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I am self published and marketing is slow

Veteran

James Menard Philadelphia, PA

It has been a year since I published my second book. Both books were written while I was deployed. I am having the hardest time marketing both books and getting my book out to the public. Is there any advice or options You have which can help me

17 March 2015 6 replies Mentoring

Answers

Advisor

Ravi Kallianpur Hammond, LA

James,

Hi. I know very well the challenges of getting published. My father-in-law a Marine Corpsman wrote a semi-autobiographical work of fiction which essentially recounted his total experience in World War II. He was a Purple Heart honoree (albeit 40 years late), a Professor, and despite his extensive efforts, his work did not get published. Yes, the family a hard-copy of the entire book still.

Now perhaps as a scouting venture, offer extracts to publications such as Leatherneck and Readers Digest. Secondly, put a synopsis on a blog, website, and other online sources. Based on the feedback you get, you could find the niche market, your interest groups and perhaps more nuanced opportunities.

Other types of peaking interest would be approaching local TV stations and offering a peak of your work, or radio talk shows.

There is no dearth of vanity publishers, but would advise you to stay far from them.

Good luck.

Ravi

Advisor

Amit Chaudhary San Jose, CA

Hi James,

Thanks for replying to message and explaining first book is a children's book and second is poems, I presume for older audience.

Some thoughts
-Pick a genre and stay with it. There are important reasons for it,
each genre requires fine tuning in writing, so the creation improves, many writers hit the stride with their 3rd/4th book in same genre
each genre has variations one discovers, fantasy has sub genre, children's writing is specific age, specific readers like mother and themes like learning
each genre has unique differentiators, which writers pick on, high quality artwork for children writing
staying with genre creates followings and automatic audience for latter works,
each genre has unique selling approach, for children, it would be, recommend at libraries, play the local writer angle, submit for prizes, most are high price low volume books
you can compare your writing to others in that genre and improve, attend writer's workshops for same

As for marketing, I would suggest follow advice in this article by Paul Graham, to do things that do not scale http://paulgraham.com/ds.html
For example, for everyone near by, find their library, ask them if they are ok recommending your book for library to buy, if they say yes, fill the form right there and then, add their card if needed and submit it.

Lastly writing does not pay much, you can increase your chances by picking popular genre or hitting a unique area

All the best
Amit

Advisor

Pasquale Russo Bloomingdale, NJ

James:

You reach a point of saturation, where all the people you know have either heard of or bought your book. What you have to do is raise awareness outside of that circle.

I've found that doing a giveaway on Goodreads.com helps to raise awareness of a book. Goodreads is a community of readers. You can look there for groups that support new authors. Be sure to leverage your military background.

Writing a press release is a good way to raise awareness; send the release to local newspapers and to prweb.com.

Also look for bloggers who do book reviews on their sites. Follow their submission guidelines when you send review requests to them.

Best of luck,

Pasquale Russo
https://anothervanishingact.wordpress.com

Advisor

Elizabeth Page Annapolis, MD

Hi James,

I agree with Craig and Jim, that it takes daily discipline of at least one hour a day to systematically market yourself to local radio stations and on social media.

Are you interested in giving "talks?" Send out emails letting local organizations, schools, faith organizations and clubs letting them know that you are available and you have a "message" or story to tell.

What is your "story" in a single punch line, pitch, or paragraph?
Post it here so we know more about you and direct you more specifically. Then include it in your ems. Sell your book from "the back of the room" after your talk. This creates buzz and then you have content for press releases and there are sites online that will distribute your press release to hundreds or thousands of news or broadcast outlets.

There is a website that publicizes radio and TV broadcasts announcing the theme and kinds of speakers hosts are searching for--its updated daily.

Getting reviews for our books are important on Amazon. Ask friends and the public to give you reviews and offer them a two-for-one if they do--for example, if they give you a review, give them your second book! Do promo campaigns on Amazon.

Do your own podcast telling your story and post it on itunes.
Attach the podcast to your ems so people can hear you as a demo to interest them in inviting you to speak at their events.

Post your amazon book link here if its permitted so your colleagues might look it up.

Best of luck,

Elizabeth

Advisor

Jim Schreier Milwaukee, WI

What do you mean by "self-published?" While your book is on Amazon, it is so easy to get lost on that site. My son is in the final stages of publishing his work and has decided to go with a much smaller self publishing source that actually has more focused promotion for the "theme" of his book. The problem is that there are so many options for you to consider. You could also look to some sources for doing "press releases" about your book -- trying to get yourself noticed or even better, interviewed on some radio/TV.

Advisor

Craig Hordlow Naples, FL

James,

There is no cookie-cutter strategy for marketing. It's about finding the angle. Is there a synopsis of your book, or a summary, you can provide so we can help you find that angle?

Craig

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