The biggest barrier to
publishing is getting yourself noticed. There are so many millions of great
books out there, that getting yours on someone’s reading list is a challenge. In the last few months
I’ve been spending some money on marketing and here are some thoughts on how
it’s panned out.
Facebook Personal
Timeline Posts
Word of mouth is very
valuable, so if you can get a reader to post a note about your book - WHOOHOO!
Problem: if you like
to any page outside of Facebook, then Facebook will ‘hide’ the post. Because
they don’t want people to leave, ever.
Fix: a couple of likes
and comments pushes up visibility. So get your mates to help you with a little
bit of love.
Facebook Group and
Page Posts
Public groups and
dedicated pages can be great for reaching readers.
What works: if you
have one that’s active with visitors, it’s a great way to get noticed.
What doesn’t work:
post-and-run forums are a waste of time because nobody is looking.
Takeaway: avoid a
group or page with 10,000 Likes if people simply like, post and run. But a page
with 200 likes that’s active can be gold.
Tip: look at the ten
most recent posts. If people are liking and commenting, you’ve hit gold.
Also remember: a
couple of likes and comments pushes up visibility. So get your mates to help
you with a little bit of love.
Newsletter Marketing
In theory newsletters
should be great compared to Facebook because they don’t suppress readership.
What works: a newsletter that people like to read
What doesn’t work:
commercial lists that go to hundreds of thousands of people, few of whom even look at it.
Tip: don’t ask, “How
many subscribers do you have?” but ask, “How many opens do you get?” And if you're asking a company that charges, don’t
be surprised if they refuse to tell you!
From what I can gather, big newsletter
get around 10-20% opens. So if you see 10,000 subscribers, some 1000 to 2000
people will open the newsletter. However, it doesn’t mean they read beyond the
first book. So if you’re not at the top, even those opens may never see your book.
Takeaway: an author
newsletter with engaged readers is gold. If a fellow Indie offers to host you
or mention you, offer the woman a mani-pedi.
Worth trying: a
promo group with an in-house newsletter that goes to serious fans.
Warning: not all newsletter hosts are honest. To see how they do, sign up for the newsletter you want to be featured in and track their posts for two or three cycles before you send off your $$$.
Coming Soon!
I’ve come to some
other conclusions about what works in promos and will be putting together a
test kit to see if I can refine everything into one ka-pow package. I’ll be
checking it out in June and will write about it in July. Cross fingers it works and I don't fall flat on my face.
Until then, people
I’ve used recently who I’ll be using again:
Love Kissed Promotions
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