Promo is something that always weighs heavy on my mind. Am I doing enough? Am I doing the right thing or am I making prospective readers run in the opposite direction? That’s the difficulty with promo. It’s hard to quantify and decide what actually works.
I have a few promo rules I adhere to:
1. I never spend more than I earn or think I’m going to earn.
2. When I do promo I tend to promote my brand as a whole rather than focusing on a particular book. (there are a few exceptions to this rule but now that I have a backlist I tend to promo me)
3. When it comes to a choice of promo or writing, the writing wins every time. I figure if I don’t have the product then there isn’t any need for promo.
4. I have a rule I call the rule of three where I try to do three things every day to promote my name or books. This makes the whole promo beast seem more manageable because I’m breaking it down. Today I answered the questions for an interview, I posted two excerpts on the Romance Excerpts Only loop and requested a book review.
My promo consists of:
I like to blog hop as much as I can. Some days I have more time than others, but I think this is a way of getting my name out. I tend to steer clear of contentious blogs because I don’t believe anyone wins in an online war. When I blog hop I also find books to add to my to-read list and it helps me keep up on market info.
I like forums. I belong to the Romance Divas forum and the Coffee Time forum. I don’t manage to get there every day but I enjoy the contact with other writers and readers. Both places are extremely friendly and make newbies welcome.
I take advantage of guest blogging and interviews whenever possible. I join my publisher loops and post as often as I can.
I joined The Romance Studio when I was first published and have kept up my membership. It’s very reasonable and offers many opportunities for advertising and promotion.
I’m not sure that print advertising is good value for money. It can be very expensive and it’s difficult to quantify the results. If I have a print book I always consider print advertising since this makes sense, but once again I think it’s very expensive.
Take advantage of free offers. Manic Readers (see the button in my sidebar) has free author pages. It doesn’t take long to set up a page. Author’s Den also has free author pages. (A fee is charged for the Featured Author pages)
Bookmarks – I don’t believe it’s necessary to have bookmarks. Yes, it’s nice to have them. Yes, I have bookmarks at the moment, but I don’t think you’ll lose sales because you don’t have them.
Online Banner advertising – I’m not convinced banner ads work as a method of advertising. Others might disagree, but they haven’t worked for me.
A good website, kept up-to-date, is the best thing you can do to promote yourself. Look at other authors’ websites. Features and designs that attract your eye will probably attract the attention of readers as well.
Bottom Line: I think any promotion you do should be enjoyable. It shouldn’t stress you out or make you crabby because it’s taking you away from family or your writing. If you get to this stage, concentrate on your writing because that’s the most important thing.
If you’re a writer, how do you approach promotion? What do you do? What are your favorite methods of promotion? What things do you enjoy? If you’re a reader, what sort of things make you pay attention to a writer? What makes you pick up a book or order a book online from a new author or an author unfamiliar to you?
Related posts:
Talk about excellent timing – I’ve been trying to figure out what I need to do to promote my first book. Any advice on how much you spend on promoting a first book when you have no idea how much it’ll make?
Thanks for the links, Shelley. Some of the forums I’m already a member of, but now I’m going off to check out the others.
by Leah Braemel October 10th, 2008 at 7:23 amHi Shelley!
by Amy W. October 10th, 2008 at 7:38 amNeat ideas and good points. I’ve been letting my blog (I don’t have a website) slide and I need to fix that but sadly school is my #1 priority right now. I truly loved your Cat & Mouse book! Thank you for the wonderful adventure! Have to go but I’ll be back soon!
Oh and yes, the vacation was lovely so thank you for the kind wishes!
Cheers!
Leah – for a first book I’d advertise at The Romance Studio, I’d get a free page at Manic Readers and Author’s Den. I’d organize as many interviews as I could at review sites. Email them now because they fill up in advance and are probably booked well into next year. Contact me in private and we’ll set up a guest blog spot.
Get on the blogroll at Samhain and get yourself on the blog schedule. I didn’t do this early on but I’m there now.
Put your book in your signature line so everyone who gets an email from you sees your book info. Put your cover in your blog profile as soon as you receive it.
On your own blog you could start doing indirect promo about your book. Do a list of things relating to your book that you could blog about during the upcoming month.
e.g. my book Tea for Two features tea so I did my TT on tea and a little promo at the end. My setting is London so I could use that as well.
For a first book I’d play it safe and try not to spend too much money, certainly not more than an advance. Other people might disagree with me and have different advice. Hopefully, they’ll stop by and offer their opinion!
Promo is a delicate balancing act. You don’t want to bash readers over the head with it and turn them off your book. You want to draw them in slowly, seducing them – a bit like fishing,
by Shelley Munro October 10th, 2008 at 11:46 amAmy! I’m glad you had a fun holiday. You can’t do everything and holidays are more important than blogs
So you liked Duncan and Lana. I know I fell in love with Duncan before Lana did! You’re very welcome – I’m thrilled you enjoyed the story.
Good luck with school.
by Shelley Munro October 10th, 2008 at 11:49 amThanks for talking about this because of tight times I’m going to be doing all my own marketing instead of paying out.
These rules are definitely good, especially since I was all panicked about it.
by Amy Ruttan October 10th, 2008 at 1:43 pmAmy R – I must admit that I’m keeping my wallet close to my chest when it comes to promotion these days. I try to do most of my promo online. I think there are lots of opportunitues out there. We, as writers, just need to think outside the box and try new things.
by Shelley Munro October 10th, 2008 at 2:21 pmMy first book (e-book) came out Aug 15th and my second will come out late November/early December. For now, I’ve just been using Myspace, Blogger, (I’ve had Authors Den FOREVER because of my poetry), and Coffee Time Romance. I don’t want to get a website to promote one book so I haven’t dabbled in that. I’m not sure if it’s a good expense if I only have two books to promote either, so I may delay it until I get notification of when my paranormal series (I was offered an 8-book contract from a print publisher but am still waiting for the actual contract) will come out, then do it. What do you think? Is it worthwhile to have a website with only 2 books? I think my Myspace is efficient enough for now, not to mention free. I have a group blog with other writers from my e-publisher and I recently started my own individual blog. I put my book in my signature line at CTR… That’s about it. I don’t want to spend any money when I haven’t even gotten my first royalty check yet.
by Crystal-Rain Love October 10th, 2008 at 7:11 pmHi Crystal – I forgot to mention MySpace, Facebook and the like. They’re all great places for promo.
IMHO I think a website is really important. It needn’t be an expensive one with heaps of bells and whistles, but you could have a book page with excerpts and purchase links, an about me page and a way for readers to contact you. My website is a wordpress one. I update it myself but got a designer to do the initial design. Take a look at other author’s sites and when you find one you like check the very bottom to see if a designer is mentioned. Also, asking on your publisher/author loops might yield the name of a designer to fit your budget.
by Shelley Munro October 10th, 2008 at 8:26 pmShelley, thank you soooo much for this post! The thought of promo freezes me up, but I know it’s something I have to do. I’m going to check out Author’s Den. I’m a member of CTR but got hopelessly lost in the forums, so need to spend more time sorting that out!
by Christina Phillips October 11th, 2008 at 2:12 amShelley – terrific post (as usual!) with so many great ideas. My first novella came out in June and my second will hit the e-shelves in December and I feel like I’ve been floundering on the promo front.
I’m definitely going to use your “rule of 3″ that seems like a great way to break it down and not feel so overwhelmed everyday that maybe I’m not doing enough.
I’m also heading over to The Romance Studio and Author’s Den to check all that out.
Thanks!
by Debora Dennis October 11th, 2008 at 8:32 amI think these are golden words of wisdom:
“Writing wins every time. I figure if I don’t have the product then there isn’t any need for promo.”
But your matter-of-fact list for those of us new or working-on-being-new to promotion makes everything seem less daunting.
I just got caught up with your posts and I have a reason for Americans’ iced-tea thing. I’m Canadian and always find it amusing while I’m in the States when people there qualify tea as ‘tea’ – which means iced tea, and ‘hot tea’ – which means regular tea to the rest of the world. I’m pretty sure it stems from their original rebellion against England in the late 1700’s. England = tea, so why would any self-respecting rebel drink it?
by julia October 11th, 2008 at 10:51 amChristina – you’re very welcome!
Debora – Promo can be really daunting at first and I think the rule of three makes it seem much easier!
Julia – LOL – It’s a bit hard to sell something you don’t have!
Your theory sounds good to me. I have to say I didn’t have a single cup of tea in the US. From previous experience I knew to wait until I arrived back home!!
by Shelley Munro October 11th, 2008 at 1:54 pmHere’s the link to Marketing for Romance Writers. It’s for authors and pre-published authors and the ladies on the group are very generous in sharing information. Ask a question and they’ll help or point you in the right direction.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MarketingForRomanceWriters/
by Shelley Munro October 11th, 2008 at 1:55 pmWhen it comes to promo, i’m of the same opinion. I try to take advantage of the opportunities that won’t cost me any money–like guest blogging, interviews, reviews–I’m not shy to ask, but I also like to make it reciprocal. If I offer to host someone on my blog, I hope that the offer will be returned.
I’ve put out dough for some promotional items, like the bookmarks, and this month is the first time I’ve gone and paid for some online advertising for a banner–basically just to see if it works.
Otherwise, I’m relying on my books to talk for me, and the more people read them and like them, the more promotion I’ve done, just by writing them.
by JK Coi October 11th, 2008 at 5:06 pmExcellent no-nonsense advice, Shelley.
My favorite promo is still blogging. I don’t know if it has meant more book sales, but I think it keeps reader interest kindled. Commenting on other blogs regularly also keeps your name on people’s radar.
PS I’d love to have you on my blog in the future. As you know I am currently homeless, but hope to be resettled in about a month.
I hope.
If I don’t contact you by late November, give me a nudge.
by Maria October 12th, 2008 at 8:43 amPromo always eludes me. You’ve got some great ideas.
by Sandra October 12th, 2008 at 8:51 amJK – The hardest thing is to find places to promo where there are readers rather than other authors doing promo. I can totally understand authors wanting to promo and talk about their books but I think that en mass we scare off some readers.
Maria – thanks! I’d love to. I enjoy blogging. I’ve been doing it for a while now.
Sandra – there’s no doubt about it – promo is hard and it sucks time. I’m afraid it’s a necessary evil these days. We have to find a way to stand out from the crowd. In a good way.
by Shelley Munro October 12th, 2008 at 10:52 amYour rule of 3 for promo is a good one. I need to do that. It’s so hard to write and promo while working a full time and often overtime day job and taxi the daughter to 2 different softball teams. I’m lucky most nights to get one or the other done but rarely both. But I must try harder.
by Ashley Ladd October 12th, 2008 at 11:23 amShelley, thanks for the great post. Like many others, this too comes as great timing for me since I have a Jan. ‘09 release. I have to check out Author’s Den. I’m thinking about joining The Romance Studio.
by Nancy Henderson October 12th, 2008 at 12:44 pmAshley – I hear you. I think the best thing we can do is concentrate on the writing and fit in what we can. Try the rule of three. You don’t need to make the three things big ones. Even posting an excerpt somewhere counts as a positive step.
Hi Nancy – The Romance Studio is a really good option. It’s inexpensive yet has a huge following.
by Shelley Munro October 12th, 2008 at 1:03 pmThis is a great blog entry, Shelley! And some of the comments are helpful as well. I believe blogs and websites are good tools, as well as getting out there and letting others know who you are.
by Kaye Manro October 13th, 2008 at 11:34 amI really like your promo rules. It’s easy to get so caught up in promotion that you ignore your writing. I know I’ve been guilty of that. Thanks for this informative post!
by Helen Hardt October 13th, 2008 at 2:09 pmGreat advice Shelley. I’m definitely guilty of spending too much time on promo and neglecting my writing, lately. As a UK writer, we don’t have the conventions you have over there, so an ‘on-line’ presence is even more important. I do have pages at the Authors Den and Manic Readers, and the Romance Studio among others. Can I add another ‘The Polkerdot Banner’? This is another site which gives you a free ‘Author Page’ and you can upgrade for more space for a small fee. Thanks for all your promo help.
Lyn
by Hywela Lyn October 16th, 2008 at 3:16 am