When you’ve
written and endlessly polished a manuscript, all you can think about is
publishing it. It becomes an obsession,
really. You do the necessary research
and spend long hours seeking the appropriate recipient for your query. Then, after months or even years, the
impossible happens. You land your dream
agent and eventually sign that book deal.
Suddenly, there
are new hoops to jump through: content edits, copy edits, line edits,
revisions, cover art, proofs, deadlines.
But the big day, the launch of your book, finally arrives and… and…
You realize you
aren’t even remotely prepared for the amount of work it takes to market it.
Unless you’re
John Grisham, James Patterson, or J.K. Rowling, your shiny new book won’t sell
itself. Not that there aren’t new stars
rising everyday, but for the majority of us, writing is more of an avocation
than a vocation—we typically keep our day jobs—which makes it even harder to
find the time to market our books, not to mention the skill it requires.
Fortunately, we
don’t have to spend huge amounts of money on promotion any more. The days of flying around the country to hold
book signings are virtually gone, though, to be honest, I think that sounds
kind of cool. Today, there are many new
tools, all free, that make marketing easier than ever: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads,
Amazon, Google+, Tumblr; the list is endless.
The trick is to build an online author platform and connect with
readers, not writers—a mistake I learned early on, but took to heart too
late. But still, the audience is so
vast, it’s hard to target exactly the right people.
Between
flitting from one social media outlet to the next, you obsessively check your
Amazon ranking, like eight times a day.
Will it be up or down, will you cry or rejoice? Ugh!
Luckily, this
isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. It’s
not like a TV show that has to cull an immediate following just to
survive. As readers read, they rate and
review; they tell a friend or gift a family member. Then those people do the same. Regardless, you can’t sit back on your
laurels and wait.
You have to
hunt down book bloggers and Amazon reviewers willing to invest some time in
your little-known title. You have to
find virtual book tour companies that specialize in your genre, especially if
that genre is not the flavor of the day.
You tweet reviewer quotes, make connections and comment on Facebook,
post photos of people who remind you of your characters, and share links to
songs that make up your playlist or inspired a certain scene. And even though more experienced writers have
told you their sales increased substantially after the release of their second
title, and you’re ready with a completed outline for your next book, at this point,
the marketing for book one takes precedence.
But you know
what? It’s okay. It’s all good. It’s what you always dreamed of, publishing
your book. It’s not fame you’re
searching for, and the money isn’t really enough to make much of a
difference. It’s the fact that people
out there, total strangers who know nothing about you or your struggle, are
actually reading the words you so lovingly and painstakingly wrote. They’re reading it and loving it. You can’t buy the feeling that comes with
that. And at the end of the day, for a
writer, that’s what truly matters.
Nancy Thompson makes her fiction debut with The Mistaken. She is an interior designer and California transplant, currently living with her husband near Seattle, WA.
Genre: Psyshological Thriller
Published by: Sapphire Star Publishing
Publication Date: October 18, 2012
Number of Pages: 409
ISBN: 978-1-938404-13-9
Published by: Sapphire Star Publishing
Publication Date: October 18, 2012
Number of Pages: 409
ISBN: 978-1-938404-13-9
