Marketing Your Book
February 1, 2010 by Cherie
Filed under Cherie's Books
I’ve been thinking a lot about marketing when it comes to books. Truth be told, I think about this subject all the time! I’m always keeping my eyes open for ways to get the word out about my books. After all, you need to market your books (and yourself) in order to connect with readers. With all the books published in a year, readers simply cannot find you without marketing.
Lately two things have stirred my marketing juices. One started with a question from a new writer about how to market his book. I went into great detail in answering his question, so much so that I ended up writing an article about the subject shortly after. I’m happy to report that “Marketing a Book – Tools and Resources (Inexpensive Promotion Tips for Authors)” just won an editor’s choice award from Suite101.
I create a marketing plan for each book before I publish it, and sometimes even before I write it. Since up until now I’ve written poetry and nonfiction, this has worked very well for me. After all, my goal is not only to indulge my creative muse but also to sell books. Here’s the problem that many writers have, they write for themselves and never for their reader. I agree that you should write for yourself, but once you make the decision to publish, you should know who your readers are. You have to, otherwise you will have a very hard time finding them.
I’ve also been thinking about marketing these days because of M.J. Rose’s Buzz Your Book class. This class has opened my eyes to all kinds of ways to market a book! I thought I knew about marketing before, but this class has really added to it. Best of all, we get feedback each week from M.J. when we turn in our assignments. Love that. I would also recommend reading M.J. and Doug Clegg‘s Buzz Your Book
The ironic part is that I’m doing this class for my novel, For Those Who Knew Zach, which has yet to be published. You could say that I want to be “ready to go” once I have the go ahead from an agent and publisher. (How’s that for positive thinking?)
Positive thinking is a must for all writers. We have to believe in ourselves before we can expect others to believe in our writing. I checked out your article on marketing books. Very niiiiice. Today, authors are expected to use various means to market our books. Your article hit the mark.
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Cherie Reply:
February 8th, 2010 at 8:17 am
Nancy,
Yeah, today authors are expected to get out there and reach readers. It might not be the most comfortable (for the shy author) but it’s so necessary. Thanks for your kind words!
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Wow, you are super organised and very driven by the sounds. Thanks for sharing this post and the links.
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Cherie Reply:
February 8th, 2010 at 8:15 am
Thanks for stopping by Cassandra!
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I’ve done a lot of writing but my marketing skills are very sub-par. Your post is very timely. Thank you.
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Cherie Reply:
February 8th, 2010 at 8:14 am
You’re welcome!
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My writing partner and I found out there was a lot more to writing than just writing; we had to learn to market our products as well as ourselves. It has been a fascinating journey.
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Cherie Reply:
February 8th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Vada,
Yeah, that’s the way it is today with the writing world. I’m glad the journey has been fascinating – I agree, it certainly is!
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Thanks for sharing this information!
Marketing is essential to getting a book out to the public. As a writer, and as a literary agent, I’ve seen firsthand what happens when you get your book on the shelves, then go sit down and do nothing. Well, you know what happens? Nothing. You have to promote, promote, promote in this competitive market.
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Cherie Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Maxine,
Yes, wow, it certainly is a different world for writers. We HAVE to promote because there are just so many books out there. Readers can’t find you if you don’t.
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Nice job with the marketing tips. Good research and info. Thanks.
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Cherie Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Thanks, Sola!
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