Posts
1.) HAVE FUN!
Trust me.
If you hate your marketing method, so will everyone else reading it!
Exciting fun is contagious. If you make a party of your marketing, your readers will sense it.
2.) CLIMB OUT OF THE PAST
Puttering on Facebook and Twitter is old hat ...
like trying to grind out your book on an old typewriter.
Be creative.
This April, I am speaking at a local Sci Fi Convention on how to write science fiction, fantasy, and go about getting published.
Make a book trailer
and host a contest to see if viewers can see the hidden key to a riddle contained within it.
Brainstorm a new road to get attention.
3.) MAKE YOUR BOOK STEAK AND NOT COTTON CANDY
Your book should add value to the reader's life and thoughts besides providing entertainment --
beyond what is already in print.
Does your book fill a need?
Does it tell a story in a unique way?
Does it spin a tale from a different angle from what is out there?
Does your book pose questions that will add depth to the reader's thinking?
Make her laugh?
Explore a human truth?
If not, you're just adding to the cyber-noise on the internet.
4.) LEARN THE ZEN OF YOUR WRITING
Each of us writes to a specific audience unconsciously.
We can try to adapt, but our worldview slips in when we are not looking.
In a market that is being flooded by millions of books,
we have to try to determine to whom we naturally write.
I'm not talking genre.
I'm talking discovering your natural niche of writing.
Once you discover it, you can fine-tune your prose to make it shine.
5.) MAKE YOUR BLOG YOUR NETFLIX
You know why Netflix series garner such loyalty?
Yes, they are quality ...
but you can gobble them up episode after episode
until you feel as if you know the characters intimately.
A good blog is consistent.
Like a Netflix episode,
it is about one thought or one problem that is handled in a short, concise, entertaining manner.
Do that and you will draw in an audience,
come to be seen as a friend, build trust,
form literary friendships --
all the while selling books.
How cool is that?
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ReplyDelete(Sorry about the above; I made a couple of weird typos)....
ReplyDeleteThis post and the one before it are excellent, Roland. You're going to get there! I say this because you've written so many amazing stories, and you're determined to market them. Marketing takes more work than writing, which is why I don't think I'll ever write another book, at least not to try for publication. I couldn't do the Indie thing, but I know you can. I'm halfway through the book you gifted me, Return of the Last Shaman, and I'm savoring the poetry, the storyline, the characters, the incredible bits of wisdom from the narrator that I know is YOU. YOUR voice. I hope in the great beyond we can meet face to face. You are indeed one of a kind. As for blogging....it was all I did to promote my book almost four years ago. It was the right time/right place for it. I don't think the fact that it's still selling....it's consistently on page 2 on the memoir and biographies and memoir categories...would have happened today. WiDo might not have even published it as it needed a lot of editing
Times have indeed changed, as you said in your last post. EVERYONE is writing, and some of it is very bad, and some of it is very good, and the economy has taken a downturn and a lot of people really aren't reading as much as they used to. But you know how to audio. Thanks for sending me this. When I finish reading the story, I'll see if I can figure out how to listen to it. May you have great success at the Sci-Fi convention, or as you posted (quote by my favorite Dieter Uchtdorf) at the very least I hope you Enjoy the Journey. As ever, your friend Ann
So good to hear from you, Ann!
ReplyDeleteI pray you are right about getting there. At least, I have made wonderful friends like you. Friends are the only true wealth we have in this life, and the only treasure we can hope to expect in the next.
I think of this life as boot camp, and I have certainly made a mess of it at times! Luckily, the Father is more forgiving than a Marine Drill Instructor!!
I am so glad your memoir is stil doing well. Writing it must have taken so much out of you, and then to have to market it to strangers ... well, my Stetson's off to you!
Yes, you found me out: I'm Wolf Howl at heart -- though he is far more wise and brave than I! Of course, I have hours to come up with his dialogue, too!! I have to make my replies up right at the moment.
I will pray that the Father lets us meet face to face in that Land that knows no Shadow. I'll introduce you to my mother who will give you a big hug I know!
And life is so strange and unpredictable, we may meet on these shores, too!
Yes, the economy is getting scary as is the whole world in general. I fall asleep, murmuring, "My times are in the Father's Hands."
There are so many writing novels now. I feel as if I am on a teeny, tiny raft in a wide deserted ocean.
I'm hoping my audiobooks help in some small way. Email Amazon, and they should be able to write you back on how to listen to the audio book I sent you. HIBBS, THE CUB WITH NO CLUE, wasn't it? I know you enjoyed THE BEAR WITH TWO SHADOWS.
I will be a tiny guest at the Sci-Fi Convention. More important speakers will be there and movie starlets, too!
I am so happy I quoted a favorite of yours, Dieter Uchtdorf! I hope you enjoy the journey of this new week, too!!
I am so very thrilled that you wrote me this comment!! It made my weary evening 1000 times better. :-)
As usual these are wise words, Roland. I'm so glad you'll be at a big convention! May it go splendidly for you.
ReplyDeleteAs for me -- you know I'm somewhat stepping away from writing, and the funny thing is that I'm now enjoying it more and worrying less about the publishing and marketing angle. Sometimes we just have to write to please ourselves. (Although your stories please me too!)
Congrats, Roland, what a great opportunity. Hope you make a big impact, and I'm sure you will! Wishing you the best! Hope you gain many fans.
ReplyDeleteHi Roland
ReplyDeleteI came over to visit you after seeing about you on Vesper's blog.
I wish you much success!
Great advice here!
All the best with your speaking engagement. Thank you for sharing your tips.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your speaking engagement and have a great time.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post. Very helpful. My blog posts are so random which is not good, but that's who I am.
My blog is NetFlix - awesome!!
ReplyDeleteAnd being creative is what I am trying to do with the Kargrandes site.
I hate marketing! Guess that helps explain why I'm so bad at it?
ReplyDeleteHelena:
ReplyDeleteI have written 33 books, writing only to please myself. It is freeing. I have recently won a first page critique from a new agent. Years ago I would have been thrilled beyond words. Now, I do not know. Thanks for being happy for me. I wish you the most healing of times just writing and living life to the fullest. :-)
D.G.:
You never know! I wish you healing for yourself and your family!
Margie:
You have a lovely blog, too. Have you downloaded my free book yet? Thanks for following. I've lost a few lately. :-(
Murees:
Cross your fingers for me with that speaking engagement. It's been a few years since the last one!
Teresa:
If you are true to yourself in your posts (as you are), you will have nothing to worry about. Thanks for the good wishes.
Alex:
I think your Kargrandes site is quite creative, and I would bet successful.
Patsy:
I hate marketing, too, so I try to make if fun for both me and the reader!!