Book marketing is a fun subject for me. I love hearing what other authors have tried, things that have been successful, and tactics that have failed horribly. Book marketing is definitely not a science–more like an art influence by science.
As I begin my journey to release my 2nd novel, I thought many writers might like to know how I do things, learn with me. And many readers may find the process fascinating. I’ll be sharing details about marketing plans, tips and tricks I learn, and some differences between the launch of my 1st self-published novel and this 2nd traditionally published novel.
MY BACKGROUND
If you’re new to my blog, then you may not know about my self-publishing journey. About 18 months ago, I began to publish a whole novel broken down into 4 parts. I published the first 20,000 words in October 2015, released the parts sporadically, then combined them and released Bellanok as a whole book in October 2016.
Why did I do this? My agent and I decided that self-publishing a stand-alone novel would help to build a following, which might make me more appealing to traditional houses, which are always looking to see what kind of platform an author has, especially a debut author. (So, writers, start building your platform today!)
Ultimately, we decided to break the novel down into parts as a way to offer something new and gain more followers by continually putting my name in front of them. Did you know readers may have to see a novel from a new-to-them author up to 7 times before they’ll purchase their book? Yep.
A NEW NOVEL
In October 2016, along with celebrating the release of Bellanok, I also signed a contract with Elk Lake Publishing for a YA fantasy trilogy! I was so excited–you have no idea. Well if you’re a writer, you might. The trilogy is an allegorical tale based on the premise question, “What if the armor of God were real?” I won’t tell you much more than that, for now. Muahahaha …
Currently, I’m working on substantive edits. But it’s also time to get my book marketing plan started. Ideally, an author should have 3-6 months to plan and execute their marketing plan. Aletheia, the first novel in the trilogy, is due out in September, which gives me about 4 months.
INTERESTING FRUSTRATION
I ran into my first major issue with the book marketing plan a couple of weeks ago. Quite by accident, I discovered 2 other novels by the name of Aletheia releasing this year. A supernatural suspense released in March, and a futuristic sci-fi or dystopian releases in July.
What? Are you kidding me? How dare they steal my title? Just kidding. I thought Aletheia, which is Greek for truth, would be an unusual enough title to grab a fantasy-lovers attention but not be copied. Apparently, I was wrong. Now, my publisher, agent, and I are in talks about what the new name will be. Stay tuned …
THE BATTLE PLAN
Every good marketing strategy needs a good plan. Every good plan is based on knowledge and experience. I’ll use what I learned from the Bellanok launch and the studying I’m doing to put together a snazzy plan for success. Only time will tell how smart of a plan it ends up being.
So, with each post I’ll share the goals I have for the next month.
Study Book Marketing
This is a continual process. For me, both as an author and as a social media manager, keeping up on the latest research, trends, tactics, and experiences from other authors and marketers will help me make the best choices for my book launch and for my clients.
I have about 1,000 emails in the Promotional tab of my email Inbox related to some aspect of marketing. I’ll be slowly whittling those down as I learn and apply. Also, several marketing-related books found their way onto my Kindle. Yes, I can get obsessive and one-track minded when I’m learning something new. (I did the same thing when I decided to homeschool my kids.)
Determine Marketing Budget
One of the most important parts of developing a marketing plan is to determine the budget. Budget will help me divide out which strategies I can use and which are out of my price range. I can’t very well place an ad in a magazine when the cost is $1500 and my budget is only $500.
There are a lot of “free” options for book marketing, which I fully intend to take advantage of. But there are also some great opportunities out there that may cost a bit. For instance, I want to have a graphics person develop social media images for the cover reveal and launch. I’ll be investing in book marks and maybe some cool swag.
Since I am not self-publishing this time, I don’t have the up front costs of editing and book cover design. Instead, I can invest more in my marketing strategy.
Layout Marketing Schedule
Since it’s only 4 months until the release date, I need to write out when tasks need to be accomplished–and what those tasks are! I am using Google Calendar to layout the basic schedule, and ToDoist to keep track of my to-do lists.
I need to plan out street team tasks, ARC reader deadlines, cover reveal timing, blog tour schedule … and a bunch of other stuff. Not to mention actually getting the editing done for the novel. Yikes!
Put Together my Street Team
I’ll talk more about this in another post, but, for those who may not know, a street team is a group of 15-50 people (I’ve seen different numbers), who are passionate about an author and their novels, who work together to get word out about the author’s latest project. While I don’t plan to DO anything with the group until the cover reveal, I do want to get the group in place.
Research Blogs
One of the funnest parts of the Bellanok launch was the blog tour, which was about 3 weeks long. However, one thing I quickly realized is most of the blogs involved had very similar reader circles. This meant I really wasn’t reaching new readers.
This time, I plan to research different blogs that may want to host me or do a review during the tour. In addition to author blogs, I hope to find blogs based on different aspects of my novel, like
- homeschool blogs because my novel is a YA with strong Christian themes
- book review blogs with a stronger following
- Christian blogs
- Other blogs that center around themes and topics addressed in the novel, like embracing your calling, overcoming self-doubt, challenging yourself …
And so it begins. Book marketing, done well, is an intricate plan that is as individual and unique as the author and the book itself. The more knowledge an author has, the better they can plan. I’m glad you’re on this journey with me, and I’d love to have your input along the way.
Are you a writer? Or a reader? Both?
Do you have questions you hope I’ll address as this series comes out?
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Ah, we are entering my favorite time of year again. October ushers in the beginning of fall and the preparation for the holidays season. Oh, how excited I am! Hello, October!
Finish 2nd edits for Armor of Aletheia. As soon as I get the edits back from my editor, I need to get the novel cleaned up and ready to go back to her. At this point, I’ll also be sending the novel out to potential endorsers to see if we can lock in some people for the launch. I’ll be working for at least 2 hours a night once I get them back, plus 4-6 hours on Saturdays.
May was pretty crazy for me. Fun, amazing–but crazy. I accomplished a lot, but none of what I set out to do. Odd how that happens sometimes. But that’s the thing about a new month–a chance to try again!
I can’t believe it’s already May! The first 4 months of 2017 have flown by in such a blur, I can hardly remember anything that’s happened. Of course, a lot of that has to do with my medical issues. Ack! But enough about that.
