First off, I'd like to thank Tony for allowing me this opportunity to provide a guest blog for him, despite the fact that I'm not a recognized marketing expert. My claim to fame or infirmary is that I'm an independent author with two books to my credit. The Fishing Trip-A Ghost Story and Reprisal! The Eagle Rises! Both are available from CreateSpace and Amazon, and have received great reviews. I've even managed to actually sell a few dozen copies of each, which brings us to the real issue. If you're reading this, you're probably an author yourself or an aspiring one and you're reading this with the hope of finding that one gem of marketing wisdom that will provide a much needed spark to your writing career. I'd really like to say, "Here it is!", but that wouldn't be true.
Prior to deciding I could write stories well enough to be understood and enjoyed by most people, I worked in marketing, sales to be more precise. For over twenty five years, I sold things, lots of things. I sold construction services, trash services, food (Wholesale), cars, landscaping services, transportation services, stereo's (when that used to be the state of the art), appliances, real estate and myself (politics).
The overall theme, that all of these different endeavors taught me about marketing, is that there isn't a single method of marketing that works to sell all things, all the time. It has always taken a mix of approaches to marketing to catch the public's attention. Some products required flyers and yellow pages ads. Some require newspaper ads and phone calls. Others, required mailers and others still, require mailers and billboards, while making hundreds of cold calls. Writing is no different.
As an independent writer especially, our job, mine included, is to get our work noticed, (I.E. to sell books), otherwise, it's just a hobby. It is not an easy task. Which explains why the big publishers, are so reluctant to give new authors a chance. Unless they can be confident they will make money off of a book, usually based on the writer's celebrity status or their industry or political connections or their previous track record, they don't offer a contract. In today's market, the big publishers are totally unwilling to take a chance on an unknown. Many of the authors, you may think are new authors. Really are seasoned independent authors, who finally managed to get the attention of a publisher by selling a large number of books on their own. A writer I really enjoy is Vince Flynn. He started as an independent author just we are. He struggled to get the public to take notice. But through perseverance, he found the right combination of marketing approaches and he managed to sell enough books, that a publisher took notice and as they, say the rest is history.
In the last two years, due to limited finances, I have strived to promote myself through the internet using social interaction sites and word of mouth. It has worked to some extent but it hasn't exactly made me a household name. My next step is going to be a more direct approach. I will be contacting every independent bookstore within a hundred miles of where I live (that's because of where I live, your area may be smaller or larger) and request they carry my books. I'll be doing this on a consignment basis, so that there isn't any cost to them, other than a little bookshelf space. This is a twist on a marketing concept that has worked many times for me in the past, known as cold calling. It's far more difficult for the customer, the bookstore owner or manager, to ignore or refuse you, when you're standing right in front of them.
I know many of you are saying, "I can't do that. I'm not a salesman. I'm a writer." Well, I hate to be the one to tell you, but writing is selling. You're selling your visions, your beliefs, your hopes and dreams. Your first customer, as an independent author, is the bookstore manager, who has to be convinced that he will be able to sell your book, because that is how they make a living. If the books don't sell, they lose their job. So it's important that you be able to demonstrate why your book should be there, rather than someone else's. As an independent author, you don't have a big marketing department placing ads across the country in big publications that the bookstore manager can count on to bring customers into their store to buy your book. So you have to sell him or her, on you. Plus you'll need to make it as painless as possible, for them to help you.
The way that you can do that is by providing them with copies of your positive reviews. You can also provide them with cheap but tasteful posters of your book covers suitable for hanging in their stores or in their store's windows. You may also want provide them with a list of any social networking sites you're on and have been using to promote your books, along with your Website address. The more you can show them that you're actively promoting yourself, the better. Don't forget to offer to do book signings in their store. Be sure have a plan for promoting those book signings and explain it to the store manager, so they can be reasonably sure that if they agree, the signings will draw as many people as possible, because that is still a very good way to sell books. Yes, it is a lot of work. What? You were thinking, you'd just write a book and then just sit back and count the money coming in?
My best advice, based on my experience thus far in promoting my own books, The Fishing Trip-A Ghost Story and Reprisal! The Eagle Rises! is to do as much self promotion as possible, utilizing as many different methods as possible. The second thing I am hoping to be able to do this year is to actually buy ads on different internet sites like Facebook, My Space, and others. I know, it is expensive, but even a small ad on a site that is influential with the type of person who is your target reader, with pay for itself, if the story you've written is at least half decent. Whatever promotional choices you make, be sure to keep your budget in mind and don't spread yourself too thin or too thick. It will more than likely take a mix of marketing efforts to make the sale. Plus remember, writing is now your own small business and treat it that way. If you work at it and work it smart, you can't help but become successful. Good Luck and I hope to see you on the best sellers list.
Chris Keys-author of The Fishing Trip –A Ghost Story and Reprisal! The Eagle Rises! Available from Create Space and Amazon. Look for my next book-Reprisal! The Eagle's Gauntlet! Due to be release in February 2011
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