to embrace all of the wonderful - many times FREE - online opportunities to brand yourself and your work. It will go a long way to developing a fan base that buys as soon as your work hits bookstore shelves.
Don't know where to begin? Find easy tips about creating marketing plans at MarketMyNovel.com.
Got a marketing question? Social media consultant Angela Wilson is here to help. Visit www.marketmynovel.com and click the Submit Question icon on the left. You can also find Angela at these social networks:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/angelawilson
http://www.facebook.com/people/Angela_Wilson/775118823
http://www.myspace.com/angelawilson
http://www.myspace.com/angelawilson
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If you haven't seen this already, check it out:
Book trailers are a fun visual component to any author's strategic marketing plan. Still gaining in popularity, book trailers give authors the opportunity to seduce today's techno-savvy audiences with photos, streaming video, music and more. It puts their sales message on YouTube (a great site to improve SEO) and gives them another opportunity to share their Web site and novel information. Book trailers are also attractive to gamers and others who may not read a lot, but are immediately attracted to visuals. Like all things on the Web, book trailers last forever, and that longevity can easily help build a brand - which ultimately leads to a driven fan base that buys your books.
But how do you do it? Is it hard? When should authors consider hiring a professional to pull together a quality book trailer for them?
Today, I am privileged to share my interview with Sheila Clover English, CEO of Circle of Seven Productions, a premiere force in the book trailer niche. Sheila shares valuable information about how book trailers can work for you, and what you need to know before you get started.
Here's the link to what Sheila as to say:
http://www.askangelawilson.com/2008/12/-book-trailers.html
Be sure to Digg this post and share at other social networks! http://digg.com/business_finance/Book_Trailer_101
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Angela Wilson
WOW! Thanks for this! What a great fount of knowledge you are! I'm so glad I subscribed. My agent has been helping me with marketing ideas since day one, but I'm always eager to learn more! This is awesome!
ReplyDeleteNice nice blog here. I'm following now. :) (Thanks for voting in my Christmas contest.)
ReplyDeleteGreat advice Angela. I especially liked this:
ReplyDelete"You won't need writing time if you don't sell anything."
Excellent advice Angela! Some of us creative types would like to avoid acknowledging that writing is a business, but we won't get very far if we keep doing that.
ReplyDeleteCheryl
Oh my goodness, could I add a thing or two to this. I keep telling them, join social networks, set up a blog, learn how to network, study the Internet on book promotion and marketing. Sometimes you feel it's going in one ear and out the other. But there is another side to this. If you are writing a book, you are putting your all into it. After it's finished, you want to promote it, but you're on a deadline for the next one. How is it possible to divide energies? I know it's hard. And sometimes it can't be done. And that's why people hire people to help them. For those authors who have written a book and don't plan on writing more for awhile, this is the perfect opportunity to sit down and put in a few hours of internet promotion research. Take advantage of the time you have in between books because, believe me, when that next book in your head starts wanting to get out, it's going to be hard to not give into it. Even if you're a pro at multitasking, I think you have to understand that for something as important and precious as your own book, that comes first and everything else gets brushed under the carpet. To them I would suggest to take a break in between writer's block or something and just put in one hour of studying marketing. Grab those spare moments when you can.
ReplyDeleteThree hours a week? I've been spending three hours a day for the first few weeks after my books are released and it has really paid off. The last two have been #1 on my publisher's bestseller list. It's not easy but it's worth it.
ReplyDelete