Fiction Writers Top 5 Book Marketing Strategies

Hello and thanks for checking out my post. If I was to believe everything on the internet all I need to do is write a story and then pay someone to market my book. I could then simply retire to the Seychelles and watch the royalty payments come rolling in.

Now call me cynical but I don't see that being the actual reality for the overwhelming vast majority of authors. Since the advent of Self Publishing through the likes of Amazon KDP, Ingram Spark, Lulu to name but a few, basically anyone can write a novel and sell it online. But do they sell?

Reality Check

 “Book marketing should be a planned process, an art if you will.” – Heather Hart

OK time to get real. The fact that you have written a novel is absolutely fantastic and you really should be proud of yourself, it is a massive achievement. Very few people get as far as you have so pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Your now waiting for the 'but' part aren't you - well hear it is - did you know that every year over 95% of new books published online sell less than 100 copies? Not wishing to dampen your spirits even further but let's do some maths. Average paperback royalties on Amazon are £2.50 per book (there are so many possible variants selling price, exchange rates etc.) meaning that even if you sold 100 copies you will have made £250 (minus any expenses) for all the hours/days/months of effort it took to get your work out there. Does this mean that you should give up before you start - absolutely not - the reward of just one person willing to spend their hard earned cash on your story is simply amazing.

Professional Marketing

“The first draft of anything is shit.”  — Ernest Hemingway

How can I increase sales? As mentioned previously there is no magic solution despite what the marketeers tell you. If there was they would offer deals based on commission as opposed to upfront payments. That said there are some really good, hard working marketeers out there. They get your art, they will work with you, they are literally worth their weight in gold. But the truth is they know it and they will charge for it - we can't blame them for that. They have a skill and the last time I checked not one of them is a charity!

The cost of marketing really is open. In the traditional publishing world it is considered a dark art. Their strategies and plans are carefully controlled. I have even seen figures of as much as 80% of the advance i.e. if an author gets a £100k advance you can expect the publishing house to spend £80k on the marketing of that book. They do however have teams of marketeers to help get their books promoted so I don't feel that this figure is over the top. However for reputable independents it is more likely that they will want to know what your marketing budget is and they will work within that figure. If you do go down this route get them to tell you exactly what your money is being spent on, including their hourly rate!

Self-Publishing Self-Marketing Options

“Good stories are not written. They are rewritten.” — Phyllis Whitney

However, like the vast majority of fellow storytellers I don't have much money to spend on marketing. What money I have I spend on getting my book professionally edited along with a professionally designed book cover. Even the best marketing experts can't sell a piece of tat!

But it's not all doom and gloom, there are things that we authors can do to help get our books out into the world that don't cost the earth, and you may even have a little bit of fun along the way. So here are my top five Book Marketing Strategies for any aspiring self published novelist:

1. Build A Professional Looking Author Website. I appreciate that this will require some spend but I would highly recommend it. You can have a section where potential readers can find out a little bit more about you. maybe even post a video. People buy from people so if they can relate to you there is an increase chance of selling your book. Along side this you can have readers sign up to receive a newsletter or blog post. You can offer discounts and/or contests to your subscribers. It all helps to build a loyal group of buyers. If you don;t have money for this then assuming you are going to use Amazon KDP for sales then they have a free area for you to post details about yourself. It's called Author Central.
2. Leverage Social Media. This is not so much about posting on every platform your 'book for sale' details. Pushing this kind of content simply turns people away. It is also not about being on every single SM platform that there is. It's too exhausting. Work on the platforms that you are most comfortable with. Statistics show that visual based media is best for books. Now that doesn't mean sales. You need to work on the basis that SM is more about brand awareness and not just about book sales. Most platforms will hit your post distribution hard if it contains links to external sites. They don't want people to leave their site so you have to work within that constraint. Engaging with people is critical to building your audience. One thing that you can do is to set a launch date and work towards that date with a cover reveals, maybe some witty extracts or character definitions - obviously no plot details but something to showcase both the story and your writing style.
3. Increase Direct Engagement With Your Audience. This is the face to face stuff, the actual 'meet and greet' element of being an author. Now I understand that, like myself, most writers are uncomfortable about putting their heads above the parapet. However there are things we can do to reduce the stress, firstly try to do a book signing. That way you know people are potential buyers and interested enough to come and meet the author. Maybe you could participate in book fairs or even book festivals. Most book fairs and festivals have contact details. Contact local independent book shops or library - if you write children's stories imagine how great it would be to do a reading in a local library or school.
4. Increase Indirect Engagement With Your Audience. In essence this includes both digital and physical media opportunities. Try to get yourself a guest spot on a podcast, particularly ones that will broadcast in the lead up to your launch date. Seek out book related bloggers and/or authors in your genre to see if you can write a short article (Q&A type of thing) for inclusion in their blog. You could also target local newspapers and other relevant media outlets with a Press Release. Make sure you write a compelling headline and a bit of blurb about your book i.e. the key details with no spoilers, along with contact information. They are always looking out for stories with a local interest.
5. Collaboration And Reviews. This is a bit of catch all but still very important. Obviously through the writing phase you will have had your work read by editors, proofreaders, beta readers etc. But they won't have been able to provide you with the formal reviews that really help sell your art. ARC stands for Advance Reader Copy. These are digital or physical copies of your book that are sent pre-release day to strangers in exchange for their honest reviews. The purpose of sending out ARCs is to get early reviews. These early reviews help retailers, specifically Amazon, boost your book in their search algorithms and signals to them that “hey, people are reading this book.” For Amazon in particular, getting reviews is incredibly important, as Amazon’s algorithm doesn’t start prioritizing your book in searches until it has 50 reviews. Please remember it doesn't matter what the rating actually is. It's numbers that count and having the odd poor reviews just helps legitimise your work and you as an author, after all not everyone is going to like your work. There are companies such as Netgalley that do this, alternatively you can seek ARC readers yourself. You will of course have to give them a copy of the book! You can also approach book bloggers/influencers. Anyone that is prepared to promoted your work has to be a good thing right? Sadly please, please, please be careful, there are so many scammers out there offering to read your books and provide reviews - some charge £50-£100 or more, others might offer their services for free - some might be genuine the vast majority will simply pirate your work - you have been warned!!

The End Is Nigh

“Not all marketing people are writers, but all writers must learn to be marketers.” – Joanne Kraft

This blog has focused on providing a quick overview of the things we authors can do to help promote and market our books. It is not an exhaustive guide by any stretch of the imagination. I have also looked in how to do your marketing organically and for as little money as possible. Clearly a reputable marketeer will have a better grasp on what works or not. Clever, paid for, advertising will also help. But there is one simple truth, whatever you do, be it paid or free, there are no guarantee's in the literary world because if there was every book would be an international bestseller !!

I hope you have found this useful but if you do have any questions please let me know. Oh...one last thing before I go...millions of people throughout the world claim to want to actually write a book and you are one of the very few that have actually achieved that feat. You should be proud of yourself and as a fellow author I applaud your efforts, I know what it takes to get here so well done!