I think I know one, maybe two, authors who actually like marketing—and that’s out of over a hundred authors who I know. Marketing is the bane of my authors’ lives. Whether you are traditionally published or indie, you have to market the books you publish (unless you are a multi-million dollar traditionally published author and then your publisher will take care of that for you).
That last bit, by the way, just kills me. The traditional publishers will market their best-selling authors perpetuating their popularity, but they won’t market the little guys who really need it. No, they’re happy taking a loss on those books. Why?
Anyway! You, Published Author, need to market your books. There is absolutely no getting around this nasty fact. There are thousands of books published every day. Your beloved masterpiece is a tiny speck of dust in a galaxy of books. If you don’t do anything to let the world know it’s there, they’re not going to buy it.
So, now that I’ve told you stuff you already know, maybe I can tell you stuff you may not know.
Marketing is like throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing what sticks. And once you find something that works, you keep with it until it doesn’t work any more—in about six months to a year.
Honestly!
Trends change fast. Readers are fickle beings who flit from Facebook to Bookbub to Instagram, and then to some random other book newsletter. And you, Dear Author, need to keep trying to find them. It’s not easy!
So my advice to you is to set a budget – anywhere from $100/month to a thousand if you can afford it—and then start experimenting.
Try Facebook Ads. Don’t know how to create one? Watch this video by David Gaughran and you will learn from one of the best. (And while you’re there, check out David’s other videos—they’re amazing!)
Try newsletter ads. Those are newsletters that are sent out to readers on a regular schedule by websites like Free Booksy or Bargain Booksy, Book Lover’s Heaven, Book Gorilla, or one of many, many others. You can find lists of them from David Gaughran here and from Kindlepreneur here.
Try Facebook Groups if that’s where your market is. Many authors who have their own groups are eager for other authors to come in and “take over” their group for a day. You go in armed with stupid games and giveaways. Romance readers, in particular, love that stuff.
Try ads at other social media sites like Pinterest, X, or Tumblr (if you’re going for a younger audience).
Do not forget to publicize in your own newsletter which you send out to your readers (you do have one, don’t you??).
Try doing a newsletter swap with other authors who write in the same genre or even sub-genre as you. If you don’t know any authors who you can swap with, you can find some on StoryOrigin.
And speaking of StoryOrigin, they and BookFunnel have promotions that are created by other authors (you can do it too) for specific genres or holidays. If you pay to have a subscription at either one you can find them and join in. They do come with the requirement that you publicize the promo, though.
So, there you have it. That should get you started on this oh-so-fun journey of book marketing. And just to help you out, here is a PDF form you can fill out so you can have all the info you need to create these ads at your fingertips. You’re welcome. 😊