Looking Outside Your Own Industry for Ideas

I often run marketing ideas past DH. Yeah, I know he doesn't work in the publishing industry. That's exactly why I talk to him about this stuff.

Writers are often locked in an echo chamber, where marketing that's trending is pushed without any regard to whether it works or not. Often, my first about a method is what's the ROI (AKA return on investment). I have yet to hear a real answer.

At least, I'm asking the questions. A lot of writers don't.

The old ways of advertising, such as book review blogs, 99-cent sales, and simply announcing you have a new book out doesn't work like it used to.

I've been examining online advertising. The following is me thinking out what I'll do in the future.

If I run Amazon ads, I'm  merely giving more revenue to the company beyond what I pay them to host my wares. How does that help me especially when I have to jump through targeting hoops? I look at the folks who target my books, and I often wonder what they are thinking. Especially when their books aren't remotely similar to mine. Then, there's the issue of randomly turning your ads on and off.

Then, there's Facebook. I'm on there in a limited fashion. DH set up a fan page off his account around ten years ago. I admit I'm not real happy with FB's recent actions, including selling personal data of users, not upholding its own rules equitably, and it's promotion of white nationalists. Furthermore, it will also randomly turn ads on or off without notice to the advertiser.

Which brings me to BookBub ads. The ads are on the e-mails BookBub sends out daily so they seem to be a little easier to target for a specific subgenre. Readers sign up for the daily e-mails so I would have a willing and more receptive audience. Plus, I haven't heard any complaints about BookBub trying to snatch additional revenue by turning on an ad without authorization.

But something else is coming back.

Free!

Even DH's company provided free services to old and new clients for one day last month. The free offer was limited in scope and duration, but it sponsored some good will among their clients.

Which brings me to something I used to do--offer free books.

I didn't do it all the time, but enough I earned some loyalty from readers. Unfortunately, that loyalty dissipated in the chaos my real life became over the last few years.

But I talked it out with DH last night, and I plan on including some old and new ideas over the next few months. We'll see what happens, and I will report my findings here.

Wild, Wicked & Wacky Rewind from 2017

This post from March 24, 2017, about marketing still hold truths for today.

==================

Edit to Add: Ironically, Kris Rusch talked about a related issue this week. I suggest you go read her post on the massive amount of data we writers can collect on readers and our interactions with them.

* * *

Indie writers have this tendency to freak about modern marketing. They generally seem to go one of two ways: either they promote the hell out of only one or two books or they panic and don't market at all.

The really big mistake I think a lot of writers make is failing understand their own work and target it to an inappropriate audience. I see a lot of new writers in the game make the same mistake the Big 5 make--they through spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. But they have no idea why something sticks.

I will say this, and it is just my opinion--permafree isn't working like it used to. Too many readers feel they've been burned by the writers, but bad writing and incoherent stories weren't the only problem.

A subset of readers will only accept or download free books. I'm not talking about folks on a limited budget. I'm not dissing those people. I've been there. I know what it's like when you don't have a choice between food and heat. When even having a TV was a luxury out of my reach. I was lucky my county library was within walking distance. And I ended up buying copies of the very same books I enjoyed through the library system.

I'm talking about those folks who feel entitled to anything they want for free. Those who mock anyone for being stupid to pay. Those who openly pirate. Those people are going to pay you anyway, so including them in your marketing plan is probably not in your best interest.

And these types of folks are an example of what I mean. You need to target your marketing efforts towards people likely to have an interest in and the wherewithal to buy your book. Not everyone on the planet will want to read your book no matter how great your book is. So get over the idea that your book is for everyone NOW!

Let's start by looking at my own family. Mom's into sweet romance. My father-in-law reads military history. Genius Kid loves manga and military sci-fi. Dad secretly reads my X-men comics. My sister is a major horror fan.

Now, let's pretend none of these people are my family. How would I market my sword-and-sorcery novels to them?

A lot of indies would say that since my heroine and hero are in a long-term relationship emphasize that aspect to my mother. My protagonists are fighting demons so highlight that element to my sister. And, you get the idea. And that lovely plan will probably fail.

What's wrong with this plan? Well, first of all, I asked the wrong damn question. My question should have been how do I market my book to people who already LOVE sword-and-sorcery. The people who are actively seeking the exact type of book I wrote.

Does this mean that other folks won't like my book? No, but you'll be wasting your time and money going after people who aren't likely to make your book their first choice.

So how does this apply in real life?

If you decide to run a Facebook ad, you don't include everyone who loves books. You narrow it down by genre and subgenre. I could can even narrow it down by looking at people who are fans of the type of sword-and-sorcery I emulate, i.e. Mercedes Lackey and Barbara Hambly, not Roberrt E. Howard.

One of the best examples of how NOT to market your entertainment is John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood.  Michael D. Sellers does an excellent job of detailing the screwed-up marketing on a movie that had a ready made audience.

The best thing you can do though is understand your potential audience before you do any marketing whatsoever.

Catching Up With the Joneses

I may be doing better about keeping on a regular writing and publishing schedule, but I'm learning nothing I knew in 2013 as far as marketing and promotion is applicable today.

Part of it is good. We indies have a hell of a lot more options than we did back then. But all of them cost cash, and most of them take time to learn how to use them effectively.

We used to get attention through advanced reader copies (ARCs) sent to reader review blogs and our most ardent fans. But many of the prominent review blogs from five years ago have shut down for various reasons. Our fans won't leave early reviews, or worse, illegally post our books for sale on pirate sites.

Or the worst, post our books on legitimate retail sites and make money off us. (That's called theft, kids. Depending on the amount of money, you might be looking at a felony conviction. Jus' sayin'...)

But the only constant in life is change as Great-grandpa would say.

So now, I'm studying Amazon ads and Facebook ads and promotion stacking. All the new tricks of  the trade to get attention.

But the real tried and true method? The one that still works?

Write a new @$&@*&# book!

Seriously.

I see new writers making the same mistake new writers have made since self-publishing became a viable thing. They flog one book to death. Over and over and over...

*headdesk*

So as much as I feel stupid figuring out impressions and CPCs, I know I'm doing one thing right.

Sort of.

*sigh*

I keep hearing Red Leader's stern voice in my head, like a Force ghost: "Stay on target. Stay on target."

My target is entertaining my readers on a regular basis. Once I get the current crop of finished stories out, I've got more ideas in the pipeline. Like I said last week, I've already got enough ideas for the rest of 21st century. My Muse has decided that's not enough, and she's started stockpiling for the 22nd.

I'm very thankful I have incredibly patient readers!

What IS "Writing to Market"?

I got pretty sick after my mother-in-law's funeral last week. So sick, I ended up in the ER. I'll spare you the disgusting details. Unfortunately, I lay my recliner for three days with my meds and a fuzzy brain.

Which meant all I accomplished was talking about writing, not getting much writing, or editing, actually done.

Being limited to e-mail, my friend Jo and I had an interesting discussion last week about what most indies call "writing to market". The term is used as an umbrella device to cover a couple of different concepts.

1) Following Trends

This is one where a writer produces a work to capitalize on the latest hot selling genre/type of book. Fifty Shades of Grey is a perfect example. When it hit the bestseller lists in 2012, writers and publishers flooded the market with billionaire/virgin/BDSM books.

Since FSoG itself started life as Twilight fanfic, there's the requisite romantic triangle. In fact, you can't sell a YA book to a big publisher unless it has a romantic triangle.

A few weeks ago, I re-read one of my favorites, Katherine Kurtz's Deryni Rising. The primary protagonist is Kelson, a fourteen-year-old who's about to be crowned king, assuming he survives various assassination attempts and challenges for the throne.

As I pointed out to Jo, Ms. Kurtz would never be able to sell that book as-is today. Kelson would have to be older with two girls after him at court. And that's assuming the editor didn't insist on his father's closest advisors, Duke Alaric and Father Duncan, having an illicit affair.

If you need another example, how many of you put out an adult coloring book last year after sales took off during the Christmas 2015 shopping season? Come on, don't be shy. This is exactly what I mean about following a trend.

The point is writing/publishing to whatever flash in the pan is hot at the moment is not always a sustainable career move. I've met too many writers who are burning out because they're bored producing stuff they have no passion for.

2) Hitting the Tropes

Jo advocates the "writing to reader expectations" point-of-view when it comes to writing to market. In other words, hit the tropes or at least, your version of the trope.

As in, a romance should the Happily Ever After regardless if you're writing a heterosexual, homosexual, or even an alien relationship. A mystery needs to introduce all the suspects during the course of the story and reveal who the culprit is very close to the last page. Your science fiction doesn't have to have spaceships and/or little green men, but it needs the effect of some type technological/biological/etc. advancements on the human race.

In other words, if you're writing in a genre you consume and love, you're more likely to understand the rhythms and tropes expected of that type of story. And you're more likely to continue as a career fiction writer.


I can hear y'all out there asking, "What about trends that become tropes?"

Hey, I admit it does happen, but I strongly suggest that you should aim to be the trendsetter, not the trend follower. Or even better, aim to have fun with your writing!

(P.S. If you want to check out Jo's books, here's his website.)

Target Marketing in the New World

Edit to Add: Ironically, Kris Rusch talked about a related issue this week. I suggest you go read her post on the massive amount of data we writers can collect on readers and our interactions with them.

* * *

Indie writers have this tendency to freak about modern marketing. They generally seem to go one of two ways: either they promote the hell out of only one or two books or they panic and don't market at all.

The really big mistake I think a lot of writers make is failing understand their own work and target it to an inappropriate audience. I see a lot of new writers in the game make the same mistake the Big 5 make--they through spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. But they have no idea why something sticks.

I will say this, and it is just my opinion--permafree isn't working like it used to. Too many readers feel they've been burned by the writers, but bad writing and incoherent stories weren't the only problem.

A subset of readers will only accept or download free books. I'm not talking about folks on a limited budget. I'm not dissing those people. I've been there. I know what it's like when you don't have a choice between food and heat. When even having a TV was a luxury out of my reach. I was lucky my county library was within walking distance. And I ended up buying copies of the very same books I enjoyed through the library system.

I'm talking about those folks who feel entitled to anything they want for free. Those who mock anyone for being stupid to pay. Those who openly pirate. Those people are going to pay you anyway, so including them in your marketing plan is probably not in your best interest.

And these types of folks are an example of what I mean. You need to target your marketing efforts towards people likely to have an interest in and the wherewithal to buy your book. Not everyone on the planet will want to read your book no matter how great your book is. So get over the idea that your book is for everyone NOW!

Let's start by looking at my own family. Mom's into sweet romance. My father-in-law reads military history. Genius Kid loves manga and military sci-fi. Dad secretly reads my X-men comics. My sister is a major horror fan.

Now, let's pretend none of these people are my family. How would I market my sword-and-sorcery novels to them?

A lot of indies would say that since my heroine and hero are in a long-term relationship emphasize that aspect to my mother. My protagonists are fighting demons so highlight that element to my sister. And, you get the idea. And that lovely plan will probably fail.

What's wrong with this plan? Well, first of all, I asked the wrong damn question. My question should have been how do I market my book to people who already LOVE sword-and-sorcery. The people who are actively seeking the exact type of book I wrote.

Does this mean that other folks won't like my book? No, but you'll be wasting your time and money going after people who aren't likely to make your book their first choice.

So how does this apply in real life?

If you decide to run a Facebook ad, you don't include everyone who loves books. You narrow it down by genre and subgenre. I could can even narrow it down by looking at people who are fans of the type of sword-and-sorcery I emulate, i.e. Mercedes Lackey and Barbara Hambly, not Roberrt E. Howard.

One of the best examples of how NOT to market your entertainment is John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood.  Michael D. Sellers does an excellent job of detailing the screwed-up marketing on a movie that had a ready made audience.

The best thing you can do though is understand your potential audience before you do any marketing whatsoever.

Know Your Audience!

Alter Ego has a large online presence through Facebook and Twitter. (Don't ask me why. She hasn't actively pursued the attention.) As a result, she belongs to a couple of private FB groups involving erotica and its subgenres.

A couple of weeks ago, a writer posted about their new religious thriller in one of these private groups. No sex. This is in a group that regularly discusses the pros and cons of buttplugs and vibrators. This is a place where we post steamy pictures and off color jokes. This is a group that discusses the worldwide legal implications of writing in our favorite genre.

This is not a place that discusses current politics, much less WWIII, the End Times and the Rapture.

I can name a dozen websites and FB groups where this book would be welcomed with open arms. I can also name a dozen where the writer shoots themselves in the foot. This was one of those times.

This is probably the most extreme example I've seen of misdirected marketing efforts.

Writers need to know their potential audience. What is the age? What is the primary gender? What are the audience's secondary interests that can be tied to the writer's book?

Let's stay with Alter Ego. Her audience is primarily female, ages in the twenties to the seventies. A majority of her audience, regardless of age and gender, have been in long-term relationships. By long-term, I mean twenty-plus years. These readers are looking to keep things fresh in their relationships, whether it be new things to try in bed or simply reading to each other.

How do I know all this? They tell AE these things.

However, AE already knew she was shooting for a primarily female audience with an interest in very hot romance. That's why she didn't market at hunting websites or weightlifting FB pages. While some folks at these sites might be interested in her books, the majority of people at these sites would not be. Those subjects are simply not naturals fits to erotic books.

So what am I really trying to say?

1) Don't spam places on the web.
2) Don't spam with books that have no relation to a particular place on the web.
3) If you're hard up for advertising money, check out places that are free and receptive to your pitch.
4) The hard sell doesn't work these days, especially if it's books and more especially if the writer is targeting the wrong audience.

That doesn't mean you can't experiment. But if you can get a Hell's Angels chapter to read a knitting-themed cozy mystery, I REALLY want to know how you did it!

Keeping in Contact with Your Readers

You're just reading the title and I can already hear your skull popping like a corn kernel as your brain explodes.

It not a terrible thing. In fact, it's something that can be fun if you use a methodology you enjoy. But like the snail mailing lists of yore it can be highly valuable in the long run.

There's always social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, et al. Some writers love them; some don't.  And if you don't, you're not going to engage which makes the whole exercise pointless.

Also, which one you use really depends on your market. Adults hang out on Facebook. Teens and college-age young adults tend to  hang out on Instagram and Snapchat (aka fewer old people). Since I write for adults, I'm going to focus on those avenues.

Overall though, don't just hawk your books. Actually talk to your readers. About the weather. About books in general. About your favorite TV shows and movies. (Seriously, Alter Ego got a lot more hits on her turn on a recent multi-author giveaway on Facebook because she included a certain comic book character t-shirt in her grand prize bag.)

A prime example of the "BUY MY BOOK!!!" phenomenon is Twitter. I unfollowed a bunch of people because that's all I saw. The other issue I see is writers following other writers, then getting pissed when the followed writers don't follow in return. This was bad advice in 2011; it's worse advice now. Add in Twitter's tweaking of its algorithm and charging for top placement, and you have an unviable situation made even worse. It's gotten to the point my interaction on Twitter is practical non-existent.

A lot of writers swear by Pinterest. I'm not doubting their results, but I have extreme reservations about using it thanks to its original, draconian provisions that stole picture copyrights. Supposedly, this have been rectified, but that kind of heavy-handed tactic makes me leery about using them.

While DH made a fan page for "Suzan Harden" on Facebook, I rarely use it. I have more personal friends checking it out than readers.

The only social media I truly and regularly use is Alter Ego's Facebook account to interact with readers and other romance/erotica authors. Alter Ego has participated in a couple of giveaways. While neither resulted in a ton of sales, it allowed me to introduce myself to new readers, and kept Alter Ego visible during the two years of no new releases.

Then there's the good old fashioned mailing list. There's numerous ways to do this--MailChimp is one of the most popular. Alter Ego sends out a quarterly newsletter (or tries to) and attaches a free short story. There's a ton of other ways to handle mailing lists. Look at what other writers do, and choose the method that works for you.

While the ultimate goal is to sell more books, you can do so by treating your readers like real people. In doing so, you're already miles ahead of the traditional publishers.

Hijacking Other Writers' Social Media Is Rude

You would think I wouldn't have to address this issue. Indie publishing has been pretty solid for six years now. You would think that people would know some of the etiquette rules.

So if you're new to indie publishing, let me tell you now before you piss off the wrong person: Hijacking another writers social media is plain fucking rude. It's a good way to ruin friendships and getting yourself banned from some sites.

What do I mean by hijacking?

- Leaving links and/or comments about your book on other writers' blogs
- Leaving links and/or comments about your book on other writers' Facebook account
- Spamming public boards with links and/or comments about your book in inappropriate places

Posting about your brand new book on the wrong place on Kboards especially will earn you a ton of scorn.

Not only can hijacking earn you the animosity of another writer, you're failing to take something important into account. Are you really marketing to potential readers?

Take Wild, Wicked & Wacky for example. The folks that read this blog aren't necessarily the same folks that read my books. I talk about writing craft, the publishing industry, and other tidbits that I find interesting (like Jensen Ackles lip-synching to "Eye of the Tiger"). If you parse through the last few months of posts, you'll find I rarely talk about my books here. And even when I do, it's only the books I write under the "Suzan Harden" moniker, which are firmly in the fantasy genre.

So when you add a link in my comments here for your brand-new romantic suspense, who exactly are you marketing to? Probably not to folks who read your type of story. So not only have you irritated me, you look totally clueless to a lot of the readers who might have looked at your book.

Yes, I know it's hard, really, really hard to get attention in the fragmentation that is today's publishing market. All I'm saying is don't sabotage yourself before you've gotten out of the gate.

Why Traditional Publishing Is Having Problems Defending Itself

Considering what we call "traditional publishing" has been around for roughly seventy-five years, you would think they would know what they bring to the business table. If folks in the publishing houses do know, they are having a very difficult time articulating those points.

The first major problem is how publishers and editors regard writers. They say they treasure writers, but in reality, they view us as needy, whiny pains-in-the-ass. Even Kris Rusch mentioned writers who go into hysterics over changing a comma, and she's an author so she's very much PRO writer.

Another example is a discussion over at The Passive Voice when a Kensington author anonymously mentioned that her editor didn't edit her books. Rather than checking out the writer's story, publisher Steven Zacharius castigated Anonymice on the public blog, which kind of proved why this writer didn't go to him in the first place.

This brings me directly to one of the major services publishers claim they provide--editing.

Barry Harbaugh, an editor at HarperCollins, was trying to refute an essay by Andrew Martin in The New Yorker that talked about MFA vs. NYC. He really stepped into steaming pile when he insisted that editors do edit, but added that he only edited about fifty to one hundred pages a week. Of course, it's all Amazon's fault that editors get a bad rap.

I'll give Barry credit that he does do some editing, but the amount?

Excuse me? The night before I saw Barry's piece, I had edited a fifteen-page short story that I'm about to submit and twenty pages of novel prior to posting the sample online. All of this was done the forty minutes while I ordered and ate dinner at a local Mexican restaurant because I needed to get out of the house and away from Alter Ego's current wip.

Many more trad authors are coming out of the woodwork and talking about no editing, or even worse, abusive editors. In the same link to Kris Rusch's blog above, she talks about an editor who was downright psychotic and gives good advice for dealing with difficult people in the industry.

So what about cover art?

This is the notorious cover for Barry Eisler's book, Fault Line, issued by the French trad publisher. All cultural differences aside, does this look like an international, jet-setting thriller?

And if the writer gets a bad cover, can they do anything about it? Generally, no. The publisher complains about the cost (if the writer is lucky), or simply ignores you.

Not too many writers can turn a bad cover into a plus, but Christina Dodd did. Go ahead. Count how many hands the lady on the cover has. Dodd used the screw-up as a marketing gimmick. But a bad trad cover can't always be changed into gold so easily.

One of fabulous pluses as an indie is the ability to change your cover on a moment's notice. Like when several retailers decide out of the blue that your erotica covers are too risque. *wink*

Another factor is that the writer is blamed for the editing and the cover art, not the publisher, because it's the writer's name on the book.

The publisher doesn't care. There's a million writers banging on their doors, so they'll chuck the one that complains and grab another serf writer at the gates.

So what about promotion, publicity, and marketing by the publishing company? These should be the publishers' biggest strengths, right?

Fuhgeddaboudit! Seriously. Nearly every mid-list writer I personally know who signed a contract within the last ten years spent their entire trad pub advance on getting word out about their books. And with advances getting smaller and smaller and costs rising, that means more money out of a writer's pocket.

Even worse, trad publishers seem to have no marketing savvy in today's world (though they will command the writer to participate in every social media known to humankind).One of the selling points they brought to the table when they tried to woo H.M. Ward was their 2K e-mail list. Ms. Ward has a much bigger e-mail list already. MUCH bigger.

And heaven forbid if you ask the trade publisher to put specific marketing efforts in the contract!

These are the three big things that trad publishers could bring to the table for writers, but they refuse to do so. Here's the thing--it really wouldn't cost them a lot to do even one of these three. Do it cheap. Do it right.

Because indie writers are doing it every freakin' day!

Three Stupid Things Writers Do or Why Are Writers So Insane?

I admit I was already insane before I began this strange journey I'm on so I'm by no means excluding myself from the group.

Albert Einstein once said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Here's a list of the insane things I see indie writers doing. (And yes, I have been guilty of some of these on occasion.)

1) Refusing to Change Our Methods

I see writers write the same story over and over again (just change the names, location and hair/eye color) and wonder why people stop buying their work. Or they don't find the right people who can help them with points where they are weak. Or the use the same marketing techniques as everyone else--and wonder why they don't work.

Sometimes, you have to step outside of your comfort zone. What works for everyone else may not work for you, and vice versa. There isn't a ONE, TRUE WAY to success. Sorry, but there just isn't.

Don't be afraid to experiment, whether it be a new genre, a different price, or a redesigned cover.


2) Marketing to the Wrong People

Several times a day, I get a Twitter or Facebook alert from a new follower or friend advertising their book. Once in a while isn't bad, but fifty times a day every day?

What's even worse are the people who aren't paying attention to who I am. Why are you targeting another writer? Furthermore, why are you pimping your sweet Christian romance to a Wiccan fantasy/erotica author? Talk about mismatch of product!


3) Believing Readers Are Beneath Us

In the cases where a writer has gotten the first two points right, they slip up and rudely dismiss their readers. Readers are the ones paying for your book, i.e. paying your bills. Readers are the ones who tell their friends about your book when they've fallen in love with the hero. Treat those readers with respect. I've seen too many writers lately who think that readers owe them something.

Guess what? Readers don't owe us a damn thing other than a few bucks for our product. And even then, if you don't give them the experience they are paying for, they can and will return your book. Frankly, they have every right to, especially if you treat them like shit. ALWAYS treat your readers with respect.


To me, these three items will carry you farther than learning how to format or catching every little typo.*

* And some idiot will now spread the rumor across the internet that I said you can leave typos in your manuscript. No, that's not what I said. Odds are the idiot spreading the rumor is one of several who got miffed when I didn't follow him/her back within two seconds of them following me on Twitter. That's because my full-time job is writing, not consoling their ego.

Want an Instructor You Know You'll Keep Your Eyes On?

Seriously though, even if you're a het male, you might want to check out RWA Northwest Houston Chapter's all day program featuring Jimmy Thomas and his talk on Marketing, Branding and Self-Promotion.

What: Jimmy Thomas on Marketing, Branding and Self-Promotion
When: Saturday, February2, 2013
Where: Spring Creek Oaks Clubhouse, 6002 Bur Oak, Spring, Texas 77379
Time: Door open at 8:30 a.m.
Cost: $25

You can pre-register at the Northwest Houston RWA website!

Jimmy has literally been on thousands of romance covers, but he's not just a pretty face and a hot body. This is someone who's got his pulse on the book market (remember Konrath's #2 Rule - you need a great cover), and he's a great supporter of indie writers.

In addition to starting Romance Novel Covers (where you can buy stock photos, or for a few bucks more, you can get pre-made or custom covers), Jimmy is also sponsoring the Romance Novel Convention this August!

I've added two covers, featuring Jimmy, by two different firends.

R.M. Brand's Specter is a fabulous, FABULOUS gothic read. Then there's Onne Andrews's Taken By Passion, an BDSM romance.

So if you need help promoting your books and you'll be in the Houston area the first weekend of February, I highly recommend attending this great event!

How Familiarity Can Breed Recognition

We humans are creatures of habit. We eat at restaurants that are familiar to us. We go to entertainment facilities we are most aware of. We associate with people we know.

Seriously, when was the last time you walked up to a total stranger and said, "Hey, let's hang out!"

Let's face it--we don't. Our first interactions with someone new are hesitant. Guarded. It's only after a period of sharing 'safe' data, i.e. general things like weather, recent sporting events, community news, do we make a decision to stretch into more personal information and start building a relationship with that person.

What does this have to do with book marketing?

Well, there's a large number of marketing research reports, some commissioned by Fortune 500 companies, that claim social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter do not provide any measurable return in the form of customers. I've seen a great many writers cling to these reports and claim that social networking is a total waste of time.

Now, these writers are correct if all you're doing is shouting, "Buy my book!" This is where the familiarity comes into the contempt equation. These writers have forgotten the basic rules of human interaction--general to specific.

What social networking and other forms of communication can do is provide the writer with name recognition. This is why those same Fortune 500 companies that say social networking sites have no measurable correlation to sales still have their own Facebook and Twitter accounts. The more you repeat something, the more likely it is to stick in a person's head.

I believe it was the Wharton School of Business that said a person needs to see/hear a message seven times before it registers in a human brain. This is why any publicity is considered good publicity. You the Writer want your name to stick in someone's brain.

A couple of friends hit the NYT Bestsellers List in the last month, which is why the topic came up for me lately. I was on the phone with one of them, discussing the rash of interview requests she'd received. She questioned whether it was worth her time doing the interviews rather than working on her next book.

Please remember, this was not her ego talking. Her health is a precarious balancing act. Does she use her precious minutes on the computer writing or dealing with reporters?

I told her to select a few and do the interview. When she asked why, I said, "Name recognition." A few articles about her will sink her name into folks who haven't read her before.

As a writer's name is repeated, whteher through social interactions or new reports, she becomes "familiar" to the public. Folks are more likely to try her product (i.e. her book) because of that familiarity. Trust in a certain level of quality engenders the likelihood of repeated buying.

I look at it this way--if this method has worked for McDonald's for the last fifty years, why can't it work for us writers?

Survey Says . . .

Last week, the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood posted the results of a survey on reader habits they did. They had 311 responses to the survey. Despite some particularly snarky remarks in the comments, nowhere did they claim this survey was a scientific sampling.

Go read it.  I'll wait.

What I found interesting is that the No. 1 marketing technique matches my own research--word-of-mouth makes the difference in a writer's sales.  But how do we generate this buzz?

WRITE A FREAKIN' GREAT BOOK!

Okay, beyond the obvious, I think it's a delicate balance between promotion and engagement with others. I've seen several writers send out desperate tweets of "Buy my book" every two seconds. I've seen writers spend too much time on social sites to the detriment of their craft.

Jon F. Merz is a good example of balance. He started following me on Twitter. My little pecadillo is you'd better have an interesting website for me to check out. If you don't, I won't follow you back.

Jon had a cool website. His first tweet had the tagline for his Lawson series--"James Bond with fangs." I love Ian Fleming and vampires, so I had to check the first book out. Plus, Jon is gracious enough to respond when someone tweets him. Also, his tweets find a happy medium between his promotions and other life stuff.

I read Jon's book, loved it, and STARTED RECOMMENDING IT to friends and family, especially males who like the action hero genre.

Word-of-mouth--it's the best way to advertise.  Oh, and being nice works too.

Finding the Rarest Bird of All

The topic over at Indie U today is marketing and publicity.  Also, a very rare breed of promotion called Word-of-Mouth. Come see how the minions lure Word-of-Mouth into the open.

Lessons Learned Part 5 - Marketing

There's a fine, a very teeny, tiny one-atom thick, line between making your presence known and becoming a spam slut.  I definitely want to avoid being known as a spam slut, but I also want to let people know I've got a book for sale.

What's worked for Seasons of Magick: Spring?  Quite simply word-of-mouth.  I announced on my blog each time the novella went live on a particular retailer.  I tweeted each time the novella went live on a particular retailer.  I guest-blogged over at Joan Reeves' Slingwords.  So that's a total of seven things I personally did.  That's all I did over the last three weeks since the initial release.

Then people started spreading the word on Twitter.  Some are crit partners like @Faye Hughes.  Others are total strangers like @Indie Elf.  Other folks added Wild, Wicked & Wacky to their list of must-read blogs.  Entertainment bots looking for keywords picked my book up and featured it.  Business bots pointed to several of my business-related blog posts.

As I've said before, there's no sure-fire marketing method that works for everyone.  You may need to experiment.

Nor am I relying solely on word-of-mouth for Blood Magick.  It's the first book in Bloodlines, my urban fantasy series, so I'll do what I can to make sure it gets off to a good start.  I'm already scheduling my blog tour, I've got my list of reviewers ready to go, and I'm planning some cool summer contests for this blog.

In the meantime, Seasons of Magick:Spring is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords.  Okay, maybe I'm a little slutty.

Marketing - The Last Word . . . For Now

I know a lot of you out there have been reading the Marketing series of posts looking for ideas on selling your books.  That's great!  And I hope I helped a little.

But the one thing you absolutely cannot forget is that all the fabulous marketing in the world won't make a difference if you are putting out crappy product.

An indie-published commentor on another website (no names to protect both the guilty and the innocent) complained that a certain indie-published blogger's sales figures were bullshit.

I checked out both the blogger and the commenter's books on Amanzon's sample downloads.  [For the record, I have both the Kindle for PC and Nook for PC apps loaded on my laptop.]

The blogger's sample had a simple cover design with an eye-catching color.  The formatting was neat and in an easy-to-read font.  The text itself only had one typo in the first eighty pages (the article 'a' was left out of one sentence).

The commentor's sample had a very dark cover with dark lettering that was difficult to read.  The formatting didn't have any chapter breaks.  (I can deal with a couple of lines between chapters instead of a page break, but this all ran together.)  The spelling and basic grammar errors were too numerous to mention.

I could see why the commentor's sales were so low.  She may have the greatest story since the Iliad, but if the package it comes in is unattractive, people will pass it by.

So don't rush to throw something up on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.  Make sure your books are the best they can possibly be before you unleash them in the wild.  You won't regret it.

Marketing - The Golden Goose

So what is the magic bullet when it comes to marketing?  The ever-elusive Word-Of-Mouth.

Anyone who can figure out how WOM works will reap millions.  Seriously.

That was the whole point of the videos over the weekend.  What particular theme strikes a chord with millions of Americans?  What set of circumstance allows an author to sell millions of copies?  What's the secret that makes family, friends and neighbors turn to each other and say, "OMG!  You've got to read this!"

As writers, we should study the best sellers.  And I don't mean folks like Patterson, King or Roberts.  I'm referring to the flashes that seem to ignite overnight, even thought the person(s) at the center of the flashpoint may have been kicking around for years or decades.

I stuck in Sons of Maxwell because United Breaks Guitars told a story.  The key to their tale was the utter disregard with which American corporations treat their customers.  For Amanda Hocking and Stephenie Meyer, teens could explore certain subjects that many adults refuse to discuss (or refuse to admit they have knowledge of) through fantasy.  The Da Vinci Code hit when many Americans struggled to redefine what faith means to them.

No matter what you personally think of these bestsellers, read them.  Study them.  Figure out what makes them dig deep into people's psyches and not let go.  If you can figure out the why, you'll be able to apply it to your own writing.

Marketing - My Blood Approves

Like many writers, Amanda Hocking toiled in obscurity for years.  Sending out queries.  Collecting rejections.  Then she decided to take a chance and publish the books she'd written.  Books she believed in though no one else did.

Amanda's young adult paranormals hit a chord with her readers. This video was created by a fan in June of 2010. A good six months before anyone else would recognize Amanda's name.

Marketing - Sons of Maxwell

Three years ago, Canadian band Sons of Maxwell were on their way to Nebraska for a tour when another passenger witnessed some baggage handlers for United treat the band's equiment rather roughly.  Lead singer Dave Carroll soon discovered his prized Taylor was smashed.  When United refused to acknowledge Mr. Carroll's claim, the band wrote a little ditty and created a hilarious video of the incident.

The video went viral in 2009.  There's no way Sons of Maxwell could have paid for this kind of publicity.

Talk about lemonade from lemons!

Marketing - Traditional Advertising

Currently reading - Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

What most traditional marketing gurus consider traditional advertising includes magazine/newspaper ads, TV spots, or radio commercials.  I'll make this short and sweet once again--save your money.

This type of advertising is incredibly expensive.  Unfortunately, what makes it work is repetition.  If you don't believe me, watch Saturday morning cartoons with your kids (or your neighbor's kids, nieces, nephews, etc.)  Watch how many times during the course of four hours over four weeks the same spot airs.  Now calculate that by a $10,000.

A lot of money, huh?

And the other types of traditional advertising aren't much cheaper.

If you're Stephen King, the publisher has no problems throwing millions of advertising dollars around because they've calculated a potential return on investment ("ROI").  Publishers DON'T spend that kind of money on anyone but their A-listers.  If you're mid-list, you're on your own.

And that very mentality is one of the reasons, I'm looking at independent publishing.  And there's lots of cheaper alternatives that work.  And work much better.