Marketing my book

stratosaeros

stratosaeros

My Mind won't Stop!
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I love how helpful the members on this site are. T
This is just a quick sounding board type question.

I chose the form of self publishing my book after a year of unfavorable responses from agencies. Now I need to market the book on my own. I have a Facebook page, a Squidoo blog, and am working on a site for the entire book series. I want to do a Youtube Book trailer, does this seem like a good idea?

Also are there any other ways for me to market my book?

I realize I have not reached 30 posts yet so I hope I am not overstepping any boundaries. But if anyone wants access to the book it is on my profile.
 
Twitter could help.

You might also want to consider promotions such as a limited money-off voucher.

Er.... that's all I can think of.

On the trailer: consensus seems to be that they're hard to do right. However, I do think they can work and even if they don't you won't lose much because the hardest part of being a new author is getting noticed.
 
Become a cherished member of online communities, so that people from all over get to know you, get to like you, and want you to succeed - they will be a better word-of-mouth than anything else. Join a writing group locally and give as much as you get. When you're ready, talk to your local newspaper - they're always after in 'human-interest' stories, especially if you've got a good background CV (if not, bend the truth a tiny bit; I promised my high school teacher on her deathbed that I'd keep writing etc). Go to conferences, and meet other people like yourself (aspiring writers) and swap 'how to' stories. Learn from other's experience while you're there, because all authors will talk about it, you just have to ask them.

And incidentally, if you've had a year of unfavourable responses from agencies, have you worked out why? Have you had professional editing/critiquing asked honest Beta readers (not family and friends) read every book there is on writing and taken it all in? You want your self-published novel to be the very best it can be, but is there a danger you're rushing things? Read every thread here in the workshop, and publishing areas and other scifi/fantasy websites.

Good luck

ps: Patrick Rothfuss took 14 years to get his breakthrough, and all the time, he rewrote. He's still rewriting.
 
I was wondering about conferences... there was one in Bristol this month I think that I'm disappointed not to be able to make.

I'm not convinced by twitter...I think it would only work if you were making quite entertaining posts (so that people followed you) and had an occasional link to your work.

I think networking/reading the work of other aspiring authors is a really good thing as its easier to spot their mistakes and then you'll recognise where you do similar things in your own work.
 
Boneman said:
And incidentally, if you've had a year of unfavourable responses from agencies, have you worked out why? Have you had professional editing/critiquing asked honest Beta readers (not family and friends) read every book there is on writing and taken it all in? You want your self-published novel to be the very best it can be, but is there a danger you're rushing things? Read every thread here in the workshop, and publishing areas and other scifi/fantasy websites.
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Seconded. :)
 
First, agents reject books not writers. So start working on something new and then try submitting that. If you received feedback from the agents who rejected you, put what they said into your new project.

If you're determined to self-published, then at least do a proper job of it. People will take your book more seriously if you do. Don't just publish it on Kindle, without an ISBN, and then spam people on forums or Twitter. Have a look at publishing it as paperback and/or hardback, as well as an ebook. Put a website together to sell it from, and to feed info to interested people (links to reviews, news, background, etc). Send out reviews copies - to people you know who will blog about it or put a review on Amazon/Goodreads, and to magazines and online review sites. Make sure you follow their guidelines.

Whatever you do, don't be too pushy, but also make sure that people know about your book.

Sf conventions are good for meeting people and networking. Your best bet is the Eastercon, which is the biggest annual UK one. (SciFi Weekender is bigger, but more geared to media sf.) Next year's Eastercon is in Bradford - see here.
 
Thank you all for your help this far, I may indeed be premature by publishing my book so soon. However I will assure you that I have spent a lot of time on this project and it has gone through many edits and rewrites. I want this story to be told, not to be my cash cow for the next fifty years. I am proud of my book and want it to succeed.

As far as the agencies I have been rejected from, out of the 54 I applied to only three asked for a submission from my book longer than one page synopsis. Now that is probably my weak spot. I am not very good about talking up my book to those looking to publish it. So my synopsis is probably where I need the most work. But it seems to me most of the agencies I have come across, focus on an author's story and what they can sell about him or her. This has also handicapped me, because I am even worse at promoting myself.

I know all of this will take time and effort, all of which I am willing to put in. So I hope I can achieve something through your guys great advice and help over this site. Many of you have been very helpful thus far, on several threads I have posted. Tha ks again for all the advice!
 
Oops. Didn't spot that you were in the US. There'll be local conventions you can attend to meet people and get some idea of how the field operates.
 
matle said:
I'm not convinced by twitter...I think it would only work if you were making quite entertaining posts (so that people followed you) and had an occasional link to your work.
Click to expand...

I agree about Twitter. The Twitterati tend to ignore aggresive marketing and publicity, which can be annoying as spam. But Twitter can be used to alert readers to new reviews rather than shove them down their throats. Really Twitter is just an extension of a forum; a place to talk to others, get advice, a bit of banter and general networking. It gives you another presence just like Facebook, but it's not a playground in the way your website and blog should be.

As for book-trailers, I agree with thaddeus6th; do it for the fun of it as they are hard to do right and in all honesty are less effective than a simple banner campaign.
 
Hi stratosaerus, i just read your blog entry, and congratulations on self pubbing your first and best of luck with it.

Having said that, i think it is worth considering boneman's advice, and maybe seeking some beta readers, perhaps popping the opening section up on the critiques thread. Whilst i was reasonably intrigued, there were some parts within it which it might be good to get feedback on, like closer pov, maybe some bits of punctuation.

As you say, you would really like it to succeed and i think there might be areas where a critter or beta reader might give useful feedback?

If i have spoken out of turn, please ignore me.
 
Not at all Springs!

To be honest, a lot of the feedback I have gotten in the last month on this site has been very helpful. I am hoping to post some on the critique section but am waiting to hit 30 posts and for people to get to know me first. Don't want critics for the sake of critics, want people willing to support me.

Thanks again for all the advice everyone!
 
Um... not to spread too many wet blankets here, but please do remember, stratosaeros, that the Critiques forum is not a place for putting up published work, and any such will be removed in pretty short order. Critiques is for people who want help with their writing, either in general or for a particular piece which is causing problems**. It is not an arena for promoting sales.



** OK, it's also for people celebrating 000th posts, but that's not in your near future, I don't think, and the rules still apply.
 
stratosaeros said:
Thank you all for your help this far, I may indeed be premature by publishing my book so soon. However I will assure you that I have spent a lot of time on this project and it has gone through many edits and rewrites. I want this story to be told, not to be my cash cow for the next fifty years. I am proud of my book and want it to succeed.

As far as the agencies I have been rejected from, out of the 54 I applied to only three asked for a submission from my book longer than one page synopsis. Now that is probably my weak spot. I am not very good about talking up my book to those looking to publish it. So my synopsis is probably where I need the most work. But it seems to me most of the agencies I have come across, focus on an author's story and what they can sell about him or her. This has also handicapped me, because I am even worse at promoting myself.

I know all of this will take time and effort, all of which I am willing to put in. So I hope I can achieve something through your guys great advice and help over this site. Many of you have been very helpful thus far, on several threads I have posted. Tha ks again for all the advice!
Click to expand...

To be completely blunt, from the excerpt you have posted to your blog, you are making so many writing errors I cannot count them all. Tense usage, adverbs, grammar and puntuaction all need looking at.

If you are serious about writing, I'd strongly suggest picking up a few writing books (there are recommendations in the Writing Resources board) so you can begin to start basic editing of your work.
 
stratosaeros said:
But it seems to me most of the agencies I have come across, focus on an author's story and what they can sell about him or her.
Click to expand...

I don't know which agencies you have been submitting to, so I can't comment on the accuracy of that perception, but all the agents I know are concerned with one thing only: if the book is one they think they can sell to a publisher. Is it well written? Are the plot and characters engaging? How does it fit in with current trends?

Unless he or she is a celebrity, the author's personal history only becomes of interest after the book is sold, and often not even then.
 
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