The Writer's Key to Success
June 23rd, 2015
First, please forgive me for posting this week's Musing a day late. My brother is visiting from Kentucky, and we may or may not have gone out for burgers and drinks yesterday... It was a fun night. Sue me.
Now that that's out of the way, let's get back to business: the key to success! That's why you're here, is it not? In short, the key to success is marketing, and that's established by having your existence noticed and desired. No matter how talented of a writer you may be, if you have a piss poor approach to marketing, you're going to fail almost all the time. The days of being discovered on merit alone are over. Furthermore, if you have money in today's world, you can make more money by paying others to work for you. If you're poor, go find money and come back. Before you call me an asshole (which would be apt) understand that I don't make the rules, I just play along and hope to win.
Tangent: For a wonderfully thorough read on the evolution of the American nepotistic and meritocratic socio-economic system, be sure to check out Adam Bellow's In Praise of Nepotism: A Natural History. I highly recommend it.
Anyway, let's get back on track. Today I'll be covering a few promotional tactics, as well as going over what has worked best for me thus far.
Many indie authors have realized in order to better promote their books, they have to spend hours searching through Google, finding the best places to post their ads. Some authors instead utilize Facebook to the best of their abilities (and wallets), and either go the "pay-to-advertise" method, or the far more common "spam, spam, spam!" method (you can imagine what this brilliant tactic entails). Many people get by on a friendly word from their friends and families. Here's the thing: a combination of these elements is what works best.
Here's why...
1) Google Is Your Best Friend
In December 2012, Google had approximately 1.17 billion users, bypassing 293 million Baidu users, 292 million Yahoo users, and 267 million Bing users. Suffice it to say, Google is a data hub filled with loads of interesting tactics to better market your book. Rule of thumb: when in doubt, consult Google.
When I had first started looking for advertising techniques, I had set my sights on one place alone, the perfect ad spot. Soon, I learned that such a place didn't exist, and that I really had to advertise in several places. That's when I contacted a fellow writer buddy of mine and he showed me an entire Excel spreadsheet of the places he had advertised his series. The spreadsheet listed dozens of sites, as well as the costs of promoting his books on each one of those sites. Most importantly, it displayed the generated results. Obviously, not every outlet was profitable; in fact, many were akin to throwing money down the toilet. However, there were a few profitable ventures. Be forewarned: even the profitable sites I'm about to show you may not generate similar results for you. There are several factors to consider before choosing where to advertise, namely genre and time of week & day.
Now that that's out of the way, let's get back to business: the key to success! That's why you're here, is it not? In short, the key to success is marketing, and that's established by having your existence noticed and desired. No matter how talented of a writer you may be, if you have a piss poor approach to marketing, you're going to fail almost all the time. The days of being discovered on merit alone are over. Furthermore, if you have money in today's world, you can make more money by paying others to work for you. If you're poor, go find money and come back. Before you call me an asshole (which would be apt) understand that I don't make the rules, I just play along and hope to win.
Tangent: For a wonderfully thorough read on the evolution of the American nepotistic and meritocratic socio-economic system, be sure to check out Adam Bellow's In Praise of Nepotism: A Natural History. I highly recommend it.
Anyway, let's get back on track. Today I'll be covering a few promotional tactics, as well as going over what has worked best for me thus far.
Many indie authors have realized in order to better promote their books, they have to spend hours searching through Google, finding the best places to post their ads. Some authors instead utilize Facebook to the best of their abilities (and wallets), and either go the "pay-to-advertise" method, or the far more common "spam, spam, spam!" method (you can imagine what this brilliant tactic entails). Many people get by on a friendly word from their friends and families. Here's the thing: a combination of these elements is what works best.
Here's why...
1) Google Is Your Best Friend
In December 2012, Google had approximately 1.17 billion users, bypassing 293 million Baidu users, 292 million Yahoo users, and 267 million Bing users. Suffice it to say, Google is a data hub filled with loads of interesting tactics to better market your book. Rule of thumb: when in doubt, consult Google.
When I had first started looking for advertising techniques, I had set my sights on one place alone, the perfect ad spot. Soon, I learned that such a place didn't exist, and that I really had to advertise in several places. That's when I contacted a fellow writer buddy of mine and he showed me an entire Excel spreadsheet of the places he had advertised his series. The spreadsheet listed dozens of sites, as well as the costs of promoting his books on each one of those sites. Most importantly, it displayed the generated results. Obviously, not every outlet was profitable; in fact, many were akin to throwing money down the toilet. However, there were a few profitable ventures. Be forewarned: even the profitable sites I'm about to show you may not generate similar results for you. There are several factors to consider before choosing where to advertise, namely genre and time of week & day.
2) Great Places to Advertise ($$$)
Out of the dozens of sites I reviewed, three in particular proved highly profitable.
The Midlist
eReader News Today
Bookbub
All of these websites utilize a similar tactic when it comes to promoting authors' books: an extensive list of email subscribers. The idea is to notify subscribers of deals and up-and-coming titles climbing the rungs of the Amazon ranking ladder.
The pros:
* Your book can be seen by literally hundreds of thousands of people during an allotted time (mostly just a single day).
The cons:
* Costs -- Bookbub, especially, costs quite a lot of money.
* Exclusivity -- The Midlist and Bookbub are picky in who they choose to promote. When it comes to how they're choosy: the number of reviews your book has, how long it has been out in the public eye, its price, and its average star rating are just a few things you'll need to double-check before considering placing your ad on their site.
* The free or cheap ad sites have already been discovered by many other indies, and thus have degenerated to the "spam, spam, spam" method, only via email, not Facebook.
3) Word of Mouth = Amazing Results
Ask yourself this: why do you come back to a certain shop for your needs?
Well, it may be because they provide quality goods and services, or because they have the lowest prices, or most importantly: because you trust them. Marketing today is no different than marketing a thousand years ago -- it's all about trust. Faith in a company creates repeat customers, which generates unfathomable profits. If someone close to you advises you to go through with a purchase of their recommendation, you're far more inclined to believe them over a billboard on the side of the road. It's not rocket surgery, people are risk averse; when someone you trust tells you to buy a product, you may ignore some of the factors stopping you from buying the product/service based on the billboard alone.
This is why referrals go so far. If you can tap into your friends, family members, significant other(s), acquaintances, make sure to do so ASAP. Some friends know other reader friends; at a party, they can mention this "totally amazing writer" they know personally, and boom -- there's a sale. Your wife or mother has a book club or a bi-weekly wine & cheese (I don't know, just go with it) meet-up; they mention this "eloquent, moving story" they've read, and bam -- another sale. You get where I'm going with this?
Out of the dozens of sites I reviewed, three in particular proved highly profitable.
The Midlist
eReader News Today
Bookbub
All of these websites utilize a similar tactic when it comes to promoting authors' books: an extensive list of email subscribers. The idea is to notify subscribers of deals and up-and-coming titles climbing the rungs of the Amazon ranking ladder.
The pros:
* Your book can be seen by literally hundreds of thousands of people during an allotted time (mostly just a single day).
The cons:
* Costs -- Bookbub, especially, costs quite a lot of money.
* Exclusivity -- The Midlist and Bookbub are picky in who they choose to promote. When it comes to how they're choosy: the number of reviews your book has, how long it has been out in the public eye, its price, and its average star rating are just a few things you'll need to double-check before considering placing your ad on their site.
* The free or cheap ad sites have already been discovered by many other indies, and thus have degenerated to the "spam, spam, spam" method, only via email, not Facebook.
3) Word of Mouth = Amazing Results
Ask yourself this: why do you come back to a certain shop for your needs?
Well, it may be because they provide quality goods and services, or because they have the lowest prices, or most importantly: because you trust them. Marketing today is no different than marketing a thousand years ago -- it's all about trust. Faith in a company creates repeat customers, which generates unfathomable profits. If someone close to you advises you to go through with a purchase of their recommendation, you're far more inclined to believe them over a billboard on the side of the road. It's not rocket surgery, people are risk averse; when someone you trust tells you to buy a product, you may ignore some of the factors stopping you from buying the product/service based on the billboard alone.
This is why referrals go so far. If you can tap into your friends, family members, significant other(s), acquaintances, make sure to do so ASAP. Some friends know other reader friends; at a party, they can mention this "totally amazing writer" they know personally, and boom -- there's a sale. Your wife or mother has a book club or a bi-weekly wine & cheese (I don't know, just go with it) meet-up; they mention this "eloquent, moving story" they've read, and bam -- another sale. You get where I'm going with this?
"Have you heard about The Dockland Kingslayer? My son wrote it, and I had such a blast reading it!"
"No, but because you're now telling me, I'm very inclined to read it."
"That's great news, dear. It's out on e-book and paperback."
(psst... I collect more in royalties if you buy the paperback directly from Createspace)
"No, but because you're now telling me, I'm very inclined to read it."
"That's great news, dear. It's out on e-book and paperback."
(psst... I collect more in royalties if you buy the paperback directly from Createspace)
I hope these tactics work for you as well as they have for me. If you have any additions, questions, comments, concerns, you can find out where to reach me on the contact tab at the top of the page.
As always, happy reading/writing! See you next week.
All the best,
- V.C. Remus
As always, happy reading/writing! See you next week.
All the best,
- V.C. Remus