Promotion and Marketing tips.

[NickSpalding]

I've heard this a lot.

Yep. An unprofessional cover can torpedo your chances. Even a fairly decent looking amateur one can be glaringly obvious and put people off. If you're not a graphic designer it's always worth hiring someone to produce one for you.

[*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon)]

Your best marketing tool as an indie author is by far and away word of mouth – so write a very, very good book that’s better than everybody else’s and you’re laughing. Easy, peasy.

I agree that quality is important. But the best sellers are not necessarily the best books in terms of quality.  Word of mouth alone can take you only so far.  There is lot more than that to expose your book to  higher number of audience and sell them.

I think the authors who are selling thousands a month are doing something more than word of mouth and that is what we are trying to find out what they do.  It is not just a coincidence but skill.

Thanks everyone for sharing some ideas including word of mouth marketing.

[*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon)]

These are things I found to be the most useful marketing tactics out of everything I tried so far.
1. First draft blog.  I put my Facebook badge to the left side, and this is how I've been able to use Facebook effectively as a promotional tool.  The first draft blog also allows people to check out my work and comment on it, so it's not only increased exposure more than anything else I've tried, but it's also opened the door to feedback from my readers who let me know what is and what isn't working as I write the book.
2.  Free reads.  This has been a huge help as well.  I offer some of my books for free on Smashwords (who then uploads the free books to B&N and Sony; I'm not sure about Kobo, Diesel or Apple).  I also put my free books on my website and obooko.com.
3.  Changing covers.  I was surprised by this one, but it worked great.
4.  I recently did ads on genre specific sites like Night Owl Reviews and Coffee Time Romance.  For my pen name whose first book came out this month, I've sold 11 Kindle books and 18 Smashwords books (half of which were free with the coupon I offered).  That was more than I accomplished when I first published with my real name (Ruth).  With my real name, the ad I started on Feb. 15 has already boosted book sales so that it's my best selling book in Kindle (where it links).  So having built a platform will make ads more effective.  Facebook ads seem to be a waste, however,
5.  Book trailers yield minimal interest, but I enjoy making them so I do them anyway.
6.  Being featured on someone's blog helps for a short period of time.
Hope that helps someone. 

Thanks Ruth Ann for sharing the helpful hints. That's the kind of things many of us are looking for promoting and marketing.

In addition to discussion forums, writing articles for various sites and providing the link to your book is another helpful hint to provide good exposure. Wish you all the very best.

The article could be part of the book you're promoting. Just an idea.

[Jennifer Talty]

I think the authors who are selling thousands a month are doing something more than word of mouth and that is what we are trying to find out what they do.  It is not just a coincidence but skill.

Thanks everyone for sharing some ideas including word of mouth marketing.

They are creating word of mouth. The mystery seems to be how to create the word of mouth. Getting on best-seller lists is one way, but you have to make the best sell list and the way to do that is to sell lots of books.

I sent out a tweet on Twitter about my latest blog post. A few people RT it, but when I checked the stats, there are no "real" hits to the post. What interests me with this is that just because someone took the time to hit the RT button, doesn't mean they are going to the blog. It's hard to gauge what works in creating word of mouth. We had a big upkick in sales after we lowered two book prices across the board. Interestingly enough, sales went up across all our books since doing that. Was it the price? The Cover? Recommendations? The blog post on where the idea for the series came from? All the tweets, or facebook status promoting the book? Sending emails to yahoo groups with a link to the blog that is linked to Amazon? We have no idea.

There are days we do nothing, and we have a good day in sales. We have days where we do nothing, and the sales stay the same or they go up or down.

Creating buzz around your book or books or even you as an author means using all the tools, effectively. And toss in a little bit of luck too.

[Nathan Lowell]

They are creating word of mouth. The mystery seems to be how to create the word of mouth. Getting on best-seller lists is one way, but you have to make the best sell list and the way to do that is to sell lots of books.

I sent out a tweet on Twitter about my latest blog post. A few people RT it, but when I checked the stats, there are no "real" hits to the post. TWhat interests me with this is that just because someone took the time to hit the RT button, doesn't mean they are going to the blog. It's hard to gauge what works in creating word of mouth. We had a big upkick in sales after we lowered two book prices across the board. Interestingly enough, sales went up across all our books since doing that. Was it the price? The Cover? Recommendations? The blog post on where the idea for the series came from? All the tweets, or facebook status promoting the book? Sending emails to yahoo groups with a link to the blog that is linked to Amazon? We have no idea.

There are days we do nothing, and we have a good day in sales. We have days where we do nothing, and the sales stay the same or they go up or down.

Creating buzz around your book or books or even you as an author means using all the tools, effectively. And toss in a little bit of luck too.

This is a really good point. One of the myths in "social media marketing" is that you want to have a million followers and get everything retweeted as widely as possible. This is old-school thinking .. the shotgun approach that assumes that eventually one of the pellets will strike a target. In social media, this probably won't hurt you but relying on that is not going to generate the word-of-mouth you want. It has a name - "The Million Follower Fallacy."

There's another old-school marketing idea that does apply--"Trendsetter." Sometimes called "Thought leader," this is the person who finds stuff early, tries it out, and then influences others to try it, too. Marketing people have known for a long time that in order for word-of-mouth to be effective, you have to have people who have authority or influence doing the talking.

The problem is that few people have very wide influence or authority and individuals vary widely in the scope of their influence. The advantage is that where they do have influence, that influence can be nearly absolute. The good news is that everybody has some influence somewhere. It might be with a family member, a close circle of friends, or in a community of like-minded hobbyists, but everybody has some level of influence. This is where social media comes in.

Having ten thousand followers who know about your work is going to be significantly less effective than having a hundred who are fans of your work. It doesn't matter if it's twitter or blogging or facebook or goodreads.  Your goal is not to amass a ten thousand followers, but to nurture a hundred fans. Please those hundred fans, and they'll use their influence to get you a hundred more.

Obscurity is the first hurdle and where networking with others (like we do here) comes into play. The key is not in the indiscriminate acquisition of network links but fostering those links with people who have audience that might be interested in the work you're doing. This is what Robin is doing with her cross-promotional efforts on Goodreads using the "also bought" data from Amazon - linking to people who might become influencers in a different circle. It's why a lot of you are finding "promotional fatigue" to be such a problem -- you're spending time and effort promoting everything everywhere instead of fostering the relationships with the one or two people who have influence over an audience that might be interested in what you're doing.

Networks are good. Influence is better and Jenni is right with her point about the retweet button.

[Jon Olson]

I did change covers, but it hasn't done a lot. More time on the forums may help me. But time, time, I got no time.

[edwardgtalbot]

I don't claim to know much about what works and what doesn't in terms of marketing.  But one thing that seems obvious to me about social media is that word "social".  The reason companies have wasted millions of dollars on it is because they've ignored that part of the word. Interact with people - don't sell.  I mention my work once or twice a day at most.  I am absolutely convinced that to do more is a mistake except maybe the day of a book launch.  Anyone I follow who does much more than this winds up not on the list of a couple hundred people I watch most closely.

I can say one other thing about what not to do in marketing - don't let your fan base disappear through inaction.  I podcasted my novel in late 2008 and some short stories in early 2009.  I got about 40 reviews/ratings at podiobooks and Itunes. Since then I have had almost no new content, and my "platform" has withered.  So now I'm going about the process of rebuilding it. But unless I can come out with 1-2 full length novels a year in addition to the three works I have done and will be out in the next six months, it's going to be hard to keep whatever audience I build.

[Nathan Lowell]

I did change covers, but it hasn't done a lot. More time on the forums may help me. But time, time, I got no time.

More time here probably isn't going to help.

Your website has nothing on it for readers (Your other writing link is "under construction"). An hour or two there might be good. Do you have a blog where you can talk about your book(s)?

Are you on twitter? I looked but I'm not seeing you (and I might even be following you) ...

So? How *do* you talk with readers? How do they talk with you?

[Betsy the Quilter]

This blog post was written more for artists in mind, so it might apply more to visual artists, but I thought it had some interesting thoughts about Facebook vs Blogs and why one should have both:
http://artbizblog.com/2011/02/social-media-is-a-tool.html

Disclaimer:  It's not my blog, I don't know Ms. Stanfield, but I do subscribe to her newsletters.

Betsy

[daveconifer]

Back the crux of the matter:

You have to write a very good book. Nothing else will provoke positive word of mouth. This is what every indie author should remember. It doesn't matter how much you promote your novel, if it's nothing special you're not going to do high numbers. And if you are promoting like a banshee for months and you haven't sold a lot of copies, maybe it's time to look at the quality of work you're putting out there.

Essentially there's no miracle formula, and there never will be. No marketing strategy will sell a product that isn't worth it. You HAVE to write a great book to sell in this industry.

So true, Nick.  I often point out that many of the most successful writers on this board are also the least active promoters.  How can they do this?  Easy.  They wrote a great book.  There's lots of good advice here in this thread, but at some point it comes down to writing a really good book.  When we don't, there really aren't any shortcuts.

That sounds like bad news, but really, it's good news.  Instead of fretting about 'one more guest blog' or 'I have to find another blog to be featured on!' we can turn our attention to what we like best -- writing something new.

I've done the least amount of promoting on Wrecker, but after just forty or so days it's already my biggest seller*.  Why?  because it's my best book, has a good cover to help it get noticed, and apparently people out there are talking to each other about it...

* Well, it will be soon

[Nathan Lowell]

For those on Twitter and wondering "why" ... here's a list of the "chats" that you might participate in.

Twitter Chat Doc

Look for genre related chats, like #scifichat, #romancechat, and #yalitchat to connect with communities of readers.

[Jennifer Talty]

This is a really good point. One of the myths in "social media marketing" is that you want to have a million followers and get everything retweeted as widely as possible. This is old-school thinking .. the shotgun approach that assumes that eventually one of the pellets will strike a target. In social media, this probably won't hurt you but relying on that is not going to generate the word-of-mouth you want. It has a name - "The Million Follower Fallacy."

There's another old-school marketing idea that does apply--"Trendsetter." Sometimes called "Thought leader," this is the person who finds stuff early, tries it out, and then influences others to try it, too. Marketing people have known for a long time that in order for word-of-mouth to be effective, you have to have people who have authority or influence doing the talking.

Having ten thousand followers who know about your work is going to be significantly less effective than having a hundred who are fans of your work. It doesn't matter if it's twitter or blogging or facebook or goodreads.  Your goal is not to amass a ten thousand followers, but to nurture a hundred fans. Please those hundred fans, and they'll use their influence to get you a hundred more.

I do think having a "good" following on twitter and facebook has its value. I look at someone who has a limited number of followers or who aren't following anyone and wonder why I should be. However, there is also the reverse of this. I look at someone with 20k or 30k numbers and wonder how the heck did they get there? And how the heck do the keep up.

I like what you had to say about authority or influence. Has me thinking.

[Jennifer Talty]

I can say one other thing about what not to do in marketing - don't let your fan base disappear through inaction.  I podcasted my novel in late 2008 and some short stories in early 2009.  I got about 40 reviews/ratings at podiobooks and Itunes. Since then I have had almost no new content, and my "platform" has withered.  So now I'm going about the process of rebuilding it. But unless I can come out with 1-2 full length novels a year in addition to the three works I have done and will be out in the next six months, it's going to be hard to keep whatever audience I build.

That's an excellent point. It's hard to balance all the promotion and networking we need to do in order create buzz for our books, maintain the word of mouth, continue to build brand...and write the next book. Something I've been really struggling with.

[JRMurdock]

I recently reclaimed my facebook feed from all the FarmVile and Mafia Wars posts that were there. They'll not be coming back. I've decided to revisit the entire 'social' part of social media. I started blogging. I started interacting with people on twitter more often. I posted the cover to my book. I have YET to say BUY MY BOOK ON MARCH 10TH!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. In fact I didn't even MENTION it until someone asked me. That gave me a chance to talk about it with someone.

The last thing I want to do it turn off followers or friends from what I'm doing by pushing pushing pushing. I want to interact with them. I want them to ask questions so they feel like they're an important part of the process. I don't want auto retweets that never get followed and just become more noise.

What am I saying in what I'm not saying in my feeds? That I want you to follow me in social media for me. That will lead you to my work (web page, blog, facebook, twitter, etc) and you'll find my product from there. I will get out there soon and start promoting, but I'm not going to do an all out rush to do so. I'm going to try the long, slow boil method by getting to many places over a long period of time. Keep my name out there so people hear it once or twice a month and finally come around. I don't want someone to hear my name 10 times a day for 10 days in a row and think.. "pfft, not buying that jokers stuff"

I want a platform of followers. Not a platform of sales. I'm thinking (and hopeful) that followers will equal sales in the long run and will grow over time. Am I wrong in thinking that?

[Nathan Lowell]

I do think having a "good" following on twitter and facebook has its value. I look at someone who has a limited number of followers or who aren't following anyone and wonder why I should be. However, there is also the reverse of this. I look at someone with 20k or 30k numbers and wonder how the heck did they get there? And how the heck do the keep up.

I like what you had to say about authority or influence. Has me thinking.

That's the thing about a "good" following. If you pay attention to the following you have, it will grow. If you work to try to expand it, you may get more numbers but the core isn't necessarily going to be there. I was shocked to look at my numbers and realized I had over 2000 followers and that I'm following almost 1500. Last I remember those were half that size.

It goes back to basics. Growing the number is a by-product of the process, not a goal. You're looking for fans so you can talk with them about something you both care about. Sometimes that something is you. More times it's something else. Sometimes it's just "ugh. Monday again?"

[Nathan Lowell]

I want a platform of followers. Not a platform of sales. I'm thinking (and hopeful) that followers will equal sales in the long run and will grow over time. Am I wrong in thinking that?

I think you're right on. You've got a good following now. Nurture it.

[JRMurdock]

I think you're right on. You've got a good following now. Nurture it.

I think Scott Sigler said "When you get an email from a fan, respond and you'll have a fan for life. Ignore them, and they'll do the same."

I plan to stay connected.

[JRainey]

For those on Twitter and wondering "why" ... here's a list of the "chats" that you might participate in.

Twitter Chat Doc

Look for genre related chats, like #scifichat, #romancechat, and #yalitchat to connect with communities of readers.

Thanks for posting this, Nathan! I've been on Twitter for some time, but using it for marketing and serious networking is still something I'm getting the hang of (used to just be me and my friends messing about).

Also, Katie, that was a wonderful blog entry. I've bookmarked it.

My biggest tip has already been mentioned once or twice, but I can't stress it enough: Don't be afraid to give things away for free. Giveaways have been one of the most successful tools I've come across in getting sales; I've made back what it cost me to do the giveaway very quickly every time. However, my book has only been out for four months, so I can hardly claim to be an expert on any of all this yet.

[*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon)]

They are creating word of mouth. The mystery seems to be how to create the word of mouth. Getting on best-seller lists is one way, but you have to make the best sell list and the way to do that is to sell lots of books.

You're saying the samething Jenni. If getting on best seller list is one way to create word of mouth. Then to get on best seller list takes something more than word of mouth, as I understand.  I do enjoy your input. Thanks.

[Katie Salidas]

For those on Twitter and wondering "why" ... here's a list of the "chats" that you might participate in.

Twitter Chat Doc

Look for genre related chats, like #scifichat, #romancechat, and #yalitchat to connect with communities of readers.

Thank you for posting this. There are so many out there that I didn't know existed. I'll be referring back to this list quite often.


Also, thanks to those that read my blog. I really hoped it would be helpful!

[*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon)]

There are days we do nothing, and we have a good day in sales. We have days where we do nothing, and the sales stay the same or they go up or down.

Very true. That mystery is what I am trying to understand.  Sometimes there seems to be no logic in book sales like the stocks.  But my scientific mind says, there is always a reason behind every phenomenon and refuses to accept it.

[Nathan Lowell]

Very true. That mystery is what I am trying to understand.  Sometimes there seems to be no logic in book sales like the stocks.  But my scientific mind says, there is always a reason behind every phenomenon and refuses to accept it.

There is a reason.

We just lack the data to figure out what it is.

Some amount of random luck, to be sure.

Some amount of convergence of information streams.

The asynchronous nature of the internet means that messages we send out today may not be delivered until next week, or next month. Without knowing when those messages get received, there's no way to predict when they might be acted on.

When the messages get piled up, you can get groupings that appear to have no logical basis when, in fact, we just have no way of determining the triggers.


- or -

Aliens.

[Tara Maya]

Very infomative thread.

And the "...or...Aliens" quip made me snort.

[*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon)]

There is a reason.
We just lack the data to figure out what it is.
Some amount of random luck, to be sure.
Some amount of convergence of information streams.
The asynchronous nature of the internet means that messages we send out today may not be delivered until next week, or next month. Without knowing when those messages get received, there's no way to predict when they might be acted on.
When the messages get piled up, you can get groupings that appear to have no logical basis when, in fact, we just have no way of determining the triggers.
- or -
Aliens.

Good reply; I enjoyed it. But how to make practical use of it.... or is it possible!

[*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon)]

Very infomative thread.

Are we out of new tips?
I just joined good reads and mobilereads I think. Are these useful for marketing or any other social site that helps with marketing...