Many Sides of Book Marketing
That would be a nice accessory for authors, but most of us can’t afford it. Our marketing budget is slim and runs out quickly. We need to look at where we get the most bang for our buck.
I have a new release, Spirit the Tiny White Reindeer from Progressive Rising Phoenix Press. So, once again, I’m in marketing mode. Not that I’m ever really out of it. I’m selling books every day, but I mean a concentrated effort to get the word out.
This doesn’t take money. It takes a lot of time, commitment to the cause, and dedicated work. I’ve spent days and evenings on the computer, the place I least like to be. I have a spread sheet that grows with every book, and in between book releases. Costs me nothing, and I can reach as many people as I want, the same as the expensive companies who claim to reach X amount of viewers.
My experience tells me it’s not the number of viewers that counts. It’s who those viewers are. An author can create the personalized spread sheet, record the date, whether there was a reply, or an invitation. These recipients are the ones your book needs. My spreadsheet has school librarians with email addresses. U.S. Post is an extravagance for most of us. I list gift shops, museums that sell books appropriate to their gift shop, doll museums for Blue-Eyed Doll. Botanical Gardens gift shops carry my Little Beth series. And so it grows. Because I reached out to Georgia middle schools for McIntosh Summer, there’s a lot of Georgia middle school librarians on my list. Now I’ve added primary and elementary to that for this new book. I now have school library contacts for every school in every county in Georgia. Georgia is famous for its excessive number of counties! Alphabetically, I’m nearly finished. Today I will begin to add to my North Carolina school list. I also have a list of Catholic schools that hear about the Seal of Approval books for their libraries. E-book authors wouldn’t need the list of Indie Booksellers in the Southeast, many of whom have become friends because they hear from me and because I actually visit their stores to hand them a business card. They appreciate that I know they are there and I go there to buy books to read!
This reaching out has cost me only a stiff neck and sacrifice of time. But it has paid off with school visits, invitations to speak to librarian conferences, and personal friendships with indie bookstores on my list. Buddy and I visited a bookstore in another town yesterday to show her my new book. She greeted me like an old friend, then told me she ordered the book the day she got my emailed press release. She’s had it stocked since August 10. I visited four stores yesterday. One invited me to read the book in his store in December.
If you have more money than time, then hiring out the marketing would work best for you. Consumer Beware. Know what you are getting. If you can make the time, I suggest you do it yourself. Personalize your platform. And get a good chiropractor for the stiff neck.