Things Authors Can Do Between Books - Marketing Ideas

Marketing tends to be the all-encompassing focus right before and after a book launches, but there are lots of things you can do to build or maintain your platform or audience ahead of your next book. Here are some ideas.

• Look for ways to add readers to your email list. Make sure you take signup sheets to events, have a place on your blog for readers to join, and post about your newsletters on your social media. People sign up when they think they’re missing out on something.

• Set up a regular blogging schedule and try to stick to it. This will provide fresh content and drive traffic to your site.

• Build a backlog of blog posts. It’s always helpful to have a library of content to pull from when you get busy.

• Look for opportunities with other authors to be included in events, giveaways, and social media parties. This is a great way for readers to find you.

• Find ways to celebrate other authors by featuring them on your blog or social media posts.

• Build a list for your next launch. I have a really big spreadsheet that lists bloggers, reviewers, events, bookstores, podcasts, and anything else I can think of that will help me. I add to this every time, I come across something new or someone offers a recommendation.

• Don’t forget the “social” part in social media. You shouldn’t just be active on your sites when you have a book to promote. You build an audience and relationships by sharing, commenting, and posting regularly. This also helps to build your following. Figure out what you want to share and create interesting posts about your pets, recipes, crafts, etc.

• Set up a newsletter schedule. It’s a good idea to publish regularly and not just when you have a book for sale.

• Find projects to participate in that give you opportunities to work with other authors (e.g. guest blogging on your site or theirs, anthologies, etc.). This is a good way to pick up new readers/followers. I’m involved with several anthology projects that give me opportunities to participate in events and interviews where I can talk about my novels.

• Find a writers’ group. Many, like Sisters in Crime, have educational opportunities and ways to share information with other authors.

• Create a plan to add to your social media following. I focus on one or two a month and look for ways to build my followers on Facebook, Instagram. Pinterest, Twitter, Goodreads, and BookBub.

What would you add to my list?

More Book Marketing Tips - What I Learned from Sandra Beckwith

I had the pleasure of attending an online presentation from the Buckeye Crime Writers with Sandra Beckwith. Check out her Build Book Buzz website. It is a wealth of information for authors.

Here were my key take-aways from her presentation.

1. The bulk of book promotion is up to the author.

2. If you are an indie (self-published) author, you need to follow the traditional publishing standards (e.g. covers, editing, writing standards). Readers have expectations for the books they choose.

3. Hire a professional with experience in your genre to do your cover.

4. Make sure your book is edited and proofread.

5. Know who your reader is. Look at the demographics of your social media followers.

6. Put your effort in the social media sites where your readers are.

7. Be an active contributor on social media.

8. Make sure you have an email/newsletter list.

9. Before you launch your book, make sure you have a marketing plan. It should start before your book launch.

10. Have realistic expectations about sales and success.

11. Be gentle with yourself.

12. Don’t give up. It takes time to achieve success.

13. Continue to market your book as long as it is available for sale.

Stuff I've Learned so Far in 2021 - Book Marketing and Publicity

Happy New Year! 2021 is going to be a big year. My new cozy mystery series, the Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, launches in October, and I’m getting reading to start my planning for its launch.

One of my ideas for 2021 was to strive to learn new things. This week, I attended two marketing workshops, and here are a few of the nuggets I learned to help me with my website and publicity.

Author Brand

• Authors need a tagline to describe their books and writing style.

• Strive for visual unity (the look and feel) on all your social media, blog, website, and printed materials. Readers need to recognize you.

Time Management

• Write your next book. Publicity and marketing are important, but you need to make sure you guard your writing time.

• You can’t do everything. Decide what’s right for you.

Your Books

• Make sure your book cover matches your genre. Covers do sell books.

• Ensure that your book title matches your genre. Don’t make it look like a steamy romance if it’s a cozy mystery.

Website

• To look professional, you need a website.

• This is the center of all of your publicity efforts.

• Industry professionals (e.g. agents, publishers, editors, reporters, reviewers) will look for your website.

Newsletter/Email List

• You own your email list. If something happens to your social media sites, you don’t have a way to contact your followers.

• Don’t just send a newsletter when you have a new book. Your readers want to hear from you. Find the right balance. Weekly may be too much, and every two years is not enough.

What I Learned from Lori Rader-Day about Book Marketing

I am loving all the workshops and classes that are available on Zoom. I had the pleasure of attending Capitol Crimes’ presentation on book marketing for introverts with SinC past-president, Lori Rader-Day. She is such a talented writer with a the best sense of humor. I had the pleasure of being on a panel with her a few years back at Malice Domestic, and we had more fun that should have been allowed on an early Sunday morning. Here are some nuggets that I learned from her Zoom presentation about book marketing.

• Work on your craft (the writing part) first.

• Build a supportive network of other writers to share information and experiences.

• Make a plan for your launch. Don’t think of your launch as a single event. Gather your resources as you plan.

• Decide what you’re good at and do those things. You can hire people to do some of the other tasks.

• Find role models and examples. Buy/read their books, look at their newsletter and website, and attend their events.

• Know where your readers are and who else they read. Where do you have a built-in audience?

• Schedule events (in-person or virtual) and guest blog posts ahead of your book launch.

• Don’t contact booksellers during the holidays. Plan ahead.

• Don’t overload your schedule. You don’t have to do everything.

• Leave space in your schedule in case anything amazing pops up.

• Good self-promotion is not including “buy my book” in every conversation.

• Carry business cards and bookmarks with you.

• Make real, authentic connections. Just be yourself.

• Protect your personal and writing time.

• For those who are shy, try doing an event. The more you practice, the better you’ll get.

• Talk about the interesting things in your story/research, your hobbies, or your pets.

• Give first before you ask for favors.

• Read the books in your genre.

• Write another book.

Book Marketing Ideas in the Middle of a Pandemic

The pandemic turned book marketing and events upside down. Thankfully, a lot of conferences and workshops have moved to virtual formats. Authors, book sellers, and event planners have had to muster their creativity and find new or other ways to do things.

Here are some ideas to add to your toolbox.

1. Blog Tours (Paid and Free) - Look for blog tour services that will help you set up interviews, reviews, and guest posts.

2. Facebook/Twitter Parties - Look for companies that provide hosted social media parties (usually for a fee). They organize the event on an event page or a site where an author can “take over” for the event. You can also create your own party. It’s a good idea to have some writer friends join you and to do a variety of give aways. Make sure you review the social media platform’s terms and conditions. They do change from time to time.

3. Make a list of all your author/book friends who have blogs. Ask for an interview or guest blog spot to promote your new book. I offer interview spots for authors on my blog. You can send me a message on the “Contact” page if you’re interested.

4. Talk to your indie bookstore owners. Many are doing free and ticketed virtual events.

5. Reach out to your librarians. Many are doing virtual programs, and you can pitch a panel or workshop that you can lead.

6. Look for book clubs who host in-person or virtual speakers. Ask friends and watch Facebook groups. There are lots of book clubs that have moved to the virtual space.

7. There are also services out there that help authors expand BookBub, email lists, and other social media followings.

If you’re going to use a service, read the fine print, and ask other author friends about their experiences. Make sure the service caters to your genre and type of book.

What else would you add to my list?

Say Cheese - Headshot Tips for Authors

Authors need a professional headshot. Selfies or photos taken with a cell phone are great for social media candids, but they shouldn’t be your primary image. Here are some tips that I’ve learned through the years.

• Invest in a professional photograph. Your writing is your business.

• Lighting and location are key.

• Make sure you’ve done your hair and makeup.

• Choose clothing that has a solid color and not busy or patterned prints.

• Choose jewelry you want to appear in the photos. Rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and others will show.

• Take several outfits with you if you are having a studio session.

• Outside shots are great, but be mindful of the wind and background photobombers.

• Choose a photographer who can touch up your photo digitally.

• Avoid using a photo where you’ve cropped out others. You can tell that you’re standing beside someone.

• Update your author photo regularly. I have been to author events where we were looking for the person in the photo, and it turned out to be from 20 years ago.

• You need quality photos that can be used on the web and in print. You should have copies of your photos in different sizes and pixel quality. (You don’t want to send an 8x10 or a 11x14 to a blogger or a reviewer.)

• Make sure that you have the rights to the photos and that you can use them in your promotion.

In a past life, my husband was a photographer, and he does great photos for me. But I do go to a studio for my headshots. The one that I use does hair and makeup before the session, and it’s always a fun afternoon.

Do You Know Where Your Posts Have Been? Basic Analytics for Authors

It’s Friday. Do you know where your posts have been or where they’ve been seen? Do you know who your target audience is? Your website and social media analytics can help you hone in the demographics of people who visit your sites.

Website - Your website should have an analytics tab or page. (Mine just came out with a mobile app that I can track the information on my phone.) You should be able to see things like what posts (blog) or pages are getting the most attention, what countries are visitors coming from, what days/time are most popular for viewing, and how are they getting to your site (e.g. browser search, from another social media site). This is all helpful information. . It shows you how they’re getting to you. This lets you know if promotion or advertising on a social media site is working (or not).

Facebook Business/Author Page - After your likes increase on your business page, Facebook gives you access to Insights. There is an overwhelming amount of information on this page. I monitor likes and performance of posts. It shows how many people liked, commented, or shared. This gives me an idea of what my readers are interested in or respond to.

If you drill down on the Posts link, you can see what time of day people visit your Facebook page. Pre-pandemic, I had a lot of after midnight visits from other parts of the world. Now during the stay-at-home orders, I have a lot of US visits during day hours.

Click on the People link to see demographic information on your visitors (e.g. gender, age, language, and country/city of origin). This gives you detailed information on who is visiting your page.

This information is helpful if you plan to boost your FB posts or purchase ads. It can help you target countries, days, and active times.

Twitter - Their analytics are buried under the More link. They show a dashboard of each month’s performance, and the information is updated daily. The current month’s numbers may look off if it is reporting on a partial month (meaning it’s only tracking days or weeks for the current month to date). Keep scrolling to see previous, completed months.

You can view your most popular tweet and most popular mention. There are totals for followers, tweets, and mentions. You can also see totals for impressions.. An impression is how many times a browser has showed your content (in this case, your tweet). This doesn’t track clicks or shares; just the number of times it was shown.

Other Tools - There are lots of apps you can use for free or buy for your computer or mobile device to track analytics on your social media pages. There are also plugins and Google Analytics that you can add to your website for additional visitor information.

It’s a good idea to track your posts and followings at least at a high level to ensure that all the hard work that you’re doing on your website, blog, and social media sites is reaching your intended audience. I wouldn’t get too hung up on likes and unfollows. They do tend to fluctuate daily and weekly.

Preparing for Your Next Book Launch

For each book launch, I pull together a giant spreadsheet of marketing ideas. The previous one always gives me a good place to start. I also build a calendar that shows three months before the launch date and three months after. This helps me keep track of deadlines and marketing items.

I’ve expanded my spreadsheet over the years. Here are the key areas that I’ve added:

Media Outlets: I send press releases to local radio, TV, newspapers, and magazines.

Online Announcements/Calendars: Many of the local TV channels and websites here offer free event calendars. When I have book events, I post them on these sites.

Bloggers and Podcasts: I keep a long list of mystery book bloggers. Their calendars fill up fast. You may want to reach out to them 3-6 months ahead of your launch.

Blog Tours: There are lots of companies that do blog tours and marketing events. I keep a list of my favorites. If there is a date that you’re interested in, you may want to get on their calendars early. (As soon as you post that you’re an author, you’ll get bombarded with offers to increase your followers and promote your books. Do your homework. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.)

Other Blogs: I keep a list of friends and favorite blogs who offer blog spots to authors. I reach out about 3 months ahead of time to see if they have availability. Many do interviews, and other ask for a guest blog post. I do author interviews here on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Message me if you’re interested. My calendar books up quickly. Right now, I have dates open for December and January.

Your Contacts: Make a list of all your contacts that will help you share your book information. Think about your book clubs, church, alumni associations, writing groups, neighborhood news, professional organizations, etc. This is a great way to spread the word.

Facebook Groups: I keep a list of FB groups. These are great places to post announcements/sales.

Hashtags: You can tell that I’m a list maker, right? I keep a list of hashtags by topics for Twitter and Instagram for promotional posts.

Book Clubs: Make a list of all the book groups/clubs that you visit with their contact information.

Libraries and Indie Bookstores: I send my contacts emails or a postcard when a new book releases.

What else would you add to my list?