Pre-Release Marketing My Novel

If you visit here regularly you already know that my next novel, PYRAMID DECEPTION will be released November first. If you’re wondering why I’d be talking about it now, you might be missing out on an important part of getting your books noticed. Promotion for your novel needs to start long before anyone can buy it.

Most of this pre-pub promotion is fun for me. The one part that is not is the very first step. Major reviewers want their Advance Reader Copies 120 days before the release date. That means that review copies went into the mail before July 1. Luckily I have a small press behind me so someone else does the really hard work – build a list, address envelopes, haul books to the post office – but it will be well worth it when the guys at Publisher’s Weekly finally wise up and review one of my novels. So far my biggest successes in this arena have been Library Journal and the local papers.  But I remain optimistic.

Everything else is getting the attention of actual readers and building anticipation. That starts 3 months out. I kick it all off with a cover reveal on Facebook and my web site. Then I leak the story ideas and synopsis. I’m purposely stingy with details because, just like when they’re reading a mystery novel, fans enjoy the suspense.

In September I’ll get help from the characters. I’ll post interviews of Hannibal and his supporting cast. I might let the characters give some more hints as to what the book is all about. All this time I’m also chatting with book stores about staging events around the November release. I’m also bugging bloggers about visiting their pages at release time. Guest blogs are pretty easy – the cover, synopsis, a sample chapter and/or one of the interviews I’ve already created will generally do the job.

I wait until the month before release to start sharing sample chapters. I post these on my web site and leave links on Twitter and Facebook to draw people in. I also plant those links on LinkedIn in the writer and reader groups I’ve joined. Asking other writers’ opinion of your samples can be exciting or humbling, but either way it does get engagement.

If pre-publication marketing interests you, stay tuned. In December Intrigue Publishing will release its first anthology and, trust me, promoting a book when you don’t have an author’s brand as your basis is a whole ‘nother thing. But it might turn out to be even more fun!  

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.

The Art of the Blog

As bookstores dwindle and the cost of advertising rises, online promotion becomes more and more important. But when I mention it I see many writers’ eyes glaze over. There are two reasons. First, it can be very time consuming. Second, there are so many things a writer could do it can be overwhelming. I recommend writers keep it simple… like I’m doing right now.

Blogging is easy, it can be fast, and it gives you something you can share online to keep your writing in peoples’ minds. It also helps to keep you at the top of Google search results, as long as you do it regularly. Higher search ranking is well worth blogging once a week, like I do.

But, you ask, what should I blog about? Well, your writing is a good place to start. You can blog as one of your characters to give readers an inside view. My fictional detective Hannibal Jones blogged every week for a couple of years.

What else are you interested in? You can blog about what’s happening in publishing today. You can write reviews about other writers’ books in your genre.

How about posting short stories? I taught myself how to write flash fiction by posting 1200 word mysteries. Or post snippets of your next book (what a great way to get reader feedback AND pique reader interest.)  Or you could interview other writers, editors, anybody you know in the publishing industry.

And if you run out of ideas, you can get some from the idea generator. Go to http://www.hubspot.com/blog-topic-generator and type in any three nouns. The software will spit out five related blog ideas.

Once you’re on a regular schedule posting items of interest on your blog you need to let everyone know. So share it on all your social media outlets: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, whichever you’re comfortable with. And don’t just post the same thing. Posts on each site need to be a bit different. For example, Tweets need to be very short, and Facebook posts work best if you ask questions. But they should have one thing in common – attach a picture. Most recent research indicates that photos are very important on social media.

And remember that social media is about having a conversation, and that conversation is a two-way activity. So follow other writer’s blogs, and comment on their posts. Answer questions. Send invites to grow your social media following. Offer your opinions. Above all, support other writers. This is how you build your credibility and gain followers.  

And aren’t those good reasons for maintaining a blog?