By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
My firstborn will be leaving home for college in a couple of weeks and it’s put me in a reflective mood. This is unusual for me, since I’m ordinarily not even reflective at the end of the year.
My first traditionally-published book was Pretty is as Pretty Dies in 2009. At the time, Kindle wasn’t even really making a ripple in my consciousness. I had an author friend of mine at a signing to tell me that he had a Sony ereader and it seemed sort of Star Trekkish to me. I couldn’t imagine wanting to read on one or what the potential benefits might be.
I’d thought the same thing about personal computers when I became introduced to them in the 80s. The contraption looked like an unwieldy typewriter to me and I couldn’t conceive how it could be useful to me. Then the internet came into play and suddenly computers were life-changing for me in every way…ingraining themselves into my routines and habits.
Before my first book came out, I had an actual teleconference with the publisher, my editor, a book designer, and in-house marketing people on cover design and a marketing strategy! This was 2009 for Midnight Ink. This never happened again for me, with any other imprint or publisher.
My feelings toward marketing went through several different iterations. There was the moment when I realized the burden of promo was actually on me, not the publisher. I obediently jumped into action…sort of. I did the suggested blogging and social media, even signing up for a course on how to get started. But I retained a sense of shyness around readers and decided to stay within my comfort zone of sharing resources and interacting with writers. I remember in early 2010 I was at a conference and a fellow author said, “Penguin has got to love you. You’ve got so many followers on Twitter!” And I said, “I don’t think they have the slightest idea that I’m even on social media.”
By the time my imprint, Obsidian/NAL had a presence on Twitter, I was about 20,000 followers ahead of them. And then they were very aware of social media and its use in promo. I was asked to retweet them or plug my book. This made me uncomfortable because it wasn’t my M.O. on Twitter. I don’t promote there. I reluctantly sent a couple out, but the whole time I was thinking…why are they even on Twitter? For the most part, that’s not where their readers are found. They’re on Pinterest and Facebook. Even I knew that, and I’m not big on either platform. The reason I’m on Twitter is because that’s where writers and industry people are.
So there started to be, for me, a little tension there. Not ever between my editor and me—she was always fantastic. But between me and the publisher. I felt a lack of support in the marketing arena and then a sort of resentment that I’d had to learn every darned thing myself…the blogging, copywriting, social media, finding authors to blurb me. Even searching up reviewers was sometimes on my plate when I’d end up with a box of ARCs. I hooked up with email loops to figure out what I was doing. I signed up for classes, studied blogs, read articles, and lurked a lot.
In response to what I was reading on everything from traditionally-published author email loops and boards to Yahoo Groups to blogs, I did market the new release in 2010. With some reluctance since I had just accepted an additional series with another imprint…bringing my total to three. I went on a book tour with a group of trad-published authors. I participated in blog tours and giveaways. I emailed people I knew about the release. I went to reader conferences like Malice Domestic (photo above). I felt my efforts did little and were personally draining.
Then I had an epiphany in early 2011. I had way too many releases to treat each one as a major event. This realization also served to make me feel alienated from other trad-published writers. Some of them also had multiple releases in a year, but they worked the system really well…knocking themselves out with countdowns, giveaways, blog tours, and networking with other authors for coverage/promo/Facebook mentions.
I couldn’t do it. But not doing it made me feel guilty because the other writers were doing it. I came across an article in a now-defunct blog that stated: author publicity makes better sense than book publicity. I even blogged about it at the time. I decided that I should simply be working on making myself visible and accessible to readers. Continue doing what I enjoyed, build my profile online, and stop doing things I didn’t enjoy.
That worked really well for me, too. But this year, four years later, I’ve decided I could stand to be more thoughtful in my outreach to readers. Because, to be perfectly honest, readers had not factored into my strategy at all. And, with 18 books out, it was about time to start targeting them a little more. This year I’ve tweaked my book description and keywords, built up my email list, sent newsletters and set up autoresponders, created Facebook ads, and explored translation. But I’ve still made the time to write several books. It’s helped that I’ve set myself timers when learning and implementing marketing strategies.
I’m sure I’ll adapt and change and hopefully grow more as time goes on. But right now I like the balance I’ve created.
Have you changed your opinion of marketing?
An author's views on marketing can change over time: Click To Tweet
I am surprised to discover that I’ve been doing this longer than you. Huh. Though I was writing nonfiction in 2008; didn’t start fiction until 2011.
Publishing is in a greater state of flux than it has ever been, and that includes the years after Gutenberg converted a wine press to a printing press. We’d all better be adapting regularly if not constantly.
Writing is for the writer. Marketing is for the reader.
A lot of what worked a few years ago doesn’t work as well now, either.
I’ve never settled on one way to present myself. With the IWSG, I’m in contact with a lot of writers, but I could be more actively looking for them. I blog about science fiction stuff on my blog, but that’s not the only focus. I try to be supportive of others and sell myself, but not sure I’m doing that well enough either.
Alex–You surprise me, because I think you *have* settled on a way to present yourself…but you’re multi-dimensional. So you’re presenting a more complex picture of yourself, that’s all. *All* your interests tie-in and they’re all on display. I think you’ve done really well.
Besides, you’ve got to be the most supportive writer out there!
Hi Elizabeth and Alex – I couldn’t agree more … we know Alex from all the support he gives us, as well as all the acknowledgements he gets about how incredibly helpful and self-effacing he is.
You too Elizabeth – you’ve always been so generous with your time and knowledge based ideas … so we can all move forward.
From you both – I’m certain many of us have learnt loads … the next thing is to apply it … and I’d rather have good relationships with plenty of bloggers, authors etc … but we all need purchases from many others …
Thanks – great post and yes we need to change and think positively and differently all the time – then we’re at the forefront of people’s minds as being innovative … cheers Hilary
Hilary–He’s the most supportive blogger out there! It amazes me that he wishes he could do more. And thanks for the kind words! You’re a great friend to writers, yourself.
Joel–It sounds better and makes me sound better to say that it all started in 2009 and it was this lovely linear process. But the sad truth is that *technically* I spent 2002–2003 writing two books that would later be published, then from about 2004-2007 querying/getting rejected. In 2008 got accepted, book was a year in production with a 2009 release. You know how slow stuff goes in trad pub!
And I misspent the 90s writing poor fiction and trying to connect with writers online. Who, really, *weren’t* for the most part online. Especially mystery writers, who have only *recently* gotten online…. :)
Adapt or perish, absolutely.
Elizabeth, I think you’ve done a marvelous job adapting to the changing times! Your current re-trench sounds good, too.
I came to the same discovery (though not because I have so many books out) that book launches do not need to be the big, splashy events that many people in the industry conceive of. It’s very time-consuming and I’m not convinced it’s worthwhile in the long run. I make an announcement and guest post in a few places, but would rather put my time into starting the next book. ;)
Kathy–That’s *so right*. It’s time wasted, for the most part. I think it became this big thing because of the way bookstore sales were set up. And because that’s the way publishers worked. Then, after the first month, it was as if the books ceased to exist anymore (for the publisher, anyway).
Right now at this point (things change quickly), I believe the most effective release promo is: 1 mention on Facebook (preferably thanking a blogger for a good review), a newsletter update to our subscribers, and possibly a Goodreads giveaway. This can all be done in 1 day’s time.
Wow, Elizabeth! So hard to believe you have a college-age child now!! One of the things about the publishing field is the way it has changed – dramatically – over the past five years. It’s hard to get your mind around it all, to be honest. But I do think it benefits writers to have a sense of what’s happening out there. And then the next step is to think about where our own work will fit in. Only then can we create a plan to move forward. But at least in my opinion, that takes reflection. Thanks for sharing yours.
Margot–I like to think I’m too young to have a college aged kid, but considering I was 26 when he was born… ;)
And you’re so right. The most important thing is to stay updated to industry news and changes as we’re writing. That way we can make the most informed decisions.
It’s exhausting when you’re trying to promo a lot of releases close together. I did that back in 2009 and it about burned me out. I do miss doing so many live events, but they just aren’t viable anymore.
Diane–I think a nice mix is good. I’ve done a *few* live events, but usually only very local ones. I’ve enjoyed doing podcast interviews and Skype interviews and feel like that helps put me out there more without such the time and financial investment that travel creates.
I did skype interviews with classes of 6th graders for the first time this year. Before that, I would talk with them in person. It definitely saved time, and I could still wear my yoga pants because they were off-camera, LOL. ;)
Kathy–Yoga pants are the best part!
Very interesting to read an honest account of a writer/internet/marketing journey–it’s hard to find those, because most people who write about it are trying to sell their “sure-fire successful method” for increasing sales. Thank you.
I started with nonfiction–a cookbook, actually–that piggybacked onto my fairly successful lifestyle blog. This was 2010. I was acquainted with similar bloggers, and one in particular was quite imaginative with marketing. I accepted his opportunity to do a group launch with him and several other bloggers with books and it went really well, both in numbers of sales and in profit. Did it again with the second and third books, but each marketing effort after that brought fewer sales–the market was saturated by that point. That’s when I realized that I had also said pretty much all I had to say in that line of nonfiction, and that fiction–if done well enough–was more likely to be “evergreen,” works that would stand the test of time long enough to get a new crop of readers on an ongoing basis. Especially a series. Gimmicky marketing wouldn’t be necessary once I had enough books out. It’s also what I wanted to be writing in the first place.
That’s what I’m working on now–getting enough books out. From what I can see, it takes a minimum of three books to garner a reasonable fan base, and to offer a “set.” Five books is even better. This is seeing it from a reader’s perspective. The more you know what appeals to your readers, the easier it is to market, to find them and to know how to intrigue them. It doesn’t feel like pandering to the lowest common denominator, but more like communicating with a club of insiders–i.e., your people, the kind of readers who “get” what you’re doing.
I haven’t done a lot of marketing yet, because I want to be able to have at least three books in the series before investing a lot of time in it. But I’m looking forward to it–which is a huge change in attitude for me–because I think I know how I can reach out to readers without it feeling either abrasive or slimy.
Meg–Thanks!
I love that you went from nonfiction to fiction and just jumped right in. I think you’re right about nonfiction being tricky….you have to update it to keep it current. In that way, fiction (written timelessly) can be easier.
I’m also suspicious about gimmicky marketing and “tricks” to get more visibility. I don’t mind doing tweaking, but gaming the system is something that likely only works for a short period of time (i.e…until Amazon catches onto it!)
I think you’re right about five books being a nice platform to work from. And mystery readers…wow. I love them, but they really like to see 4-5 books before they’ll try out a new-to-them series. Many seem to prefer reading binges and don’t want to wait for the next book. That’s one reason I’ve focused on series books that are written like standalones with little character arc. But I’ve still heard from readers in the past that they wanted to wait to buy when there were more books out.
My oldest should be graduating from college this year. I was 21 when she was born, but this does not make me feel younger ;) And I had four or five manuscripts itching to see daylight between 2008 and 2013, so your timeline makes me feel a little better :)
Thank you very much for your honest breakdown of your timeline. (Anyone else super tired of seeing people who have been doing this for not even as long presenting themselves as an expert?) But FYI, your thoughtfulness means that I’m likely to listen to your suggestions.
As far as change, I’ve recently made my first book perma-free. Not something I wanted to do last year, but I have enough out that I don’t feel like I’m shooting myself in the foot. And funny you should bring up Pinterest; my big wishlist item is to have an ad there, but that still needs some research.
Deborah–There’s something about having children in college that is aging… :)
It’s funny how our attitudes toward things can change over time. Or maybe it’s just hard for me to maintain that sense of resignation that I had for a while, ha.
I’m glad you’re giving perma-free a go. For me, it seemed to take a month or two for it to work the way I wanted. Then my reviews and sales for the other books started picking up.
I am totally willing to bust a move promoting the permafree for two months!
And whoever said yoga pants- yes!
Your first born is going to college? Mine too. (Well, first natural-born; my adopted daughter took a gap year or twenty. :) Tough, isn’t it? I am/am not looking forward to the quiet. Sigh. Mine is heading to USC in three weeks, downtown LA has so many dangers…
I’m glad you decided to address other authors. I’ve learned a ton of things from you. You’re a blessing to the community!
Endless Thanks,
Seeley
Seeley–I think the worst for me will be that my daughter will be at loose ends with my son gone. :( They get along well together. Yes, it’s going to be odd having it be quiet.
You’re too kind! Thanks to you for all your support.
Hi Elizabeth! I hate to even talk about marketing, and yet I popped right over here when I saw the topic of your post today. I’ve gradually come to the conclusion that building accessibility to readers with my blog, Facebook, and Goodreads is the way I want to go. I’m also exploring Library Thing.
I’m on Twitter just because I like the contacts I make there, especially when I’m trolling for new guests for my blog.
Patricia–It’s my favorite strategy so far! They can easily find me/email me. I get email notifications when they try to contact me on Facebook, etc. And then I can get in touch with them through the newsletter, which is a nice, subtle sales technique (my newsletters also have recipes, etc. in them).
I like Twitter, too. I think it’s like a rabbit hole that I could totally lose myself in, if I didn’t watch it.
What an excellent post, Elizabeth! I have geared up for each book launch about 2 mos ahead of time, getting it out to early readers, building buzz, etc. But recently I have realized I do need to streamline the process more and focus less on reviews and more on production. THEN, when the series is complete, market the tar out of it. LOL.
Heather–I think you’re on the right track! Focusing on pre-release promo really didn’t agree with me…but I like focusing on promoting a series.
You’re absolutely right about marketing changing for authors on a consistent basis. It really has to do with the technical infrastructure works in the back-end, and how the sites have had to change and optimize to keep up. But I won’t go there. :)
I will offer some advice, if you don’t mind. I know you didn’t ask.
1. Own your content. Use your website as your content hub.
2. Use your social media channels as the spokes to drive your audience to your content.
3. Content is not just written: it includes images, videos, infographics, podcasts, slide decks, and any other way you can repurpose your content.
4. For authors, just as stated in the article, use Twitter as your B2B channel.
5. Pinterest: Pinterest is indexed and “evergreen”. Use it creatively. Find a business that is set up in a way that you like, and mimic them. Create a board cover theme and use it for your boards to create a professional look. And create boards that extend your genre for fun. Write sci-fi? Have a geek humor board, or a sci-fi trivia board. Or post YT videos of sci-fi snippets. Create group boards.
6. Facebook: Take advantage of carousel advertising to advertise multiple books. And use your subscriber list for retargeting and creating like audiences. Only use demographic “pick and choose” as a last resort.
7. Because Facebook is all about fun, this is your best bet as an author for your social media channel, despite the stats you read of late, because reading is close to the top hobby. Promote posts–it’s cheaper than ads, and you can test them out before spending beaucoup money.
8. Take advantage of Facebook dark post ads.
9. Optimize your ads for mobile–not desktop. 80% or more of traffic on FB is now on mobile–not desktop or tablet. Tablet is not counted in mobile stats.
10. Please don’t use autoresponders anywhere. Not on Twitter–nowhere. They are a big no-no now. Either don’t respond, or take the time to create a personal response. I know it’s time consuming, but people are hugely turned off by autoresponders. And no matter how creative you get; even if you have rotation with parameters, people know. I manage several clients, and I still respond to every follower, retweet and list add personally. Sometimes I even create personal chirbit audio thank yous and embed them in a tweet.
I could give you more if you’re interested, but I’m certain I’ve bored you to tears! Bottom line is this.
Michelle–Wonderful tips! I’ll admit I haven’t explored content creation in visual/image format, although I’ve heard great success stories that way.
The FB ads I’ve run have been mobile…but I’ve also done some desktop since my readers are mainly over 60. Many of them are now getting smart phones, though, I’ve noticed.
I should have elaborated on my autoresponder use…they’re for email newsletter subscriptions, not for social media.
Nice tips for Pinterest. I’m there…but not active.
Thanks for tuning in, Michelle. Nice tips.
Good point on the desktop ads for your older demographic. And thanks for the clarification on the autoresponder. I’m still glad I made the point.
I can’t believe how many of the people in my industry (I support authors and publishers) still use them–even though we advise our clients not to. We can’t even eat our own dog food!
Thanks for the response!
Michelle–It’s a very important point to make…I have a good-sized Twitter presence and auto-DMs drive me to distraction. :) Hope you have a great weekend!
And…. I left you with a cliffhanger. I guess you’ll have to buy the book! No, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to end it that way.
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