Writers the world over must be grateful that someone invented Indie Publishing, but I wonder why they didn’t invent a better way of marketing the books we create while they were at it?
By better, I mean a way we can understand and implement, a system that actually works?
Now, I know I have a problem with technology, but I have tried my best to make head or tail out of it, and, overall, I have managed to understand and even utilise some of it.
Most writers are not wired to master marketing. We want to write, not blow our own trumpets. The mere thought of being more visible than we have ever been in our lives is enough to chill our blood. We understand that we must make meaningful connections on social media, have book trailers on YouTube, for marketing is all about knowing, liking and trusting, but we also know there is so much more to it.
The experts say it is okay to begin with baby steps, sharing everything we do, but where do we go from there?
Do we…
Make a plan for our marketing activity?
Get excited about our progress and share the excitement?
Keep pushing the boundaries of our comfort zone?
Learn new techniques?
Try paid advertising, even though it is an expensive nightmare?
Keep changing all of our keywords, hoping to hit on some that work?
Need a newsletter, podcast, more trailers, FB ads?
Have we checked we are doing all we can on all the media sites?
I have tried most of these, but there are simply not enough hours in the day for everything!
There is no easy way we can implement everything we learn.
There is also the writing to consider, as this is the most important part of your marketing campaign.
Somehow, writers must learn to manipulate time, prioritise until our brains bleed, and hope we stumble upon the magic formulae…
(unless someone out there has already discovered it, and if you have, please let us in on the secret!)
Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet and commented:
A great post on indie publishing!
Thank you!
I am always on the search for more hours!
Same here…
🙂
I hear you … and I don’t have an answer … other than to do what we can as we can and hope that those who offer publishing platforms will also realize that the more books we sell (for they do get a goodly share) the better off they’ll be … On my end, I don’t do as much marketing as I know is good for my books (they ARE good books, everyone who read them said so!) but I also know that with clinic hours seeing clients and professional work and volunteering and … well … writing (if I don’t write, I wilt …), there’s only so many hours in the day (and night) to do everything. In my case, I don’t write as my main career – what income I get from it is lovely and affirming, and readers’ feedback is worth its weight in gold – so I justify to myself, in a way, the relative lack of energy expenditure in marketing. I can’t do everything, so I pick and choose what I can do that does not deplete me (or my bank account). So … more agreeing than solutioning here … Good post!
I’m thinking — what if we did a little hubbub market-each-other’s-work (and/or read to review each other’s work? Perhaps cross-posting can increase exposure. Not a solution, but perhaps a mini-band-aid’ish one. And band-aids are helpful — I have one on my thumb as I type .. 😉
Na’ama
So good to know I’m not the only one struggling! I’m up for some hubbub marketing, so will check out your work!
🙂 hubbub sounds good! 🙂
Off to see what you write!
I hope it materializes soon for all our sakes! 🙂
From your mouth to God’s ears! Or whoever might be listening…
Ugh! I feel your frustration and I am right there with you. I wish there was a “one size fits all” answer to the marketing nightmare, because I would gladly jump on the bandwagon. Instead, like you, I just keep trying different things, concentrating on those that seem to have the most impact for me, all the while keeping my eyes and ears tuned for a better solution. I have found the more releases I have, the better I do, so I think it’s important to build a back list of novels. That takes time, and also time away from writing. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! A vicious circle!
There has to be something out there to take the sting out of this vicious circle!