Marketing. A bit of an ugly word to some.
According to Dictionary.com – the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling.
But, what if you’ve written a novel, short story, poem, screenplay or anything else and you want someone to see and read it? Unfortunately the days are gone where you can simply write, publish and expect readers to find your work and start reading it, and I’m not just talking about self published authors, this applies equally to traditionally published authors. There are a lot of books on the shelves. Now you have Market your book. So, as well as shipping and storing, you need to advertise and sell. But do you?
We all know that in a world where we are always switched on and connected, someone is always shouting to be heard and it’s all turning into white noise. I’ve been a user of Twitter for a while now, my join date is somewhere in 2009, though I don’t think I was anywhere near as prolific a tweeter as I am now. I blog here, and I use Facebook intermittently. Twitter and blogging are my preferred platforms. So in the time I have been doing these I have been able to observe authors’ attempts at marketing. Much to my annoyance at times, as I’m sure it is often to yours. As I see it, you absolutely should not market your book. That’s it, blog post covered. What not to do – don’t market your book.
You see, I’m not drawn to buy books I see constantly tweeted about in my Twitter timeline. What I’m drawn to are people. I don’t care that you think your book is like this other book, or that someone said they loved it. What makes me go out and buy your book is if I like you. The way you Tweet and blog, the way you engage with people and the way we engage. I don’t give a flying monkeys who said what about your book, I have books coming out of my ears (If my head were a bookshelf of course), a book is a book, is a book.
There are great books out there and there are not so great books and between them there is a lot of choice. A lot of books.
Don’t market your book. Just be yourself. People will be drawn to you. They will. It’s a big internet you know, and we all have someone we can get on with. And when they are drawn to you and you connect, even vaguely, but honesty, they are more likely to look up your latest book.
jcckeith says
I have read this same advice in several places, that just saying the name of your book over and over again does not bring readers. Being yourself, having people get to know you is more likely to attract readers as they will like you and then by extension, your work.
Dave Sivers says
Spot on, as ever, Rebecca. I have a politeness gene that makes it hard for me to unfollow people (so far), but I scroll past the tweeters who serially promote their books without letting us see them as people. Quotes from their books and frankly embarrassing exhortations to buy them because at 99p they are cheaper than a cup of coffee leave me cold. I am lucky to have met some lovely people online – and why try to ‘market’ when you can have a chat? If I have a new book out, or there is a new review, I share it, just as I share other news with my friends and acquaintances and f people decide they’d like to have a look at my stuff, that’s great. The mistake is to go on about it! Thanks, Rebecca, for another great post.
yasminselena says
100% completely agree. Believe it or not, being yourself is a perfectly acceptable part of a marketing strategy! And a good one and it doesn’t even have to be viewed as calculatingly as that. I remember a girl once told me at a gig that I was the most amazing networker she’d ever met and I cringed at that. I said ‘I just really like talking to people and getting to know them.’ If writers just did that and were unselfconscious about it, Marketing wouldn’t be deemed the headache or ordeal some believe it to be. x
sharonsant says
As always, a spot on observation and one I wholeheartedly agree with! I find it embarassing enough to promote myself without driving everyone crazy with constant ‘buy my book’ tweets. If I ever do it, please slap me!
julietwilson says
I totally agree, though to absolutely never market your book is not going to work either. If I love what someone says on Twitter, but they never mention their book I won’t buy it, because i don’t know it exists. But yes, constant mentioning of the book is totally irritating….
D.A.Cairns says
A balanced view. I’m with you.
Margot Kinberg says
Rebecca – I couldn’t agree with you more. Nothing is more off-putting to me than an author whose tweets, blogs and the like all scream ‘buy my books!’ I think you’re absolutely right that we tend to be drawn more to people who don’t constantly go on about their writing. And you’re quite right that one can keep people informed and do some marketing without being obnoxious about it.
D.A.Cairns says
Honestly, I found this post a little discouraging. I already think I am my own enemy sometimes. Now I’m wondering if I’m turning people off. Have you seen my M post? It’s about marketing. I have only had very modest success with everything I’ve tried but I can’t believe doing nothing will help. I’m really doubting myself. I think your posts are terrific. That’s why I’m following you. Keep up the good work.
Jean Davis says
Excellent advice. I don’t like to be constantly hit upside the head with “buy my book” . Be an interesting person, and I’ll be much more inclined to look at the book.
Nagzilla says
I think this is the smartest “marketing plan” I’ve ever heard. The social aspect of the internet is forcing people to be more aware of marketing, and as such forcing corps and companies to be more authentic. This is not a bad change of events. 🙂
TaMara says
I completely agree. I am much more likely to read something by someone I like than just because I’ve heard the title 4,938 times. 🙂
TaMara
Tales of a Pee Dee Mama
Alex J. Cavanaugh says
I have never sent out a Tweet that says buy my book, but I see others do it all the time. Outside of when my books are released, I don’t mention them on my blog much either. What I did discover in the months after the release of my first book was that a lot of people were purchasing and reading it just because they liked me. So I think you are on target with that observation.
C.B. Wentworth says
This is the part of the process that scares me the most. Selling is tricky thing and its getting tougher to reach out to bookstores as they are rapidly closing (especially in my area). Looks like creativity and persistence are the rule of the day. 🙂
diannegray says
Marketing is an absolute pain and I try not to go near it. I find the more I hear ‘buy my book’ the less I’m likely to actually buy the book 😉
Patricia (@patricialynne07) says
Great advice. I gave up on tweeting about my books except for the occasional tweet if I put them on sale. I figured if I don’t pay attention to other people’s tweets about their books, no one is paying attention to mine.
Kirsten says
I would love to think that potential readers would consider buying my book because they like what they see of my writing on my blog or even in a comment. 😉
(Because when I see an interesting blog or a succinct comment, that’s what I do!)
nancyrae4 says
Great comments, all. Marketing – yikes! But, after reading your blog, I’ve asked myself what tempts me to by a book. Usually, it’s recommendations from friends or reading something about or by the author that touches me.
Peter Domican says
I’m a Chartered Marketer so, from a business point of view, I think you do need to ‘market’ your books but you need to think about the types of people who are going to buy your wares and the best ways to reach them.
There are some authors who have done very well out of the hard sell approach on Twitter despite the books being mediocre. Continual ‘Praise for my book’, ‘Promote my book’ DMs and continually banging on about them six months later just kills me but can reach people who don’t buy many books a year and don’t follow (m)any authors. It has worked for some authors (I won’t name names) but you need to be pretty brazen and thick skinned to do this.
I would suspect most people reading this love books, buy a lot of books, follow authors etc and don’t want to be ‘marketed’ to like that. Personally I think it’s fine to promote a book around its development, launch, follow up events and I’d expect to see someone saying my book’s out and available or mention any other kind of writing success but I’d go with everyone else in saying that I prefer a soft sell / no sell approach. I certainly know when Joanne Harris is doing something but I don’t even consider it promotion because it just seems seamless.
Ultimately I think an author needs to do what they feel comfortable with and what works in the market they’re aiming for.
Courtney says
Aloha Rebecca, finally catching up to posting or commenting or whatever. Thanks for hopping by my blog, and I’m oh yes, in 4th week of the burn of A to Z. Loved your comment on “not giving a flying monkeys about who said what about your book.”
Julia says
I do not care if people tweet about their books, but to each his own. Personally I would not be overt in promoting my own book, and I think it is better to just be yourself.