Almost two years ago, I launched my début novel, The Hating Game. Published traditionally by a small press, we decided to release the e-book first, ahead of print — a strategy that was relatively new at the time.
Kindle had just hit the UK market and although it was growing rapidly in popularity, it was possible to make a big impact in the relatively uncrowded market. By organising a ‘Take On Amazon’ websplash, I managed to get my novel into the Top 50 on Amazon UK and into the top 500 on Amazon.com, on the day of its launch. Using similar strategies, I had success with other novels, too.
Fast forward to the present. Twitter is awash with writers promoting their books; the blogosphere is overflowing with blog tours, and it seems every second person has published a novel. Big UK publishers have got in the game, dropping their prices as low as 49p to garner sales. With so much competition now, how can you stand out from the crowd?
This week, as I published my new novel, Construct A Couple, I faced this question. With so many writers clamouring to make their book visible, I found myself reticent to employ my previous technique of making a big splash on a certain day. It seems to me people are becoming a little tired of the constant flow of launches happening on social media. I know I am!
So I’ve decided to go with the old ‘slow and steady’ approach this time around. I’ll still have a low-key celebration on my blog on ‘launch day’ this Wednesday, as well as hold contests on my Facebook page, but I’m not going to focus all my efforts on one day. Instead, I have giveaways and blog posts lined up over the new few months, and I’m hoping they’ll work to keep interest in my new novel consistent.
With so much shouting happening on social media, I believe relationships are even more important. I’ve worked hard to build a base of readers, newsletter subscribers, as well as blog and Twitter followers, and these are the people I want to focus on. Screaming every five minutes about my book on a certain day certainly isn’t going to motivate them to support me — in fact, it’ll probably result in the opposite.
It’s important to raise awareness of your ‘brand’ and your novels. But now more than ever, doing it the right way is critical. Bombarding everyone and their dog on launch day might make you and your book known, yes — in a negative way. Think carefully about the strategies you use and make sure they reflect you in a professional, positive light. Remember, it’s not just about one book. It’s about you and your future career, too.
What strategies do you use to raise awareness of your novels?
This is a very timely post as my husband and I were discussing what we would need to cut back on if I gave up a day a week of work at my non writing job in order to focus on writing on that day (instead of just in the dark hours like I do at the moment). The first thing we agreed on was the expensive book launch parties that I have town to celebrate the launch of my books to date. I used your technique as an example of the approach I wanted to take with the release of my next book. Thank you for being so consistently generous with the sharing of your tips and techniques.
Hi DJ! I’ve never had a physical launch for any of my books, actually. I just couldn’t justify the cost and how it would translate into sales. It’s a nice to have, but… I think as time goes on, more and more writers will sacrifice the physical launch party, too.
Yes, I know you have never had a physical launch for any of your books. I can remember feeling puzzled and disappointed when you didn’t have one for The Hating Game! I understand your reasoning behind your decision now though and will be adopting the same attitude from now on. Doing something low key but special for newsletter subscribers and blog readers is a lovely idea!
I’m so with you on this Talli. I find that after a while a constant daily promotion of ‘I’m on XYZ blog today’ going on for several weeks, becomes repetitive and a bit of a turn off. People lose interest, well I do anyway, even if it’s a book I have read and loved. My planned launch next month is small and low key.
Good luck with Construct A Couple, I am really looking forward to reading it – love the cover too. Do you come up with the book cover ideas?
Sue
Thank you, Sue!
I agree – I lose interest, too. I’ve seen so much of this lately in the blogosphere that I just couldn’t bring myself to do the same! Plus, I want to know what the author has been up to in their life, not constantly read about their book. It’s so hard to strike the right balance!
What you both are saying here is just sooo very important! It’s not about blog hopping anymore…in the here’s my book way…unless you’re bringing a new, personal and very unique and fun twist to it!
It’s simply about connecting with people!
For example, I can’t believe how my Bitchy Sign Bonanzas are going viral!!! And that has nothing to do with my books. Sure, it’s all about the ‘tude in the tone of my books and any of my characters would collect Bitchy Signs too, but these are gems that my readers can then use in their own way too! And wow are they comin’ back for more every week!!!
Here’s the latest one:
http://bit.ly/KpQRfP
Luv these and look forward to them each week!
I look forward to them, too. They always make me laugh!
I have to agree. Everything was different even one year ago! I think for a debut novel, it might work to have a bit of a buildup. Personal friends of the author will enjoy seeing her excitement grow as the big day approaches.
On the other hand, I’m exhausted from all the book promo. I’ve started unfollowing people on Twitter and facebook who flood me with promo tweets and facebook “events”. If I bought every book that was flogged to me, I’d have five new ones a day! It’s just dizzying.
My next book’s official release is this Thursday, and I’m doing a drawing of my newsletter subscribers to give away five copies. I do this to reward those who follow me faithfully and have expressed a genuine interest in my work, but I don’t do much in the way of blog tours and ‘check out my book’ posts. They don’t increase sales, IMO, and they often just annoy people.
India, that’s a great point. It might be different for a debut novel, yes. I think it works better, because it *is* exciting, and friends and family want to experience that, too. But still, I think it’s about the connections and relationships you’ve taken the time to build. I don’t care if it is someone’s debut novel when they tweet me a link to buy their novel. I want them to at least take the time to say hello first!
Congrats on your upcoming release!
Great post and I can totally relate. When HEAVEN CAN WAIT came out in 2009 I did a 25 stop blog tour and pulled out all the stops to promote the hell out of my debut novel online. It took a lot of work and hours and hours and hours of preparation. When HOME FOR CHRISTMAS came out in November last year my baby was only 6 weeks old and I didn’t have the time or energy to do an enormous online launch and, as you say, it’s hard to be heard when it feels like everyone is announcing their new book. I have a feeling that it’s only a matter of time until someone launches in a new innovative way that really stands out from the crowd without being annoying and shouty (or hugely time consuming)..,I just wish I knew what it was so I could do it first!
I wish I knew too! Perhaps under-promotion is the new ‘buy my book’?
Promotion does take time, you’re right, and I’m not sure the old techniques are as effective now, with so many people doing them. Plus, sometimes I get the feeling we’re just reaching out to the same people, time and again. Reaching new readers is the key – perhaps through sites like Goodreads? I think Amazon’s new promo opportunities can be one way to reach new readers. When I did a free promo (even though it didn’t work out so well for me long-term), I did get a tonne of new subscribers to my newsletter. It will be interesting to see how things evolve!
This is very true, I think, Talli! It’s getting harder and harder with more authors, algos changing constantly, so many free books. I think it’s a matter of trial and error, and being in it for the long haul.
Super congrats on the new release. I know it will do fab!
Thank you, Sibel! You’re right – trying new methods by trial and error is also important, as is persistence!
Good point about good manners.
Thanks, PJ!
I think it’s a good idea to stagger the promo. I might do that for my next Angel book, and maybe mention it to my epublisher for my forthcoming romance ebook. The only way that I know I keep my book/brand in people’s mind is my tag line. I will keep the sentence about the book I have out under my signature for a couple of months so that people know what I have written.
Julie, I think the tagline is a great idea. It’s a subtle way of keeping your book top of mind.
This is just a brilliant post, Talli! Wonderful, my friend!
What you said right here, for me, was the heart of it:
“Remember, it’s not just about one book. It’s about you and your future career, too.”
This is exactly it!!! Each of us are working to build a sustainable readership – a community. And we want our readers to get to know us and then they’ll get to know our books too…at their own pace.
It’s all about building Ereading Communities for me! I’m focusing on creating great places to “hang with D. D. Scott” and wow is that driving my sales to great levels, but more important, it’s building fabulous communities filled with wonderful peeps I sooo enjoy spending time with each and every day!
And they, in turn, spread the news about me, my sites, and my books too! They also spread the news that I giveaway a ton of Ebooks (of my own as well as those by all my fellow fab author peeps, like you, Talli) and Ereaders too, and that’s really crankin’ up the volume of all my platforms. Nothin’ beats random acts of kindness. And it just feels so damn good!!!
Thank you, DD! And you’re right – building communities is so important, supporting other authors, too.
Great post, Talli! It really is daunting for those of us who’ve come along later because we don’t have things like a newsletter following to fall back on. I agree that making friends and finding community are the kinds of things that last and ultimately are the most satisfying both professionally and personally.
Thanks, Alicia. I agree it can be very hard in the beginning, when you’re starting out. It’s so hard finding the balance that works for both your novels and you! But beginning or end, I really feel relationships are the key.
I like the slow and steady approach. It’s what I’ve taken with my debut fantasy novel, Shadows in the Stone. Success doesn’t come over night, and I’m willing to wait, let people buy the book (as oppose to giving thousands of copies away and locking me with Kindle Select for three months), read it and post reviews. I’m in this for the long term, so if it takes a year to see high sales, I’m okay with that. By then, the second book in the series will be out and possibly the third. Each one will add readers.
I agree that being bombarded by FREE and BUY my book is a turn-off. I did a simple launch and giveaway on my blog and left it at that. People can see the book is available on the blog and at Goodreads (where I’m also running a giveaway) and if they want to buy it, they know where to find it. I’m more of a passive marketer. I want my books to speak for themselves, and if readers like what they read, they can share it with others.
Exactly, Diane. There’s a fine line between promoting and annoying people, I think. And sometimes I think writers do forget it’s not just about all about one book, but it is a long-term thing. We have to make sure people know the books are there, but in a way that entices people to read them, not pushes them away.
Food for thought, Talli. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Kiru!
Talli, a very smart & sensible post. Relentless self-promo gets very wearisome–on readers & — most likely — on the perp, too.
DD, thanks for the gorgeous DECADES presentation on RG2E. Very much appreciated!
Thanks, Ruth. It does get tiresome!
As a reader and blogger I can say that a majority of the books that I choose to pick up are because I have heard great word of mouth about them! I can agree with the slow and steady approach and think that good books speak for themselves
Jonita, I think you’re right. The best thing to make sure your book sells is to write a good one!
Couldn’t agree more, and I was up late last night thinking about the same things. Slow and steady… It’s hard for people to digest so many ‘car salesman’ tactics at once. My approach has always been “dress for the job you want” and I try to look at how other more established authors that I admire handle their approach to launching a book, and daily marketing.
And while I do have a 2nd book coming out this week…I will of course announce it, but I’m going to try an be creative about getting the word out in a more targeted manner. Thanks T!
-Dina
Congrats on your new book!
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one pondering these issues. There does seem to be a lot of fatigue about all the promo going on, and I was worried I’d just be adding to it! I think creative ways of promoting that don’t scream ‘buy me!’ are the best.
Talli very interesting as I also wonder what the next big step is to promoting with thousands upon thousands of self-pubbed authors taking the leap every year. I thought of doing a website – okay let’s get this right, asking someone to do a website (I’m hopeless) whereby authors who want to get their books known, donate their book for say one or two weeks. The funds from their book goes to a charity of their choice. If I donate my novel – I would suggest a charity in Malawi where I live. My feelings on this is, a lot of people donate to the likes of Save the Children, UNICEF etc. For their donation, they are receiving something in return – a novel(s) of their choice. I honestly think some big organisation will sponsor the page, and with advertising it on say twitter, facebook etc. a lot of money can be raised for charity. When you think of how many free downloads there are on the kindle sellect programme, I am sure authors will be prepared to give up the sales of their novels for a period of time they are comfortable with. Just my thoughts. – Micki
That sounds like a very interesting idea, Micki. Please keep us posted and let us know how it goes, if you do decide to do it.
Thanks Talli – I will look into and definitely let you know what happens.
Timely post, Talli. Congratulations on your new book!
I keep thinking: When everyone is going in one direction, to be successful you need to run in the opposite direction. What I’m finding is events, free giveaways, and please review my books really get old. You’re right, after a while, no one really pays attention.
As my husband says, “Write good books!” However, you have to admit that Tonya Knappe’s Street Team must be making a hit. Oh, for her energy! Do you think this is the next promotional wave?
Another observation: Since word of mouth is the best promotion, I suppose that’s exactly what a street team is. Hmm.
Thank you, Nancy!
I agree – I wish I knew what the next big thing is. As for street teams, hmm. I think they can be effective if they reach out to different segments apart from just authors. The issue, to me, seems to be that they mainly consist of authors who are reaching out to the same crowd. And that crowd may eventually get tired of the endless promotion. I guess it depends on their tactics.
Yeah, I think you’re right. Tonya’s team looks like a good mix of both, hey – I’m even on it! Back to writing!
Have a lovely day.
~Nancy Jill
I’m glad I’m not the only person suffering from ‘buy my book burnout.’ I’ve had the feeling for a while now that authors with author-blogs are largely only feeding off of other authors to sell their stuff. It reminds me of an Amway Pyramid Marketing scheme where the few who get in early make money, but everybody else just ends up forking it over. We -do- need to band together and speak as one voice to share expertise and be heard above the noise , but I don’t think author-blogs are going to help many authors become best-selling authors.
Amazon had over 168,000 ‘free’ books they were giving away while I ran my Kindle Prime free book giveaway this weekend. I couldn’t even FIND my own book, searching for it, running down the list page after page after page after page without typing in the exact name and author, nor was it easy to find it by micro-genre. My impression is that it’s not a sustainable long-term business model.
“I’ve had the feeling for a while now that authors with author-blogs are largely only feeding off of other authors to sell their stuff. It reminds me of an Amway Pyramid Marketing scheme where the few who get in early make money, but everybody else just ends up forking it over.”
YEEESSS! I love blogs and I’m a big fan of the lovely people I’ve met through my blog. However, lately, I’ve seen some wonderful blogs become completely overwhelmed by author promo, if not for them, for others. It’s something I struggle with, because so many people have helped me promote and I want to return the favour. I try to be careful to strike a balance, though.
The market is becoming more and more crowded… it’s difficult to know just what direction to turn in!
Amen and Right on! I did not launch Family Ties, my first book, in the traditional way. I launched it for me – it proved I was a writer and I had a published book. I’ve done a few blog spots to promote it, but not many. mostly I’m writing another book. why? I work full time. I can’t do a big launch and work and write another book. Sooooo…
makes sense to me. And I’m in total agreement with one of the earlier commenters – I’d love to figure out the next big thing for a lunch and do that. LOL
Louise, with limited time, I think most of all would do well to put writing as our first priority. I beginning to think the best way to carve out a long-term, successful career is to develop your backlist and build a base of loyal readers.
Talli- huge Congratulations on your new book! Best of success to you! I will put it on my must red list:)
Thank you, Lois!
Hi Talli–I agree with your post 100%. I’m launching a new short story this week, I’ve decided to take a similar approach. Two days free, a mention on the kindle boards and in a few FB groups, and then I’m just going to sit back and see what happens.
BTW, I’m halfway through Constructing a Couple and loving it!
I think there’s always the feeling that we need to do more more MORE! But sometimes, it can get a bit much. Good luck with your short story this week, Claire! And thank you so much for reading ‘Construct’! I’m thrilled you’re enjoying it so far.
Very interesting post, Talli. When I launched my 3rd book a month ago I just mentioned it on my fb page with links to each site that it was available. My fb page automatically put the post as a tweet on twitter but that was as much as I did. It hit the genre bestseller list the next day on both Kindle and Nook. Needless to say I was over the moon as I only have 175 likes on fb and less than 100 on twitter.
I find more and more that I rely on my 1st two books to sell the 3rd in the series. I’m hopeless at self-promo, always have been. I was lucky enough to list my 1st book for free nearly a year before KDP select reared its ugly head. As soon as that happened I noticed my sales dropped significantly on Kindle but my Nook sales soared. Now I’m concerned with Nook launching their equivalent. I think it is hurting us as authors in the long run. Why would people buy another book with such a huge influx of freebies. It will be interesting to see how it affects sales. Sorry, I’m getting off topic.
Anyhoo, I don’t envy new authors trying to get noticed in the sea of new novels out there. More and more I believe it is word of mouth that sells books as I don’t do any promo other than chat to my readers on fb or reply to reader emails and they’ve already read the books. But I am noticing my book sales are starting to snowball, so it must be word of mouth and not focused promo don’t you think?
Interesting times ahead for all of us
Congrats, Talli!
I agree with you! Love the conversations here in the comments… Thanks for the post!
Talli, you go from strength to strength in these posts. Congrats on another sharp and insightful one.
Being ‘old school’ and running a translation business for over 15 years, I found word of mouth easily the most reliable way to bring in clients who gave the highest rate of new sales. 86% of sales were from returning clients. I built my client base on long term relationships.
It seems to me that ‘write good books’ and ‘write a lot of them’ are the way to build a good readership, and thus key factors to success as a writer.
Good luck with the new book!
I agree Talli – launches seem to work well at the start, but once an author has developed relationships and a following, it seems best to nurture those links. Congratulations on your release! I’m really enjoying Serenity’s latest adventures.
Great post, Talli!
I wish I had a marketing strategy, but I don’t. I’ve given away a few copies on Amazon.com. That’s about it. My lack of strategy shows in the results, which are nothing to yell about. Hopefully, someday I’ll get my act together.
Graet post and great comments. I am one of those folks who have written a novel and is slowly making their way through the mire to the other side. Honestly I dont even pretend to know where to begin. Thats where the joy of this process is for me. I have enjoyed reading blogs and learning as I go for what to do and what not to do.
At the end of the day however I have learned that I need to always keep in mind why I started writing to begin with. It wasnt about the money or the fame. I dont care for either to be perfectly frank. I wrote to have others enjoy the stories that I have to tell. Plain and simple. If I can earn a wee bit to help out with the bills in the meantime great.
Thank you Talli for the wonderful post! And all the best with your newest addition!