You Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em: Marketing & Advertising for the Indie Author, Part One

By: Heather Day Gilbert

I asked several authors to fill me in on advertising and marketing tips—in other words, share what's worth the money and what isn't. While each author had different experiences, we hope you can take away ideas that light your marketing "fire."

As we all know, indie publishing is FAR from one-size-fits-all (thank goodness!). However, I'm pretty certain all these authors would advise you to only take on as many of these marketing/advertising opportunities as you can handle, both financially and personally.

At the end of this two-part post, I'm going to link to each of the authors who participated. Thank you all so much for sharing some of your hard-earned wisdom with us!

      BOOK TRAILERS

Some authors had no noticeable sales spikes from their book trailers. But the overall recommendation was that if you do a trailer, make sure you share it pre-book release and make sure it's an accurate, yet short trailer. However, the advice was also offered to keep your budget small on trailers, since they're not the focus of your marketing process, just an addition to it.

      SOCIAL MEDIA

This was, by far and away, the method most authors recommended to get the word out on your books. This means you need to be established in various forms of social media. Points mentioned in this regard were:

—TWEET regularly. You can join tweet exchanges (this was news to me!) where you tweet for others and vice versa. Spammy tweets are not recommended, though, so try to keep your tweets more personal and don't litter the feed with them.

—Determine your twitter AUDIENCE. Heather Sunseri, author of Mindspeak and Mindseige, advises authors to be real, which means sharing tidbits about your life. But she also advises not to stray far from topics that would interest your target audience.

—You can also prepare book release or other tweets and share them with your followers, groups, or launch team. It's easy for them to copy/paste them (I'd recommend hashtagging for more specific notice).

—Line up blog interviews ahead of time. You never know which blogs will drive the most traffic to your book, so the more blogs you visit, the better. I personally had several purchases after appearing on an ABA Medieval site that has thousands of readers, but I also had several people put my novel on their To-Read list after I visited a fellow homeschooling mom's blog. Basically, figure out where your reader demographic congregates and request a guest post, interview, or review slot.

—Lock in book reviews ahead of release time (let early readers read your book). That way, when your book launches, some of the first reviews to hit Amazon and Goodreads will be from your early readers, who've had time to thoroughly review your book. Please realize, those initial Amazon reviews will stay in place as the first ones readers see.

And since a self-publishing launch doesn't have to happen all at once, continue asking review sites to review your book, even months after you launch. The beautiful thing about self-publishing is that we don't have to stop marketing our books—it's the "slow burn" effect, which I'm sure I've mentioned before and will continue to mention!

—Facebook was mentioned as a wonderful way to reach readers on a personal level. Initially, I avoided having a FB Author page, but it has been my best source of connecting quickly with my readers.

—Email lists/Newsletters are consistently touted as the best way to get the word out to readers who love your writing and will buy your books. MaryLu Tyndall, who's maintained a substantial e-mail list for many years, recommends placing an email signup in multiple locations (blog, FB, etc). MaryLu offers a book giveaway to new subscribers once monthly. She also recommends only sending email updates when you have something newsworthy to update, so you're not inundating your subscribers with unimportant emails.

      PUBLIC SPEAKING/BOOK SIGNINGS/TARGETED MENTIONS

—If you're comfortable with it, public speaking was mentioned as an effective way to increase your book's reach and sales. Libraries often love to have authors visit and field questions about their books (especially if your book is in their library! Make a point of donating and signing yours to your local library(ies) once you have softcovers.) 

—Book clubs and direct contact with your readers were also considered crucial, even if they didn't result in massive sales. The idea of giving back to your community, via signings and public speaking, was a driving factor for many authors. 

—Also, updating your alumni sites and contacting local papers are small but crucial steps to get the word out closer to home.

Next week we'll be talking more specifically about various paid and free ways to advertise.

For this and the second part of this series (March 20) I'll give shout-outs to all my contributing authors. Names below will link to their websites and book titles will link to their latest novels on Amazon:

Adam Blumer—The Tenth Plague
Carole Brown—The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman
Susie Finkbeiner—Paint Chips
Cynthia Hickey—Deadly Neighbors
Carla Laureano—Five Days in Skye
Terri Main—Fangs for the Memories
Amy Matayo—The Wedding Game
Wendy Paine Miller—The Disappearing Key
Staci Stallings—Deep in the Heart
Heather Sunseri—Mindsiege 
MaryLu Tyndall--The Ransom (releasing March 1, 2014)

***If you have any suggestions on advertising/marketing you've found effective, please let us know in the comments! Thank you.***

Heather Day Gilbert enjoys writing stories about authentic, believable marriages. Sixteen years of marriage to her sweet Yankee husband have given her some perspective, as well as ten years spent homeschooling. 

You can find Heather at her website, Heather Day Gilbert--Author, and at her Facebook Author Page, as well as Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and Goodreads. Her Viking novel, God's Daughter, is an Amazon bestseller. You can find it on Amazon and Smashwords. She plans to release her contemporary Appalachian mystery, Miranda Warning, on West Virginia Day: June 20, 2014.

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Getting Bang for your Promotional Buck$

As a former entertainment publicist, I’m a big proponent of the importance of marketing and promotion. But when I moved from promoting actors and their shows to promoting myself and my books, the game changed in a big way. I found myself feeling very unfamiliar with a concept that was so familiar to me. So I started talking to the professionals – from readers to booksellers to agents – and asking them where to start. Those conversations helped me create a list of five important tips to always keep in mind when PS rolls around. [PS = Promotion Season for a new book]

I.                 Effective Social Networking is KEY

What happens in Vegas stays … on Facebook, Twitter, youtube...

I attended a webinar recently that was hosted by Thomas Umstattd, Jr. of Author Media, and one point (which he reiterated in his article in the Winter issue of the ACFW Journal Magazine) that really grabbed hold of my attention was how important it is to differentiate between your PERSONAL Facebook page and your PROFESSIONAL one. My reader page on Facebook has become a pretty awesome way of building my readership. My personal page is where I can share private information, musings and opinions that I might not want to share with the general reading public. Unfortunately, I didn’t discover the importance of keeping them separate until well after I’d combined them, so raking through them for separation purposes has been a long, slow and somewhat painful process. So if you’re just starting out, let my experience shout at you on this subject.

II.               Understand Branding

What it does and (more importantly) doesn’t mean

I know this is a somewhat hot button issue for a lot of writers, but I am a firm believer in finding that one thing that you’re good at writing – and more importantly, what you’re called to write – and focus on that. Cluster bombing by writing a historical first, then trying your hand at suspense, then jumping with both feet into the YA market is not going to cement that all-important relationship with your readers. Experience has taught me that readers may love the way you write, but what they really connect with is your specific manner of storytelling. More often than not, that includes a love of your genre that will result in devoted readers.

III.           Learn the Art of Crafting Press Releases

Ready, aim, and shoot at a direct target

During my 15+ years as a publicist, I probably wrote at least two or three press releases per week. That kind of active experience teaches you something very important: Know your audience! It wasn’t uncommon for me to craft several different versions of a release for one specific event, and then send them out to the most appropriate outlets. I had a pretty uncanny track record for stories being picked up by entertainment news outlets for just that reason. Recently, author Erica Vetsch (we’re represented by the same agency) reached out to me for some help on designing a release for a very specific event, and I completely tore her first draft apart and revised it specifically for the news outlet she had in mind. A few days later, she let me know how thrilled she was at the results.

IV.            Cultivate Word of Mouth

You tell two friends, and they’ll tell two friends, and so on…

Making a personal connection with readers is imperative. A few great ways to do that is to reach out to book clubs, do interviews with various bloggers, conduct contests for autographed books. Think of book giveaways – even a large one, to a full book club, for instance – as an investment in your future. Sort of like a Marketing 401k. 

V.                Come to Terms with the Importance of Book Trailers      

Hit ‘em where they live and give ‘em some eye candy

There’s been a lot of debate out there about the value of developing a book trailer for a soon-to-be-published novel. Again, I went to work and talked to a lot of people so that I could form an opinion on this subject. 

“An amateur-looking trailer can backfire and work against you, so carefully consider how you’re going to approach it. Then do your best to use your trailer in every way possible.” –Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent (Blog post dated 2/3/10)

“One thing is certain: publishers want trailers to sell books. And a trailer, which can live forever on YouTube or Vimeo, might just be the gift that keeps on giving…” –Edward Nawotka, PublishingPerspectives.com (Blog post dated 3/24/11)

“When an in-house publicist has 3-5 minutes to convince a retailer to invest in a particular book, nothing speaks louder than a well-done, 90-second book trailer.”  --Maegan Roper, Publicist (formerly of Abingdon Press)

“It's becoming less and less common to buy books by their cover. It's more about showing eye candy to reel them in.” –Filmmaker Chris Roth  [LA Times article by Richard Verrier, November 9, 2011]

The dilemma here was that I don’t generate the income to match a lot of the prices being charged out there for the good ones. Fortunately, I had a friend who was in school studying video production and I sent her a dozen trailers that I thought were amazing. She allowed me to collaborate with her on a couple of my book trailers, and she’s grown it into a business! She’s very reasonably priced; in addition, I’ve known her most of my life! So if you’re thinking about a book trailer, feel free to contact Marian Miller of MarianCreates and tell her I sent you.

So there you have it! My five best tips for getting the most bang out of each of your promotion bucks. 

  # # #

Sandra D. Bricker is a best-selling and award-winning author of laugh-out-loud romantic comedy for the Christian market. Her most popular series (that started with Always the Baker Never the Bride) will conclude this spring with Always the Baker FINALLY the Bride, which is now available for pre-order at Amazon.

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Rachel Hauck - Guest Blogger

Rachel Hauck is an award-winning, best selling author. Her book, Love Starts With Elle is a RITA finalist. Her next book, written with country music star Sara Evans, Sweet By and By, will release this fall.

Visit Rachel on Twitter.



Book trailers and all that jazz

I’ve always been intrigued by book trailers. Conceptually, trailers are a great way to bring visual imagery of the story to readers. But in execution, trailers often leave something to be desired.

Mostly, book trailers all look, sound and feel the same. Understandable. We’re learning how to do “this” thing. Trailers follow the same format. Still pictures fading in and out with text, perhaps a voiceover or music. I usually only make it fifteen seconds into a book trailer before moving on.

Book trailers are hard to make unique. Publishers and writers don’t have the budget to do a Hollywood level, heart stopping, tear jerking, laugh-out-loud trailer. Those are a production process unto themselves.

When Thomas Nelson released my book, Love Starts With Elle, I had the idea to do a book trailer. Hmm, but how? So far, my video creation talent is sub-zero, but for the first time since I’d started writing, I knew someone who did.

A good friend, Jeremy Vickory, had moved back in town after a four movie stint with Pixar. While his specialty was light effects in animated films, he had enough tools to do what I wanted. I called him up.

“How much to create an animated Elle for me?”

My idea was to actually have a conversation with Elle as if she were real. By the time I’d finished writing her story, she was real to me. Why not help the readers see her as I did?

I wrote a script, convinced my friend Chelle to be Elle’s voice and a few days later we filmed at Jeremy’s house with a video camera. Easy peasy.

A few days later, I had a book trailer. I loved the opportunity to talk to readers about the book, despite my bad hair day, and let them know how much I loved this story.

Here’s a couple of things to keep in mind while making a book trailer.

1. Keep it under two minutes. The shorter the better. Remember you’re competing with all kinds of videos and graphic imagery on the Internet.

2. Be as unique as possible with your concept. As writers we work to find the uniqueness in our stories, to say something that’s never been said before, and we should do the same with book trailers. Get a concept, then turn it upside down and inside out to find the unique angle.

3. Get to the point. We understand what it means to hook the reader in story form, do the same for your book trailer. Let enough of the story to come out to intrigue the viewer. Hint at the story, set the hook, then end it.

4. Hold off make a book trailer if you’re not ready. No book trailer is better than a bad book trailer.

5. Invest. While Jeremy gave me a discount, seeing as I was paramount in his spiritual life as a young man, a-hem, I paid for his service. It wasn’t cheap. But well worth it. I received an excellent product provided by someone who knew what he was doing.

6. Get the word out. Create a You Tube account and post your book trailer. Include it in your blog tour. Send a copy to your publisher so they can hand it to the sales team. Give a copy to friends, and family. Take it to your local book store for the staff to view.

Marketing is hard for those of us who view the world through a computer screen all day. As a full time writer, the cybernet is my office. Social media sites are my water cool breaks. Makes friends on the web who might want to share your trailer.

Look around your life and see who might be able to help you market or promote your book. Some authors are friends with celebrities or name authors. Can they endorse your book? Share a book signing? Do you know an artist who can help create a standout web site or bookmark?

I remember when I started writing, I said this prayer. “God, you’re my editor, agent and promoter.” Since then, He’s brought what I needed, when I needed it.

One of the keys to the Novel Journey is to be patient. The evanescent “everyone” is doing book trailers so we want to do one too. But is it more prudent to wait until you have the tools to do one with excellence.

Look, I’m not saying my book trailer is the most excellent in the world. Hardly. But I am glad I waited until I had a fun concept and the talent to execute it.

What ever your marketing notions, ideas or frustrations, ask God to bring the right help at the right time. If you can’t do what you want, wait. Either way, I’m guessing all you need is most-likely right there in your own world.

To view the trailer for Love Starts With Elle, click here.

The Sweet By and By

A redemptive story from multi-platinum recording artist Sara Evans.

Jade Fitzgerald left the pain of her past in the dust when she headed out for college a decade ago. Now she's thriving in her career and glowing in the light of Max Benson's love.

But then Jade's hippie mother, Beryl Hill, arrives in Whisper Hollow, Tennessee, for Jade's wedding along with Willow, her wild younger sister. Their arrival forces Jade to throw open the dark closets of her past--the insecurity of living with a restless, wandering mother, the silence of her absent father, and the heart-ripping pain of first-love's rejection.

Turns out Beryl has a secret of her own. She needs reconciliation with her oldest daughter before illness takes her life. In the final days leading to the wedding, Jade meets the One who shows her that the past has no hold on her future. With a little grace, they'll meet in the middle, maybe even before that sweet by and by.

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