Marketing Don’ts

It seems everybody wants to tell writers what to do to market and promote their books. I think it might be even more important to know what NOT to do. So I thought I’d share my idea of the worst things you could do.

First, you should avoid the two action extremes. At one end of the spectrum, you can’t just sit and wait to see what happens. Don’t lose the crucial first few release days waiting to see what kind of sales you’ll get without marketing.

On the other hand, you shouldn’t feel like you have to do everything either. There are so many social media sites, and some people do blog every day. But you can’t do all that AND read every writing blog AND attend every book event within driving distance. Is Goodreads a good thing? Yes. So is Library Thing. Pick one. Same with the other similar sites. Choose a couple you can really establish a solid presence on. You’ll find that pays off a lot better than trying to be on all of them a little bit or once in a while.

You shouldn’t think your book is all the writing you need to do. You should be producing lots of content for those on-line places where you want to be seen. Blog regularly, and if Facebook or Twitter are part of your plan post frequently. Consider YouTube as social media too and consider posting videos. Keep those posts appearing on Pinterest. Creating lots of content can become time consuming, but I’ve read several articles on the internet sharing easy ways to come up with engaging, and helpful, content. Google some up.

Speaking of big mistakes, don’t ever think your book is so timely, so hot, and so topical that you don’t need to market it. The rules apply to everyone! Hillary Clinton, Rush Limbaugh and Oprah Winfrey all make sure their books get lots of good marketing. Empire is the hottest thing on TV right now, but Taraji Henson is not too big to engage with people on Twitter. Her character on the show, Cookie, is a hustler, and to promote the show Henson is too!

OK, what do YOU think are the worst mistakes writers make in marketing? Share them with the class, and I’ll try to present them here next week.

What About Reviews?

My recent blogs about author platforms have started some good conversation, and raised a couple questions. In particular, one of my readers asked about other options. Traci McDonald specifically said, “If you can suggest a good way to get reviews and guest posts on blogs, let me know.” Well I do have a few ideas and since Traci has a new novel coming out this spring I thought I would share them.

Reviews come in different forms. Mainstream reviews – the ones you get from Publisher’s Weekly, The Washington Post or the Library Journal - are the most sought-after and hardest to get. Major newspapers and magazines receive hundreds of Advance Reader Copies every week. To have a chance at all of getting reviewed in these venues, have the sent by your publisher. The ARC should be labeled that way or with the words “unedited galley.” The reviewer should receive it at least 120 days before the release date, and it should be accompanied by your marketing plan.

These reviewers are not trying to do anyone a favor. They enhance their publications by posting helpful advice for readers. Why the time frame? They want their reviews to appear just before the book hits bookstores. Why favor big publishers? They want to review books their readers will see in bookstores. And with hundreds to choose from each book has only a slim chance of success. That is NOT to say you should give up. We at Intrigue Publishing send ARCs of each new release to a couple dozen major reviewers. The odds are long but the payoff is well worth the gamble.

Reader reviews are easier to get and, while they may not carry as much weight they can help people decide to buy your book. You get them by asking. At book signings as every person who buys your book to please write a review. Or you hold a giveaway, and ask everyone who got a copy of your book for free to post a review on Amazon or Goodreads where readers are influenced by their peers. Or you seek out the top Amazon reviewers – these people are more influential than you might think – and send them copies of your book. This can become a numbers game. Some small percentage of the people you ask will write a review, so the more you ask the more you’ll get.

Don’t forget that subset of comments called blurbs. These come from other writers in your genre or experts in a related field. These folks can be true opinion leaders. These you get by meeting people and asking them, individually, if they will do you a favor by reading your book and writing a short, honest comment about it. Most of these people are flattered to be asked and happy to oblige if they turn out to like your work. If they turn you down it is usually because they simply don’t have time to read your book. Be gracious and thank them anyway. Who knows, they may have time for your next book.

Just remember that reader reviews and blurbs will not automatically appear in any high-circulation venue. When you get them you’ll want to push them through social media, send them to bookstores and radio hosts, and get the best printed on your book.

We’ll save guest blogs for next week.

More about Platforms

Last week we talked about building an author platform – a worthy goal going into 2015. I asserted that to build a strong platform you need to do those things that get you in front of your reader.  It should be obvious that the way to find readers is to go to where they are. Where’s that? Well, for millions of readers that would be Goodreads and Library Thing. If you don’t have a strong presence in those locations you’re missing out. Like Twitter, it pays to be on these sites every day, and you can attract the attention of a lot of readers with a raffle or giveaway.

Book signings and readings are great ways to draw an audience and personally, I enjoy the personal contact with readers at these events. Sadly, this is getting harder as the number of bookstores shrinks and other event options narrow. The answer may be to use a little imagination. I’ve seen successful author events in restaurants, card stores, gyms, gift shops and even grocery stores. If you can figure a way that your book ties in to the venue you can make it work. Just remember that they’ve probably never done it before so you’ll have to educate the owners.

Non-bookstores probably can’t order your books so you should offer to bring them yourself and sell on consignment. Give an interesting talk if it seems appropriate, but if the store has a lot of traffic, just get a table and good signage and do a book signing. Just be sure to bring a sign-up sheet and collect email addresses for your mailing list. You should offer some sort of incentive for those emails: a free ebook download, an exclusive short story or maybe entry in a contest for a more substantial prize.

It may surprise you that your web site is an effective tool for platform building. Despite the apparent take-over of social media, every published author should have a well-designed web site. And that web site needs to have a mailing list sign-up button, because the best way to make your web site work for you is to use it to capture emails. This ties in to another useful platform building tool – an e-newsletter. A newsletter can put you in front of your readers several times a year. Many writers send one every week or every 2 weeks. I send one out the week before any event I’m going to be part of. I keep my formula simple; a cute opening remark, my latest writing news, details of the upcoming event, and something of value to my readers that is NOT self-promotional. That last bit is usually a review of someone else’s book or a web site I found particularly useful or fun. Whatever you choose as a format, be sure to include some helpful or insightful information that will help readers remember you. (and yes, you should hurry to my website - www.ascamacho.com – and sign up for my newsletter.)

Now I can’t promise that any of the ideas I’ve offered will make your book a bestseller. I just wanted to make the point that “building a platform” is another way of saying “Get in front of your reader as often as possible.” It’s really up to you to figure out how to reach YOUR individual reader. So try some of these ideas, and let us know what has worked for you. 

How to Work the Web

Recently I've been trying to respond to some of the most frequently asked questions, on the theory that if one new author asked, a dozen more want to know the same thing. Here’s a question that addresses the busy writer’s need to have a strong internet presence:


I noticed that you had many blog mentions. What is the secret? What makes a good blog that gets attention? I remember MJ Rose saying she hated her blog, and that's how I feel. It's a mix of author interviews/tours, publishing/promoting tips, inspirational quotes, and tidbits on what I am doing, but I don't feel I've ever found my voice. I try to blog 5-6 times a week, but it's become a drain. I'm linked to many other blogs, but unfortunately do not have time to visit many of them. Is that what I lack - commenting often enough on other's blogs? Between blogs, websites & communities, I've got over a dozen sites, so it's already a lot to keep up with!


There are a number of related questions here and I’ll try to address them all. First, I do get mentioned on other people’s blogs. That’s mostly because I mention people on mine. I’ve made a lot of friends in the writing community. I talk up their activities on my blog and people often reciprocate. I also get mentions because I attend a lot of conferences and appear on panels. People comment on those events and my name comes up.

My blog gets mentioned or picked up on other blogs because I give advice or make comments others want to pass on. I think you have to have a theme and stick to it, so people know what to expect. If I read your blog and you’re talking about something that interests me, I’ll return. But if it’s hit or miss on the subject I want to read about I probably won’t. I started my blog thinking the average reader would be interested in the life of a writer. My content hasn’t really changed, but the blog has evolved to target other writers. I don’t know if it’s selling books, but it has helped to solidify my friendships in the business.

I’d love to blog five or six times a week, but honestly, I just don’t have that much to say. I write a newsletter most weeks, and post to my main blog (this one) ONCE a week. That appears to be enough to hold an audience.

I’m also linked to a lot of other sites – the ones I like – but rarely visit them. I don’t think those folks visit my blog very often either, but I think people who read mine click to theirs and vice versa. And I don’t spend much time posting on other blogs… with one exception. I have a Google Alert set for my name, as every author should. This means Google sends me an e-mail every time my name appears on the internet. I ALWAYS comment on a blog that mentions me. Comments are a small reward for making their audience aware of me, but it’s also my way of saying thank you. I’m always a little bummed when I talk somebody up on my blog and I hear nothing from them. I assume they didn’t even know I gave them some props. I don’t want anyone else to feel that way.

This question inspired me to do an internet inventory of sorts. I counted 20 web sites I’m on, counting this blog I post to once a week, but the others aren’t as much to keep up with as you might think.

For one thing, my lovely wife Denise updates my main web site. There’s a Hannibal Jones Yahoo Group but that’s run entirely by fans so no work for me.

I am a member of three different teams of writers who take turns posting to web sites, so there’s something new every day on Acme Authors, Criminal Minds at Work and Make Mine Mystery, but I only supply the content two or three times a month on each.

There are half a dozen sites I almost never visit. Red room, Black Author Showcase , Maverick Marketers , Linkedin, Shelfari and Goodreads are more like standing billboards for me. They are filled with content that promotes my writing, but are pretty much static displays.

That leaves the sites I actively communicate through: MySpace, Gather, Friendster, Crimespace, Book Place, Bebo, and the current hot tickets, Facebook and Twitter. Those I feed four or five times every week. But again they don’t take much time because I generally reuse content already written for my newsletter. Or, if I get an unexpected mention on line I whip up a one sentence note pointing to that site and post it in all 8 places. 10 well spent minutes to get my stuff all over the web.

So there’s a long, drawn out view of my approach to on line promotion. It’s all based on my own experience and someone else may have a better plan. In fact, I’d be happy to hear some other approaches.