Why Marketing my Book is Hard for me

Hi all,

It's been a while since I've done a post about mental health, and today I've done something that I think is worthy of a blog post.

As authors, self published or traditionally published, we have to market our books so readers can discover them. It's a lot harder than it looks, as most of it is just trial and error until you find something that works for you. Unfortunately, as a sufferer or anxiety and depression, marketing is very difficult for me to do.

Let me explain.

Today I sent four emails to various writing groups to ask them if they would be interested in reading my book.

It took me two hours to build myself up to pressing the send button on each. The amount of anxiety I felt was horrible, I felt like I was back in school again. Despite being much better than I once was as a teenager, communication is still hard for me. The feeling of 'they're just going to say no' is still very strong. I wrote those emails over and over, worrying that I'm sounding too robotic or too casual. Even now, an hour after sending those emails, I'm expecting them to berate me for even asking.

Marketing is a huge part of publishing a book, and in my eyes, the scariest. I've been judged by people so much in life and now I have to go through it all again. As much as it pains me to send those emails, I know I have to do it.

I have to give Blood and Water a fighting chance.

If I just release it and don't bother marketing it, it won't sell. I need to market so people can find it, no matter how terrifying it is.

My next step is to put up posters around my hometown and ask libraries if they would be interested in displaying a poster. While writing, editing and publishing the book was scary, this is so much worse.

My anxiety is threatening to overpower me once again, but I'm fighting back. Yes, it might take me a few hours to send an email and yes, fretting so much about a poster can seem trivial.

But in my eyes, it's terrifying.

I've seen a lot of people talk about authors hating marketing because they're introverts and hate to big themselves up. I however, want to talk about the mental toll marketing can have.

It doesn't matter how mentally strong you are, marketing is draining and absolutely terrifying. It's not just about being an introvert, it's about being genuinely scared of rejection.

As authors we face rejection at every angle, marketing is just something else to worry about. Querying was bad enough, but in the end every email I sent out I knew I would get a 'no' from. That's when I decided to self publish. But with marketing, you can't just decide not to do it, it's vital for your book.

I'm hoping that one day I will just go numb to the feeling of marketing like I did with querying, and then it won't scare me anymore. Until that day, if it ever comes, I'm going to carry on trying.

Whether it takes minutes or hours, I will continue to market my books.

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed. See you next week.

How to Support Your Favourite Authors

Hi all,

With the release date for Blood and Water now exactly a month away, I thought I'd make a post on how to support authors. Most people think that buying their books is all they can do, which isn't true!

Buy/borrow their books.

This is the one most readers know about. If you can't afford to buy an author's book, borrow it from the library instead. You're still supporting them by reading their work!

Write a review.

Authors rely on reviews because it means that more people will see their book. Some sites, such as Amazon, will promote books once they have a certain number of reviews. A lot of book promotion sites also only promote books once they have a number of reviews.

Follow their social media.

By following their social media you're showing an interest in what they're doing. They may also post about what they're working on and events they'll be attending.

Tell them how you feel about their work.

Whether it's a letter or a DM, if you love an author's work, tell them. Authors write for their readers, and most would love to hear their feedback.

Tell others about their books.

By telling other people that might buy their books, they can get more sales and reviews.

Sign up to their mailing list.

You can show that you're a fan by signing up, and in return you get to see what they're working on and when their next book will come out!

Attend events.

If the author is attending a certain event and you can as well, most won't mind if you want to say hi!

Pre-order their books.

To show an author how excited you are to read their work, pre-order their book! It will also help them climb through the ranks on Amazon.

Rate their books on Goodreads.

Books with a lot of ratings will be seen by new readers. Some people base whether they will read a book or not depending on how many other people have rated it.

If they're up for an award, vote for them.

If your favourite book is up for an award, make sure you vote and let other people know. Authors rely on reader's votes in competitions.

That's it for this week. I hope you enjoyed reading!

Pros and Cons of Facebook Pages

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about the pros and cons of Facebook pages. A Facebook page is a business page you can create on Facebook that fans can follow to see your posts. Many authors have Facebook pages for themselves, their books or both.

I currently just have a Facebook page for myself, which you can follow here:

https://m.facebook.com/jessicaturnbullauthor/?ref=bbookmarks

Pros

It's another platform to communicate with readers.

Millions of people use Facebook daily, which is a big potential audience for you. By tapping into this audience, people may discover you that wouldn't have done so otherwise.

You can create Facebook ads.

Having a business page means that you can create ads on Facebook to advertise your page, website or books. You can pick what audience you want to target and what budget you're comfortable with. This means more people can discover your book.

You don't have to post as often.

On many social media pages you have to make sure you post daily to keep your audience interested. However, on Facebook most only make one or two posts a week and will manage to keep interest. I only post on mine once a week, twice if I have any announcements. This makes managing the page much easier.

Image and video posts do better.

I have found that posts with an image attached get more engagement than just a regular status update. This can allow you to be creative with your posts and take pictures of your writing routine, excerpts or stationery.

You can choose to make a separate page for book series.

This is good if people are a huge fan of one particular series of yours. You can then manage this page and connect with fans before an unofficial fan page pops up.

Cons

It's harder for people to find you.

Unlike Twitter where you can connect with others via hashtags and games, Facebook isn't really like that. Many people won't stumble on your page without advertising.

Too many pages.

If you have, or are planning to write, several different series then the amount of Facebook pages can get out of control. At first I created an Elemental Dragons page, but I deleted that when I realised that I would have to do that for every book series and run them all. I've currently got three other series planned as well, which means that plus my author Facebook page I would have to run five pages. I decided that it wasn't worth the hassle and have decided to stick to just my author page, which saves a lot of time.

Ads might not do as well as you'd hoped.

You have to do a lot of testing to find the perfect ad that draws people in, which can cost a lot of money you don't have. When you post that perfect ad, you may be disappointed that it didn't do as well as you'd hoped.

People are more likely to miss your posts.

With the way Facebook is set up, you can easily miss posts from pages you are following. Although people can pin your page so that your posts are the first they see, most people won't do that as they want to see other posts first.

Unofficial fan pages.

Although a fan creating a page for your book can be flattering, you have no say in what they post. If they post things that you don't agree with, people might think that it's your view and they won't be interested in your books anymore.

I hope you enjoyed this week's post, see you next week!

Why Authors Need to Promote Their Books

Hi all,

As promised, this week I'm going to talk about book promotion. Specifically why authors, both traditionally and self published, need to promote their work.

For those who don't know, book promotion is essentially advertising your book. There are many ways to promote your book:

- Social media.

- Facebook ads.

- Amazon ads.

- Posters.

- Social media banners.

- Book trailers.

- Interviews.

- Newsletter.

- Mailing list.

- Author website.

- Articles.

- Book Awards.

- Q&A.

- Promotion sites.

- Giveaways.

- Book signing.

- Book tour.

- Contests.

- Discounts.

- Reviews.

- Book bloggers.

Some of these are free, but most of them cost money. What's important is that you find what works for you, instead of dumping hundreds on a marketing strategy that doesn't deliver.

Now, onto why authors need to promote their books.

While traditionally published authors do get some help from their publisher, they still need to promote themselves. The publisher won't do everything, it's up to you to make posts on your social media and update your website.

Readers will find your work.

Without promoting your book, how will readers know it exists? You can't expect them to magically find you. With thousands of books being published every year, you need to make sure that they find yours.

Reviews.

The more reviews you get, the easier it is for readers to find you. A good mix of reviews will interest readers in buying your book, as people have rated it before. Plus, many promotion sites won't promote you unless you have a certain number of reviews.

You can't just rely on word of mouth.

This only goes so far, plus you need to find people to talk about your book first. Once you start getting more readers, you can rely on word of mouth a bit more.

You'll build an audience.

If you build an audience that like your work, they are more likely to buy your next book. You can't just rely on your family and friends for book sales.

You can be creative.

It's your brand, so you can market how you like. You can pick how you want to promote your book and target your audience.

You don't need to spend loads of money.

Although marketing can be expensive when you create ads, they aren't the only way to market your book. Posting on your website and social media doesn't cost a penny, and using promotional sites doesn't have to cost much. If your budget is low, choose wisely what marketing options to choose.

Self publishers need to.

If you don't promote your work when you're self published, no-one will find it. You'll miss out on so many potential readers by not marketing your book.

You don't have to do it alone.

This is especially true with social media, as your fans can post about your book and share your posts. Every like, comment, post and share helps.

Next week I'm going to talk about the pros and cons of authors having a Facebook page. Hope you enjoyed, see you next week!

Twitter for Writers

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about Twitter. It's a popular social media platform which makes it easy to interact with your fans and follow other authors. It's also great for marketing your book or author platform. However, the way you act can either make you or break you on Twitter.

Don't spam.

This is true for any social media. No one wants their feed filled with the same post by the same person over and over. Not only is it boring, but it will make followers more likely to unfollow you to clear their feed.

Don't ignore your followers.

Interact! Like, retweet and comment on posts. Not only will you make some friends, but your followers will be happy to talk to you.

Don't constantly post about your books.

Mix it up. Pin your latest book at the top of your profile so it's the first tweet people see when they click on your name. Only post about your book for announcements, promotions and launch dates. There's no need to post about your book several times a day, the thousandth tweet won't make people more likely to buy your book.

Be courteous.

The writing community is amazing on Twitter, I've met so many lovely people on there. Don't be horrible, it will get you blocked and turn people away from your books.

Don't pretend to be better than everyone else.

We're all in the same boat as writers, you don't need to put people down in order to elevate yourself. You'll lose followers.

Don't blast people on Twitter.

Get rejected by an agent? That's a shame, but you don't need to expose them on social media. Agents talk, they will not want to take on someone like that. Someone left you a negative review? Again, take it as a learning curve. Don't moan about them for everyone to see.

Don't follow people, wait for them to follow back, then unfollow.

It's rude, some will remember you if you follow them again. If you don't want to interact with them, don't follow.

Don't brag.

Please don't brag about how well your book is doing constantly and how much money you're raking in. It's not attractive. Writers who struggle don't want that thrust in their face every time they go on your profile. To be proud of your achievement is fine, but if every tweet is you talking about how great your book is people will unfollow.

Don't use it as a platform to hate others.

Once a tweet is out there, you can't take it back. Be careful what you post. 

Don't blindly follow everyone who follows you back.

I know it can be hard to check everyone when several people follow you at one time but it is worth it. If you follow blindly you don't know who you're following and what they promote. Always check to make sure you're comfortable following them.

Don't ignore people because they write in a different genre.

No genre is better than the other. I've seen a lot of romance and erotica authors feel down because some people don't interact with them for writing in those genres. We're all writers, we shouldn't exclude anyone.

Don't bash publication routes.

Traditional Publishing? Great! Just don't bash indie authors for their choice or claiming that your book is better. This is the same for indie authors, don't bash the traditional ones. Just because they got a contract doesn't mean that you are superior to them. Whatever route you go down is your choice so you shouldn't harass others for theirs.

Don't compare yourself to others.

People will have more followers than you. They will have more book sales, better reviews. Don't put yourself down because of it. If people like your work, they will follow you.

Don't instantly message people book links as soon as they follow you.

More likely than not, this will result in an unfollow. It's annoying and it doesn't work. You need to build up a fan base, not thrust your book into everyone's face.

Be kind.

There are so many people on Twitter and you don't know all their struggles. Be kind, always. You never know what friends you will make.

That's it for this week! The next post will be my goals for 2019, which includes news about the Elemental Dragons series. See you next week!

The Pros and Cons of Mailing Lists

Hi all!

As promised, this post will be about the pros and cons of setting up an email list.

Firstly, what is an email list?

An email list is a list of people who have subscribed to you. They can receive emails, promotions, announcements etc. You can send an email daily (though I wouldn't recommend it), weekly or monthly to keep your subscribers interested in what's going on.

Possible subjects to add in your emails to subscribers:

- Book announcements.

- Snippets of any current projects.

- Links to latest blog posts.

- Links to social media.

- Progress updates.

- Cover reveal.

- Short stories.

- Writing tips.

- Pictures of anything related to your writing.

So, let's get started on the pros.

You can reach your target audience easily

Once you have their email, they will get updates about latest books and promotions. Since these people signed up to your list, they are more likely to buy your books in the future. Plus, you don't have to track them down, they come to you!

It's an easy marketing strategy

It doesn't take much effort to draft an email and send it out compared to buying ads or getting people to review your book. You choose how often you email, and what is in it.

It's a great way to communicate with subscribers

Some subscribers will email you back and ask questions which you can talk about in your next email, you can easily build a rapport with your subscribers this way and build a connection.

You can easily recruit a launch team

A launch team is a group of people who get an early copy of your book to review before it comes out. They can also help you promote it on social media and blogs. The best part of having an email list is that some of your subscribers would be happy to receive an early copy of your book to review.

You can track how many people open your emails

This is great because you can then see which emails are getting higher open rates and tweak your future emails accordingly.

Now, the cons.

You'll need a P.O. Box if you don't want your personal address on your emails

Due to anti-spam laws in many countries you are required to put your physical address on every email you send. I'm not comfortable with people knowing where I live, so I'm setting up a P.O. Box. Depending on where you live, this can add an extra expense to your budget.

Your emails might land in spam boxes

This can lead to some of your subscribers not seeing your emails, which can be a loss of revenue if you're announcing an upcoming book.

It can get expensive

Depending on the amount of subscribers you have and how many emails you send a month, you might need to sign up for more expensive plans with your list provider. This can get expensive if you don't have the budget for it.

You'll need a reader magnet

To get people to sign up for your list you have to give them something in return. If you don't, a lot of people won't be interested in subscribing so you can potentially lose a lot of revenue. Possible ideas for a reader magnet:

- Free book.

- Free short story.

- Writing resources.

If you email to little or too much, you'll lose subscribers

You need to make sure you hit the sweet spot when it comes to emailing. Email too little and people will get bored and unsubscribe. Email too much and people will get sick of it and unsubscribe. I'd recommend one email a week with extra ones only for book launches.

You may have noticed that I have yet to set up an email list for my website, but I'm working on it. Once I've got my P.O. Box sorted I'll add a pop-up which you can sign up to. I'll send one email weekly with snippets of my current WIP, a link to any new blog posts and a segment which I'm calling 'Mishie Monday' where I'll add a picture of Mishka in every email. 

You may be thinking about what you'll get in return. Don't worry, because once you sign up to my list I'll send you THREE short stories contained in the Elemental Dragons universe! Keep an eye out for that sign up from!

Next week I'm going to talk about rejection. I'm sure many of us have submitted to agents and publishers and received a rejection in return. Although it may seem like the end of the world, it can actually help you make your manuscript better.

See you next week!