Marketing YOU and YOUR BOOK ~ Part II

Hi everyone,

Now that you’ve had an opportunity to become familiar with how to market yourself from Marketing YOU and YOUR Book Part I that was posted on Tuesday, it is time to take a look at the various ways and forums in which you can use those new strategies.

Social Marketing

So much has been written and said about this phenomenon and I can tell you from experience that it works. I’ve been using Twitter for the past several months and the readership for Mystery Writers Unite has increased and I’ve met some wonderful writers and fellow bloggers. I strongly recommend that if you haven’t become familiar with this particular form of self promotion that you read R.S. Guthrie’s post on social marketing by clicking the following link: Social Marketing.

A couple other marketing ideas:

1. Offering a buy one get one free book offer if you have more than one title available.
2. Offering a free copy of your book to a limited amount of readers and asking them to post a review on your behalf.
3. Becoming involved in blog crawls so readers of many blogs get to know you.
4. Taking part in special events in your local community by either donating a free copy of your book or making an appearance to do a book signing or a reading or both.
5. Contacting your local library to find out if they have any regular book clubs that meet that you might be able to get in touch with to discuss promotion of your book.
6. Teaming up with other authors and offering a package book deal.
7. Reaching out to your local high-end coffee shop (for us here in Aylmer, Quebec that would be the Moca Loca) and see if you can conduct an author reading event.
8. Conduct an on-line forum (live via conference call) where readers can get in touch with you directly and ask you questions about your book and your process.

The list is practically endless but these are a few suggestions to get your juices flowing. What other types of marketing promotion can you think of?

Becky

Marketing YOU and YOUR BOOK ~ Part I

Hi everyone,

Okay, now it’s time to get serious about MARKETING!! In publishing, this means marketing yourself as much as your work. So, how do you market yourself? Does this entail wearing a big neon sign on your person or taking out a full-page ad in the Sunday paper? What works and what won’t? What exactly does that mean?!?

For some authors, this is a very challenging and at times intimidating task and something I continually try and offer some solutions to the readers.  Today, I think I will focus on marketing your most important asset – YOU!! On Thursday, I will focus more on marketing your work so be sure to come back and read that post as well.

Marketing yourself isn’t easy but it is necessary and probably one of the most important tasks you will undertake in the world of publishing. YOU are the product and the brand all in one. This is different than selling Nike running shoes – where the shoes are the product. I don’t think the designers of these wonderful shoes ever looked at a finished product that didn’t quite make the cut and feel like a part of their soul had died with the design. Writing is different in that it is personal and emotional. So, your book, although a product like running shoes, is also much, much more.

Do you want to be known as an author that is mysterious, forthright, funny, or aloof?  These are some questions you may want to explore before you begin to “put yourself out there”. For those of you that are already feeling a little queasy and your are thinking, “I don’t want to push myself on other people and have to do a bunch of empty socializing or make superficial small talk.” I understand but effective marketing creates a pull for more from you and people begin to seek out you and your product (book).

 
Here is an eight-step plan to guide you:

1. Define your mission and the benefits you offer your readers.
2. Set your marketing objective: What exactly do you want to achieve? Make it measurable and realistic and built in timelines and deadlines.
3. Design performance measures: what will be observable, objective indicators that show that you are accomplishing or have accomplished your goal?
4. Gather, analyze and interpret information about your situation. For example, what are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? Perform this assessment and then act on the areas that need to be adjusted to improve your success.
5. Identify your target market and speak to them!
6. Develop your marketing strategy and activities aimed at your target market (attend conferences, continuing education events, write articles for them or professional publications that your target market would subscribe to).
7. Define implementation strategies: What will you do, when will you do it and what resources will you need or obstacles might you have to overcome?
8. Periodically evaluate marketing efforts and modify them if needed to determine what is working or what you may need to do differently. Do you need to do more or can you scale back your efforts?

Make sure you come back on Thursday for more tips and tricks and you can also view some of the previous marketing discussions we've had on Mystery Writers Unite by clicking the following link: Marketing

Becky

The Importance of a GREAT Book Cover!!

Hi everyone,

Today we are going to touch on the importance of making a good cover for your book.  Should you do it yourself?  Hire a professional?  Can you imagine what it should look like in in your mind?  These are all important questions and decisions...

I can’t stress the importance of marketing and branding your book the right way, as your success will depend on it.   As a matter of fact, I believe that how you present your book – the first thing people will see when they are introduced to your writing - is just as important as the first impression you make on a perspective employer or lover or friend!

There are tools out there that can help you!  For example, before preparing this post I found an online program called "My eCover Creator" that allowed me to create a professional looking e-book cover (see below) in as little as 15 minutes once I figured out a few easy steps; it cost's $3.95 US to download once completed.

FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY

Other authors use Photoshop or some other program that allows them to work with graphics easily.  Whatever method you choose to create your cover, there are a few things you will want to keep in mind as you are producing the packaging for your hard work, which are:

• Do make sure that the tile is legible;
• Do make sure that the font on the spine really stands out (for printed work);
• Do make sure that the back cover provides a brief summary about the book’s content;
• Do make sure that if you are going to include an author picture that it is a head shot and looks professional (for printed work);
• Do choose fonts wisely!! Each genre of books has similar typeface characteristics. It’s important to recognize these patterns and consider them when selecting cover fonts. For example, the same typeface used for books on sympathy may not be appropriate for a murder mystery; and
• Don’t try and portray your entire story with cover artwork. Instead, garner a potential reader’s interest and make them want to know more. Keep the front cover simple; it’s the back cover’s job to summarize and provide more information.

Remember the importance of branding!! Your readers identify with your brand more than anything else so stay true to it! If this seems overwhelming to you and you are looking to have someone do it for you, I'm considering offering this as another service for authors and writers so send me a message and I will put my Business Marketing diploma to work for you!!

What other guidelines do you follow when creating your book covers?

Have a great day!

Becky