What I've Learned (and am learning) About Marketing a Book

I find the most difficult aspect of writing a book and then getting it published is that you then need to market the book once it’s published.

For me that has been made exponentially more difficult during a pandemic.

First, people’s minds are elsewhere. Who can blame them?

I’m used to marketing in a physical environment. I can sell books if I can get a reading or book signing at a bookstore. Readings and signings are obviously pretty hard to come by right now. Some bookstores are attempting Zoom readings, but unless you’re a big name, I doubt many people will sign on to see/listen to the reading.

I’m not certain that marketing on Twitter in the #WritingCommunity is the way to go. It’s been a great place to meet people, and I believe it’s generated a few sales for me. Still, even having over 15k followers (which I don’t) doesn’t guarantee anything in the way of sales. Think about it. You are following and being followed by writers who have their own books to sell.

I think simply tweeting your Amazon link does nothing. It’s white noise on Twitter, and most people will breeze right past those posts.

You gotta do something to get your book out to readers.

Some things I’ve done. Since I live in Michigan, I did contact nearly every Michigan library with a flier about my book. My email included my publisher’s email for any library interested in ordering a copy.

I also sent press releases to my local paper and many other Michigan papers. You could send to papers without any connection to you, but the likelihood of them running a press release then is pretty slim. My local paper did run the press release, and that resulted in several sales.

I also reached out to some Public Radio stations. My own local Public Radio station is going to have me on for a segment once the host gets done reading the PDF that I sent. (That wouldn’t have happened had I not reached out).

Of course, email a flier to friends and family. I did that… and again, a few sales.

I’ve been trying to reach out to review sites. In my case, I’ve written a literary collection of short stories. After some googling, I found a site listing places that are interested in reviewing literary work.

You can see it: here.

I also did a search on Twitter for sites that review. That’s resulted in a few hits… and I think a few more to come. I probably have 15 different places at least considering a review.

The review of my book in The Coil Magazine (which you can read: here) resulted in some interest… and I think a few sales.

I also learned that some review sites don’t want the book for review if it’s already been published… even freshly published. I don’t quite understand that policy, but I am learning that the time to market a book starts when you know it’s going to be published. Probably six months in advance.

The biggest thing I learned? You can’t think of Twitter as your best marketing platform. You gotta make people aware of your book in places where people are looking for books. That’s not likely going to be other writers on Twitter who are looking to sell their own books.

If the #readingcommunity exists, it is elusive.

I do agree with the advice that you should do something to market your book every day. But, I think you’re fooling yourself if you think tweeting about the book, or doing a #writerslift to collect more followers, or simply posting your Amazon link is doing anything.

Reach out to review sites (some sites are specific to indie/self publishers… and some are specific to e-books only. You just have to do your Google searches). I did notice too that some sites expedite your review if you’re willing to pay money.

I’m pretty cheap by nature so likely won’t do that… but it’s an option. And, I do think some of those sites (like Kirkus) could generate some sales. But Kirkus is to the tune of $495 and they want an advance copy to read.

Another thing you can do? Find out if there are any local book clubs/groups that might be interested in reading a local author and having you as a guest. The internet is amazing for finding those little clubs. Just google the name of your town or city with the term “book club”.

So what have I learned? Marketing a book is very difficult… made more so by the pandemic.

It’s a thinking outside the box kinda thing. Who can I let know about my book? Who would care? Just this morning, I thought, “Well, the two colleges I attended might be interested in an alum having a new book. I’ll email them a flier… might end up in some Alum News newsletter).

Look online too for groups, forums, etc that might be naturally interested in your book. When my novel Detroit Muscle (here) was published, I reached out to groups interested in addiction and recovery. Why? My main character is recovering from an Oxy addiction, and the book centers around his first month or so after he leaves recovery. It's also a book that brings a message of hopefulness. Such reaching out resulted in some sales, some reviews, some excerpts being published, and some invitations to guest speak.

Push the envelope… and try to take things off social media as much as you can!

And, if you have a blog, make sure to end each post with a "subtle" call-to-action, like so...

If you find my blog posts instructive, please consider purchasing a copy of my new book of short stories, The Neighborhood Division, as a donated payment for the "class."

From the Publisher (preferred): here

From Amazon: here