Writing Blog Number 2

20240607 Publicity

Publicising Your Book (Work)

Another WdC question:
How to publicize your book

10, 15 years ago, this was easy! Nowadays… not so much. Not at all.

There are so many variables, so I reached out and asked several publishers, trad published authors and self-published authors what works for them now. In all, around 16 people responded to my email, but they are all people doing better in the published sphere than me.

Interestingly, the results were reasonably universal.

Paid advertising works best. If you are a self-published author, if you are doing personal marketing for a trad-published book that is not going to sell hundreds of copies, if you are hoping to make a large profit, then this option will most likely not be cost-effective. Traditional publishers with a large number of books to sell – be they a large or small business – will benefit from advertising as the cost can be spread across multiple works, but for the run-of-the-mill independent, going-it-alone writer, it is not seen as worth it at all.

Having said that, here in Australia some community newspapers charge only a nominal amount for artists to advertise, as well as some newsletters, community papers/newsletters, people’s personal websites, etc. So, if you don’t mind the leg-work, you might be able to find some cheaper options. However, no matter what, this needs to be balanced alongside the money and sales you will get in return and what you have already laid out (if self-published).

One free thing is to allow local newspapers, websites, radio stations, even community TV, interview you for actual news articles. (This does include writing guest blogs.) There should be no cost to you (I have yet to be charged for my forays into this in the US or Australia), but as to its effectiveness, the people I spoke to are divided. Personally, I think it is only time it is costing you, and so I would suggest this as a viable option.

A personal website is something that used to work really well, but has fallen by the wayside, although indications are that it is on the way back. Swings and roundabouts in this one. The way a personal website works is not through random searching, but if someone buys a book of yours, or an anthology/magazine you have appeared in, or they saw you in mainstream media, and want to know more, especially other works to buy. It comes from referral from an external source. Twenty, fifteen years ago, it was where many authors – traditionally and self-published – got the majority of their sales. Then it fell out of fashion in the mid-2010s. The general consensus is that everyone suffered from “Internet fatigue” and were just sick of looking for things, and stuck with the sites they knew. However, post-COVID lockdowns, things are picking up again. All but one person I interviewed has their own.

Find a free website host and, well, go to "20240528 Author Website" . I think I covered everything there!

Sticking with the Internet, let’s go to social media. All but 2 of the people I spoke to says it makes no difference. Many use it out of habit, but it no longer results in sales. The problem is, you are talking to like-minded people who would likely have bought your books anyway, and so the effort of advertising results in not much. Twitter was never brilliant for sales; X is worse. Facebook used to be fine, but because of changes to the way Meta runs things and Meta’s relationship with search engines, you are again advertising to friends and relatives who are likely to have bought your work anyway, unless you pay them. Facebook used to be a strong platform; it is no longer.

Other sites, though… Now, there is something called “BookTok” on the TikTok platform. This is where TikTokers push a book, and it works for those in terms of sales. There are three caveats, though:
         1) the book needs to be adopted by that community organically;
         2) the book needs to appeal to a rather specific demographic; &
         3) the writer needs to be very open-minded when it comes to comments and interpretations.
If you get adopted by “BookTok” – congratulations! You are going to be successful! The biggest downside? The China connection with the site; some “BookTok” successes have found their books pirated in China, meaning they are out of money from a huge market. And, no, China does not care.

Discord is a strange one, and only a few I spoke to use it. If you advertise across your Discord communities, then it’s split about 50-50 through those I spoke to as to whether it results in an increase in sales. But, it’s free, the communities tend to be supportive (hence the reason they are in communities), and it certainly can’t hurt.

The final big one is Instagram. I left this one for last because it was the most confusing when I spoke to those I spoke to. A group said it was exactly like Facebook, in that it made no difference. The next group said it made a small impact, in that they saw a spike when they put an initial post on the platform. The next group said it worked better than their website for people searching for them and finding older works, so they updated with older works semi-regularly. The final group said it works rather well for them. Then there is “BookGram.” If you get adopted by “BookGram” then you are made. Unlike “BookTok”, the demographic is not as restricted and the comments tend to not be as strange, but it is still a requirement that the book is adopted organically by members of that community.

Yes, Instagram could be good, it could be useless, tending towards possibly helpful.

Next we have “author pages” on websites. These are not personal websites, but pages dedicated to the author. Everyone I spoke to was positive about these, without exception. There are two worth considering:
         Amazon has the largest platform, and if you are selling on Amazon, it is a great idea. There are two issues – it is difficult to get things published in other countries to appear across all Amazon sites, and some anthologies only appear under the editor’s by-lines, as some small publishers refuse to list all the authors, and Amazon is bound by publishers wants. Still, a good idea.
         And then there is Goodreads. The Amazon issues do not exist on Goodreads, as publishers must allow all contributors to list books, and it is not geo-blocked or geo-specific. The other good thing is that it is a site for readers, so people are more likely to go there to look for things just to read, and you won’t get lost in the shuffle of them selling everything, like Amazon. It does not yet have the reach of Amazon, but it is getting there. Goodreads also allows friends to share recommendations and authors to include their own blogs.

Finally, the very best way, and something that is really only open to writers in North America – the convention circuit. Yes, it costs, but if you team up with other authors, these costs can be shared., But it is the networking, the chance to listen to talks, that sort of thing that makes these so worthwhile. And you might even be asked to join a panel. While I’ve heard sales do not necessarily cover costs, the publicity and people you meet more than make up for it.

I do not know about the UK scene, but in Australia there’s the annual comic-cons in most capitals, and we in Adelaide (a city, I should remind you, of more than a million people) have only a book convention, which is cross-genre. Sydney has a spec fic con, a romance con and a general con; Melbourne has a spec fic con; Brisbane used to have a general con, but I don’t think it still happens, and I don’t think Perth has any extras. Cities of less than half the population base in the US and Canada have conventions! So, yes, you have that in North America – if you can, take advantage of it! Having said all that, Australia has the country market scene, and many self-published authors sell enough books at each of these to cover the nominal cost of table hire. However, they will say once you add in petrol and accommodation, it can be pushing it.

I will also say, on a personal level, that it seems I have had a small number of sales from writing.com members (and have bought 3 books by members here), so do not ignore the power of this community as well. (Please buy my books!)

Final notes: Author photographs are not as important as they were in the 2010s, author bios are now recommended to be short, and if you want to include quotes from reviews, don’t just use one, but don’t put up any more than 5. Just recommendations.

And that’s what I have learnt in the past 2 weeks about publicity!