Now I know some of you are already cringing; I've used the words 'product' and 'brand' in the opening to a post on books - beautiful artful objects. It almost sounds profane doesn't it? But the thing is, the vast majority of writers write for readers; to share their story, connect with others and move them emtotionally, is a large motivation for writing.
Now readership is the best reward and payment a writer can get, but it doesn't pay for the ink, paper and bread & butter. Most writers need to sell books so they can carry on writing.
How do you do this? By being as imaginative and creative as possible, seizing every opportunity that comes your way, no matter how 'small', eccentric, out of comfort zone you may think it is. Most of all do everything you do with a sense of positivity and passion because this translates to others and they will become as much intrigued by your love and enthusiasm, as they are about your book.
There are some basics which are imperative:
A website for your book. If this freaks you out choose a drop and drag system such as www.weebly.com (I use them and I rate them highly) Think imagery: what images, colours really suggest your genre to a reader? Think about the quality of these images. Be a perfectionist and remember less is more. Don't get busy on the background / fancy web templates if it distracts from your key book linked images.
Ensure you choose a colour scheme which you use across all your platforms relating to that particular work (Mine's purple :))
A blog which is seperate from your website and on which you can post flashfiction, write blogs, reviews, do interviews. Link it to your website but remember they serve different functions. Think of them being divided in the following way website = readers and blog = writer friends, blogger friends etc.
A Facebook Page to keep updates about your book and to build a following. You may want to think about advertising it for a month or two but bear in mind it can quickly get expensive; it's a good thing to do in short bursts (set a specific budget)
A Twitter Account - build relationships, make friends and share. Remember your audience are always watching and so make sure that you are mindful of what you are tweeting and recommending. Some of your writer friends material might be highly unsuitable for your YA followers for example. And, as much as they will enjoy reading your writer to writer tweets and friendships, they won't appreciate swearing and sexual references. Use DM messaging for this. (that sounded terribly lecture like - sorry, it's just that I've had friends caught out on this and it has been devestating for a time)
THINK OF THESE ALL AS A FAMILY - they should look similar, share similar features, have links to one another, share imagery and colour use. Use the same profile picture across all of them so people get to recognise you.
There are a million other things you can do to promote your book but if you have these basics in place then the rest will follow and grow from these.
DON'T wait until the book is written and ready to publish (I made this mistake) - Start at least four months before, post teasers, get the title out there, do giveaways etc. And even if you haven' written a novel yet, but write poetry, shorts and flashfiction, think long term and start to build your empire LOL!
weebly site in practice visit http://www.theknighttrilogy.com/
Writer's site http://katiemjohn.weebly.com/
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Knight-Trilogy/125849864124174
Now readership is the best reward and payment a writer can get, but it doesn't pay for the ink, paper and bread & butter. Most writers need to sell books so they can carry on writing.
How do you do this? By being as imaginative and creative as possible, seizing every opportunity that comes your way, no matter how 'small', eccentric, out of comfort zone you may think it is. Most of all do everything you do with a sense of positivity and passion because this translates to others and they will become as much intrigued by your love and enthusiasm, as they are about your book.
There are some basics which are imperative:
A website for your book. If this freaks you out choose a drop and drag system such as www.weebly.com (I use them and I rate them highly) Think imagery: what images, colours really suggest your genre to a reader? Think about the quality of these images. Be a perfectionist and remember less is more. Don't get busy on the background / fancy web templates if it distracts from your key book linked images.
Ensure you choose a colour scheme which you use across all your platforms relating to that particular work (Mine's purple :))
A blog which is seperate from your website and on which you can post flashfiction, write blogs, reviews, do interviews. Link it to your website but remember they serve different functions. Think of them being divided in the following way website = readers and blog = writer friends, blogger friends etc.
A Facebook Page to keep updates about your book and to build a following. You may want to think about advertising it for a month or two but bear in mind it can quickly get expensive; it's a good thing to do in short bursts (set a specific budget)
A Twitter Account - build relationships, make friends and share. Remember your audience are always watching and so make sure that you are mindful of what you are tweeting and recommending. Some of your writer friends material might be highly unsuitable for your YA followers for example. And, as much as they will enjoy reading your writer to writer tweets and friendships, they won't appreciate swearing and sexual references. Use DM messaging for this. (that sounded terribly lecture like - sorry, it's just that I've had friends caught out on this and it has been devestating for a time)
THINK OF THESE ALL AS A FAMILY - they should look similar, share similar features, have links to one another, share imagery and colour use. Use the same profile picture across all of them so people get to recognise you.
There are a million other things you can do to promote your book but if you have these basics in place then the rest will follow and grow from these.
DON'T wait until the book is written and ready to publish (I made this mistake) - Start at least four months before, post teasers, get the title out there, do giveaways etc. And even if you haven' written a novel yet, but write poetry, shorts and flashfiction, think long term and start to build your empire LOL!
weebly site in practice visit http://www.theknighttrilogy.com/
Writer's site http://katiemjohn.weebly.com/
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Knight-Trilogy/125849864124174
When I'm on a job interview, one of my go-to points that I like to make about myself is that I'm a 'fascinating mix of right and left brain' People who only know me for my artistic side are always surprised that I'm a business major, and vice-versa. I guess for this reason, thinking of my art as my 'product' doesn't scandalize me. Not all product needs to be for profit, after all. By definition, a product is simply the result of a process. And writing is nothing if not a process. :-)
ReplyDeleteI most appreciate the comments about starting to sell your book before it comes out. "Awakenings" had a very tenuous release date. After a year and a half of no idea when we were in our publisher's backlogged queue, it was all of a sudden "Here are your proofs! Here's your cover! Sign off! Go to print!"
Whoa. It made planning pre-release hype someone tricky. Hopefully we'll get better at it as the series and our familiarity with our publisher's timetable progress.
Pre-marketing is something I've been contemplating a lot while working on the most recent draft of my Shakespeare/theater novel too. I humbly believe it would have a fantastic niche audience among theater nerds, from small church basement gangs all the way right up to Broadway itself. I cannot WAIT to start "pre-marketing" it. I haven't even gotten it ready to submit it yet, and I'm already trying to imagine using that community to help spread the word!
One step at a time. :-)
Btw, I'm going to be getting an iPad soon, and I plan on buying "Forest of Adventures" as one of my first ever ebook purchases.