Hi Everybody,
I hope you’re all keeping well.
I knew that when I published my book, Adventure Dayze, last month that the marketing side of things would keep me busy. Just how busy, though, has been a complete surprise to me!
Taking a different route to market
As I was writing, the advice I’d researched about marketing a self-published book told me that I should do the majority of it before publication, including reaching out to established book reviewers. However, the gut feeling I got when I told others that I was writing a book was that it’d be believed when seen. So, perhaps somewhat counterintuitively, I decided to wait and do the marketing after the release date.
Family And Friends First
Once the book was up on Amazon, I put the word out to my nearest and dearest via social media. Whether people offered kind words, bought the book and maybe left a review, I was humbled by the response. The reviews I’ve received have provided me with an important step in the next stage of my marketing strategy.
The Importance Of A Marketing Mentor
I discovered Hollie Anne Marsh via the freelance website Fiverr. Hollie has a background in marketing and she is an award-winning author with her Sweetbriars book series, which is set in the world of horse-riding. Hollie has supported me to get the book published, and has sorted the advertising campaign on Amazon. This week the Facebook advertising campaign will start.
Working with Hollie has taught me a lot that’ll benefit me in the future: how to navigate Amazon Author Central and my Facebook Author page; how to write a press release statement; how to actually get a book live on Kindle; the ins and outs of marketing.
From the start, Hollie showed me the importance of having reviews for when the time comes to reach out to organisations.
Hollie has helped me brainstorm a list of hiking magazines, podcasts and websites to contact. Libraries, local newspapers, charities and bookshops are on the list too.
The Next Step
After much brainstorming and research, then, I now have a list of contacts that I’m working my way through. It’s an enjoyable process magnified by the hope that something will come of it. It takes a lot of perseverance – there’s a lot of phone calls to find a named person to contact in an organisation followed by a lot of emails – but hopefully the fruits of the labour will show soon.
Lessons Learned
Although I’ve taken a different approach as to the order of publishing and marketing the book, I can see the importance of following the much suggested route to market for my next book.
However, as a self-published author I can see that marketing is an ongoing thing and can take place any time after a book is published. So, all I’m doing now is giving me experience for the future.
Having an experienced hand to guide me has been so important. It’s made the whole experience more navigable and rewarding.
Thanks for reading this. I hope to come back soon with some positive news about who I’ve reached out to.
If you have any comments or advice, it’d be great to hear from you.
Peace and love for now 😃.