How to market your book online

[Brian G Turner]

So you get a publishing deal - great!

It doesn't matter whether it's self-publishing or traditional print publishing - we'll assume that you reached your goal - as the principles of marketing online apply the same in any instance.

So, what now?

First, comes the website.


The Website

Your website is your business presence online. And that's a very important point to underline.

Far too often, new published writers get their mate Dave (or Davina, whoever), to build a website for them. This is a big no-no.

If your mate Dave isn't already managing a very successful online business, he has no place in trying to build yours for you.

And just to help you get started, here's a couple of key tips:

1. Get your own domain

Why? It allows you control over your online identity, and also empowers you to host your own website. Think: brand identity. Make sure you register it yourself in your own name. For .uk domains, register here - for .com/.net/.org, register here. It also means that you can easily set up an email address associated with your domain - your business.

2. Get a website built

It really doesn't have to cost the earth - especially when you can use powerful free open-source software such as Wordpress, that will allow you to set up an instant website and blog. If you're not used to setting up and running a website, you may need a little help - in which case, simply ask here.

You may be tempted to apply loads of extra features, such as a guestbook, or forum, but these will prove to be massive time sinks, targets for spam, and dilute your attention from writiner - even to your blog - by forcing you to spend significant time doing web admin duties.

However, if you do insist on a forum, try SMF forum if you're on a budget, as it's free. If you're really serious, spend money with xenforo.


The Marketing

Let's assume you have the website up and running, giving you a platform for your internet presence.

Now comes the marketing.

At this point, lots of writers make a big mistake, and start joining forums and newsgroups to advertise their book.

This isn't marketing on a budget - this is forum spamming. And it's liable to get you blacklisted online, preventing you from being able to sign up to many communities, let alone discuss your work.

Let me let you in on a little secret - the internet is not simply a string a websites - it's a massive interconnecting community of people in itself, and websites are the nodes of communication between these communities.

What you need to do is ensure that you're part of the conversation, not simply by introducing yourself, but by maintaining that conversation once you begin.

On your website/blog, ensure that you have a section - visible on every page - where you can link to interviews, reviews, social media accounts, forums you post in, and conventions you'll be attending. It's easy to do in Wordpress - just use the "bloglinks" feature.

The reason for doing this is that if someone is interested enough to visit your website, you want to maintain a conversation with them, rather than just leave and forget you.

And by providing links with positive information on your work, you can "pre-sell" that visitor - turn them from a casual browser, into a potential buyer of your book.

That's New Marketing.

If you're marketing on a budget, being able to set yourself up within communities who share an interest in the genre you've written for is a great start.

If your work is good, you start generating good referrals and recommendations from people. This helps your sales platform, and for some, it can really snowball...over a couple of years.

By itself it's not going to be enough of a marketing method for most though. The painful truth is that, at some point - and if you are really serious about promoting your work - you're going to have to start parting with your cash.

There are a couple of key ways you can do this:

1. Social media

Be warned - social media are communications channels, not marketing channels.

Studies show that Twitter and Facebook are - for the ordinary business - completely useless as a sales tool, unless it's to provide special offers.

In fact, only between 1-2% of followers on Twitter, and Facebook likes, will actively read any updates on those accounts - and the number that will even click anything is even lower.

Social media, like forums, and other online communities, are simply a way to communicate with others. The way to become noticed and interesting is to provide useful information and help to others.

This is your marketing angle - not "look at me, I've written a book" but "look at me, I provide things that you like".


2. Pay Per Click (PPC)

Another way to market your site is PPC - those ads to the right of Google when you do a search.

On the one hand, it can be a great way to raise the profile of your website and book and gain yourself high-quality sales leads. PPC can be a very effective marketing process.

On the other, it can be a very fiddly process, and if you don't learn how to track sales conversions with keyword targeting, then you can end up burning money.

If you have a large enough PPC budget, it may be worth hiring a company to manage the account for you. Just ensure that if you do, you know what they're actually do for you. Some will claim to be able to halve your PPC budget - but all they do is switch your campaign on and off during the day. Seriously.


3. Advertising

Believe it or not, advertising is often a very inefficient way to generate sales. The margins are often poor, and sometimes advertising campaigns are created out of vanity than any real brand awareness exercise.

As with many above points, you're going to have to exercise some initiative here - not least in finding website with real traffic in your genre area that will actually convert to sales profitably.

It can be done, but try not to get carried away with too much too quickly - remember, you're not looking for your name on every second webpage, but an actual return on investment.



Conclusion

Forget the daydream where you simply sell on the brilliance of your talent - that's all it is - a daydream.

If you're serious about being a writer, you're going to have to treat it seriously as a business - that's if you want to aim to be as successful as possible.

That may seem daunting, but the same can be said for writing a book. You got this far - don't give up now.

So to end, here's a few simple business tips to help you with your writing business:

1. Be professional at all times - alienate your industry and readers at your peril;

2. Mind what you say in public - search engines can be your friend...or your enemy;

3. Have clear goals - what you think you can achieve, and how to achieve them;

4. Remain flexible - the internet is as changing as the sea, so learn to surf the waves;

5. Persevere - success is 10% innovation, and 90% perspiration - or something like that;

6. Track your spending - don't throw good money after bad, make sure you know what returns you're getting;

7. Keep it real - keep your imagination in storytelling, and be practical in your business dealings;

8. Good luck!

Further links:
10 rules for engaging the social web
6 big marketing mistakes
How to build a successful online community

Updated: March 24th 2015

 

[kyektulu]

That is excellent advice Brian, thank you.

 

[the_faery_queen]

do you not think those payper click things can look desperate? i've seen some google adverts and they seem desperate. look at my book! do you think it will put people off?

and guestbook, well i have one, its moderated, so no spam for me! but yeah, most of it is sound advice, but all stuff i've done was hoping you'd have some new exiciting ideas for m! tho saying that, i may consider the pay per click when i have a bit more cash coming in. and definetly thanks for the forum links. its osmething i have been considering. tho i do get scared of trollish ness. but then, proper forums require logging in and emails and the rest, right?

thanks

 

[Marky Lazer]

Nice write up, Brian.

 

[Brian G Turner]

It's worth underlining that it's only a perspective from an internet marketing viewpoint - I wouldn't be surprised if Mark Robson has a different take on it from a publishing business point of view.

It's also worth pointing out that it's only a general overview - there's loads of avenues you could go with via SEO and advertising - I simply haven't been able to detail them all here.

As for PPC - I've seen some self-published authors really push on this. They often say something like "If you like XXX, then you'll enjoy XXX by XXX". However, whether they actually get much of a return on investment is another matter.

If it's any consolation, the PPC rate for SFF topics is pretty low - that's good for advertisers, but not so good for publishers.

The main thing I really wanted to get across is that simply joining online groups to advertise a new book or writing project is absolutely the wrong way to go about it. It's spamming, and it's badly received.

 

[the_faery_queen]

totally. that's one of my pet hates really. i guess cos before, i was jealous, and now, im like, well so do i! so saying, i hav a book out doesnt' interest me. i would read a book from someone i knew/had gotten to know. or someone who had a book out THEN i got to know them, but not someone who just shows off and then vanishes.

half the stuff i buy is because i know the author, have read their stuff before. so this is going to be no different. i'd buy a book based on knowing the author, just in a more actrual way this time, rather than through experience of their past stuff
or something.
if that makes sense?!

 

[Brian G Turner]

Yep - you're talking about viral marketing, but I figure that's getting a little more advanced.

 

[the_faery_queen]

im just glad i made sense!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I wonder how many books the viral marketing people sell by spamming really high-traffic sites, though? At a less specialized forum than this one, where thousands of people visit a day, how many people will read these messages before they get removed, people who are gullible enough to be favorably impressed by them?

Because I wonder about spam in general -- email in particular. All the people who try to get you to open their letter by pretending it's about something else altogether, or who get past your spam filters by deliberately misspelling words or on some other pretense? Isn't this directing their ads at the very people who don't even want the product? And mortgage lenders in particular. They expect you to have important financial dealings with them, when they've only attracted your attention in the first place by a trick as clumsy as it is dishonest? Yet someone must be responding favorably, or why do advertisers keep doing these things?

 

[dwndrgn]

I wondered about this same thing. Someone does respond. Since it is so cheap, they (the spammers) can easily send out millions of messages and if even less than 1 percent buys their product, it is cost effective. What I wonder is who is that one percent that were either fooled by the 'trick' or interested enough to buy from some outfit that would trick people into buying their product? Whoever they are, I wish they'd educate themselves and or limit themselves to brick & mortar shopping so that the spammers wouldn't get any profits at all and the need for spamming would go away. I'm tired of emails with the subject h*rbal v*agra or emails from Jennifer Chalmers and her "Importantmesage about your FreeGiftCertificate" all misspelled and typed up incorrectly and just plain annoying.

 

[Jeremy]

Thanks, Brian, for all the great advice. Personally I never had any desire to purchase books advertised by the author in a forum like this. I am very susceptible to the "hype" that a book is receiving. The books that I often considered buying were those on the best-seller lists, heavily advertised, or displayed prominently in bookstores. There were exceptions, but they were rare. I bought the last two Harry Potter books the first day they were available, even though I still haven't finished either of them. It took all my will power to resist the temptation to buy Eldest by Paolini. I think I am similar to the vast majority of book consumers out there. The moral for me, someone who dreams of becoming famous as a writer, is that I should focus all my energy and resources in finding a good agent, who will hopefully in turn find a big publisher that will spend heavily in advertising. Those are just dreams at this stage.

 

[the_faery_queen]

problem is, jeremy, not everyone can make it big onto the bestsellers, and these days, many publishers want epopel to promote their own books. so this way is going to be done far more often it hink. but i agree with you, i have yet to buy a book not in a bookshop or not by a well known person, because im a bit fussy and nervy. but my friend's book is coming out soon, and so that will be my first shot in small print purchses and i think, as mine is coming out the same way, that i should encourage more epople to take a chance on the self marketted things

and yeah, i always wondered if the spam ever worked. it must, right, or they wouodn't bother doing it? i know scams work sometimes, andi think, how, those people must be crazy to fall for those things. *shrug* it doesn't work on me, tho. because i tend to deliberately avoid anything that is spammy just on principle/

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

The moral for me, someone who dreams of becoming famous as a writer, is that I should focus all my energy and resources in finding a good agent, who will hopefully in turn find a big publisher that will spend heavily in advertising.

Sadly, Jeremy, it rarely works that way. What usually happens is that first the book or the author makes a big splash, and then the publisher spends heavily on advertising. Even then, it's less a case of the publisher trying to convince us as readers that we want what they have than an announcement that they have what we want.

In fact, the opportunities for fiction writers -- and particularly writers of genre fiction -- to promote our works have been, traditionally, very few. Oprah is never going to choose our books for her book club, and unless we become international best sellers first network talk shows are not going to book us as guests.

The thing about online advertising and promotion is that it's still comparatively new. It may offer us opportunities that we never had before. Or it may turn out to be the same thing all over again. We don't know yet, and we'd be foolish not to make the effort. It might also be that methods that were effective for a time may eventually cease to work at all. For instance with viral marketing, as people become more aware they're less likely to fall for some of the ploys. We get so much of it here, those of us who spend a great deal of time on this forum have learned to recognize it, often before we've finished reading the first sentence.

There may be other methods effective now that won't be effective next month or next year. We need to figure out what those methods are and use them while we still can, and not waste our time on other things that won't work.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I wonder how many books the viral marketing people sell by spamming really high-traffic sites, though? At a less specialized forum than this one, where thousands of people visit a day, how many people will read these messages before they get removed, people who are gullible enough to be favorably impressed by them?

Very little - as mentioned, people are especially interested in buying via recommendations. People hardly ever respond to the forum spamming we get here (and my other forums) so I don't believe there's any reason to believe it's a very effective method, regardless of traffic. Not enough to make a significant impression on sales. Added to that, most big forums are moderated anyway, so the forum is generally short-lived.

 

[Robert M. Blevins]

Some POD companies are getting better. Not those ripoff publish-your-ms outfits, I mean companies who can print/ship/track a book for you, even collect your payments and split royalties with a second author.

Lulu.com is one of the better ones. Of course, the best printer is probably Lightning Source, and they certainly are the cheapest. To use LS you had better know how to properly format for print, or it won't work. Research pays off here, plus some Adobe software.

Lulu is easier and provides more in-house services, a rating system based on paid sales, the extensive forums, free storefront (no paid premium storefront stuff here) and they have several shipping options, including FREE.

For example, at our modest press here in Seattle, when we use lulu.com to print and ship books, we can produce a six-by-nine inch paperback that retails for just under 10usd each, and THAT INCLUDES A GENEROUS ROYALTY. Lulu does practically every print format and size imaginable, at a workable price. Bulk discounts are generous. Staff is great.

On a personal note, they also pay royalties promptly. PayPal is every month, checks are quarterly, your choice.

Our favorite printer is definitely Lightning Source, though. They are good and print at wholesale rates. Study up before you use them. They also have minimum print runs...they won't do just one copy, usually.

Do NOT go to CafePress to have a book printed. They are smaller, of lower quality and cost one cent more per page, adding say...three dollars to the cost of a three hundred page novel. They do t-shirts and mugs at CafePress very well. Books? Well...

 

[argenianpoet]

For a minute there, I thought you were talking about the cosmos; man that was deep! Okay, I must admit that I would be no good at all of that, because somehow, some way I would mess up and get zapped. I think it's always easier to hire professionals to figure that stuff out for you then try to do it yourself when really you are only kidding yourself, because underneath your false confidence you don't really understand what you are doing. However, it was a very good, in-depth, view of how-it-works and what-not-to-do. I can only assume that you have mastered this yourself or you would not be posting it, right? Keep up the good work man; it's people like you that fledgling writers learn from...

 

[LeoCrow]

Very sound and reliable advice.
until recently,i thought that if you make something good,world of mouth would be the only thing you could want.as it turns out though,it is hard enough to make some friends get in your website, how can someone expect them to built word of mouth too?

as for the "search engine friendly" part,it is definatelly harder than it sounds.just today i was trying to make the sitemap etc that google want in order to consider your site "search engine friendly" and failed miserably.

about part of dave and davina,even if they are good in what they are doing, they will stil find it difficult to care enough in order to do you justice.that includes professionals.so either do it yourself or make sure that the professionals to all that you want,the way you want it and accept nothing less.

i do not think that pay per click advertising is a desperate thing to do,in fact i think it is a good idea.most people are annoyed by graphic ads,while ppc text ads are a simple was to be advertised in the right places and pay only for the result of it. spamming is a desperate thing to do but they usually think that even if one person submits to their spam,it is a success.besides spamming is free and quick.

anyway advertising is good but only if you intent to actually gaining money from your work (thus advertising does not apply to me). therefore can you suggest any alternate methods of promotion? do webrings etc help? thank you!

 

[Mark Robson]

It's worth underlining that it's only a perspective from an internet marketing viewpoint - I wouldn't be surprised if Mark Robson has a different take on it from a publishing business point of view.

I can't believe I missed this thread for so long! I must admit that when it comes to on line marketing I bow to Brian's experience. I do have a website. I don't have a clue how to get it noticed, but I've found that putting the website in my books and on my publicity material is bringing a bit of traffic my way.

I shall certainly look into some of the marketing techniques that Brian has mentioned, but I will probably pay someone else to do it, as I'm a complete technophobe!

As for spamming forums, well I suppose you could say that I shamelessly use this site to advertise my books, but I did not join for that purpose. This is the only forum style website that I belong to. I do have a membership at writing.com, but I don't go there much. My motto has always been "Be nice." That applies to me in any avenue, whether in the real world or the virtual. I've tried to make myself a part of this community. As a result, some of the members here have read some of my books - that is a bonus. Most of my marketing has been real world, one on one stuff. It's a slog, but it's paid dividends in the end. The more people that meet me, the more people read my work ... it's a simple philosophy, but it works.

I'd love to use the internet to its full potential, but I'm afraid there are not enough hours in the day for me to learn how.

 

[dragula_66]

I'd love to use the internet to its full potential, but I'm afraid there are not enough hours in the day for me to learn how.

This is not necessarily true, learning the basics of internet marketing is not a particularly difficult task, if you have the right resources. I have done two courses in it as part of the degree i am completing, and have come accross a very useful book, which is fairly simple and easy to read, yet quite descriptive. if you would like to learn the basics check it out. its called:

"Internet Marketing: Building advantage in a Networked Economy"
by - [SIZE=-1][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=-1]Rafi Mohammed, et al[/SIZE][/FONT] [/SIZE]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/s...e,+availability,-daterank/103-4497720-3151004

Heres a link to it http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0072865261/?tag=brite-21

Its quite expensive ($114 from amazon), but you could probably find it at a library.

Hope thats useful

 

[Brian G Turner]

For books on marketing, the big author to look at is Seth Godin (The Purple Cow, the Big Moo, the Big Red Fez, etc) - also check out Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point" for viral issues that can relate to marketing. A free book online is the Cluetrain Manifesto which predicted the shift to a new marketing economy for the web:
http://www.cluetrain.com/

The big daddy of all marketing books is Kotler's "Marketing Managament", but may be too detailed and comprehensive for smaller projects - but may still be worth it for a few chapters.

2c.