Don't Try To Write For Everyone!

You Can't Please Everyone!

OK, we all want to try and do this, but the reality is, it is completely impossible to please everyone out there. This is especially true when it comes to writing. You have heard me say this here, but writing and publishing is completely subjective. You know this even if you as writers often want to deny it when you submit stories to editors and agents. 

Think about it. When you have a friend hand you a book they totally loved and you start reading it and start questioning your friendship because of this book. What on earth were they thinking. This book is complete garbage. That, my friends is the subjectivity I am talking about. 

So, with that said, when you are writing your novel, quit trying to please everyone. Focus on YOUR audience. Yes, this does mean you need to do some market analysis and know who your market is, but that is who you have to focus on. It is that simple. This means, if you are an Inspirational Romance author then focus on that group. I don't care if what is hot right now in other genres might be dark romance, or romantic comedies, or even romantasy, stick to what YOUR group wants to hear. Don't leave your lane!

Another way I see people trying to do this is when they think "cross genre writing" will take care of everything. The issue here is you are not going to bring in people, you will actually drive off your readers. You can't say "My book is a historical, romance with a science fiction/fantasy feel that is part erotica but also will speak to those looking for a Christian message." Ummm, excuse me? Not going to happen. All you have here is a huge mess.

The same goes for your marketing of your books. You need to only focus on marketing in a way that your people will respond to. You should also only spend your effort marketing on platforms that they will be seeing your message. Consider this. If your audience is primarily an older audience, do you really think they will be learning the latest dance on TikTok? Probably not, so why would you be out there filming reels? This is a waste!

Just stick to one area and focus. You might be surprised at the success you will see!

Marketing Strategies For Authors

I just wrapped up my latest class with UCLA Extension on Marketing and PR for Authors and Agents. I always start out the class by stating two things: First, this class is an introduction and it will take time for each participant to really start to "figure things out"; and secondly, there is no single template to do anything in the publishing world.

And yet...

At the end of the course, I always ask students if there are things they wish we had covered more of in the course, and sure enough, time and time again, they want a template for how to do marketing for their novels. Ugh! Did they miss the memo?

Still, I felt that I wanted to bring this up for all of you because I am sure that there are a lot of you who get out there in the Internet looking for the single strategy that will multiply your sales 800%.

Hate to break it to you, but there won't be one. 

I want all of you to remember that every one of your books are different. Every author out there is different. The voice you have in your story is different than your critique partner, and yes, even different from your last book. Your readers are different. The format for each of your books will be different. Do you see the single word that pops up every time? DIFFERENT! This means that what works for one book will not always work for another book. What works for your critique partner may be an utter failure for you.

Let me take this a different direction. For my first Master's Thesis, I looked at the interaction between TEACHER, STUDENT, CURRICULUM and ENVIORMENT on student learning. I had just created a curriculum for my classroom and it was an utter success. My ultimate goal was to show that this program would work for everyone. I get it. I was young and believed I could solve everything! I had a colleague try it and it failed. What happened? Well, the thesis proved it. These 4 elements had to work in collaboratively to see success. If one of those pieces failed, student learning failed. 

The same goes for publishing and marketing. Your book has to be aligned to a lot of variables out there: The reader, the voice, the time, the publisher, the format of your book, and yes, even your ability to do the marketing.

So, why is there no template? Simply put, one size does not fit all. 

And now you are all screaming, "But Scott, how do I know what will work?" The answer is both simple and difficult. The first is to look at all of those variables and see what pattern is showing up? Think now as the person receiving the marketing? Would that appeal to you? Would you buy your book? The second part is the difficult part - It requires both time and critical thinking skills. 

I wish there was an easier answer, but there isn't.

 

Why Did "THAT" Book Get Published

I am sure you are all like me. You pick up a book that is from an "acclaimed" author, or one from someone who is getting rave reviews for the book. You are excited. This should be a great read. And then you get barely 3 chapters in and you are just screaming. What is so darn amazing about this book? Why is this book getting so much attention? How on Earth did it make it to that Best Selling Book List? Surprisingly, it is not always about the quality of the book. 

This is all a numbers game. 

Let's consider a few things. To move up those Best Sellers List, look at that middle world, It all comes down to if someone bought the book or not. When you ran to the bookstore to buy that latest book that you want to throw across the room, or you downloaded it to you e-reading platform, you just moved it one more notch to the top. 

Let's also consider which books move up those lists. It is the authors writing for those bigger publishing houses who are marketing that book like crazy and making it visibly available to readers. Those of you self-publishing are just hoping to find someone. If you are at a publisher that has a limited space available on those book shelves, you will get smaller numbers of sales.

But these authors have their names EVERYWHERE? Yes, again part of that is due to the publishers, but these people are also marketing things like crazy. One author I know of has marketed the same book all year but in different places and in different formats. They also enter every contest imaginable (including those small ones that almost ensure a win) to get their name out there.

Finally, those reviews are stemming from a great street team. A street team are those people who you know will always post great reviews. The more on your team, the more reviews. 

The deal is, and this is unfortunate, but it is does not always come down to the quality of the book. It is all about marketing.

Spamming Editors, Agents, Authors and Bloggers = Not Cool

When we are talking about marketing, it is always great to have a following of people who will always share your links to your books, and, in return, you are going to do the same thing. This cross marketing is a fantastic way to get the word out. HOWEVER, in our world of social media, we have a lot of people, not just in publishing, who believe that the best way to promote their product, is to essentially spam market on other people's platforms.

I frequently find, as I am either blogging here, or sorting my emails, authors who are jumping on my platforms and filling my emails with their personal products. Now, let me first say, these are often books and products that have nothing to do with Greyhaus Literary Agency so I would obviously not follow up. For example, I might post how editing your manuscript for grammar before sending it to agents is a really good idea (which, um, yes, it is). Then, I get a comment from someone who writes:

Scott, everything you said in this post is right on the money. Grammar and spelling are truly important and thank you for posting. As a follow up, here is a link to my service where I will provide not only copy editing, but also cover design for your book. Thank you for sharing my link.

Wait a minute! I did not offer to share your link. You just scrolled through the Internet and linked your product to it. So, what do I do? Delete your comment and move on. And since these comments show up in my email immediately after you posted, the odds are it was a waste of time. 

Another example are the authors who are likely going through those awful lists posted by someone who says, "Here are links to all of the agents". They then go through that list, copy all of the emails and start sending out emails with their blog posts, their social media campaigns and so forth. Ugh.

Look, if as an author, you are upset by the fact that you are not hearing back from editors and agents right now, it is because we are SWAMPED! We have all of our own clients, but we are also sorting though all of those SPAM emails that fill our inbox. 

If you want to learn more about honest social media marketing and connecting your product to the right people, there are a ton of courses out there that teach you just that. Take the time to learn. You will find that your name and reputation in the business world may greatly improve!

Promotion: Your Role As An Author

One comment I see a lot in query letters is something along these lines: "I do want you to know that I will do all I can to promote my book."

I hate to break it to you, but this is expected.

If your career takes you into traditional publishing, will you have the support of your marketing, art and business team at the publisher? You better believe it. These people work really hard to make sure your story gets into the right hands. But with that said, remember you are just one of many authors with the publisher. So what does that mean?

You get to do a lot of work on your end as well.

Publishers know you have connections they might not have. They can take care of those bigger bookstores, but what about those smaller ones? That is up to you.

This is one of the struggles a lot of new authors face. Writing the book was one thing, but now, on top of the writing, your time now has to go to marketing. Now, instead of creating that rocking scene in chapter 12, you get to spend half of your day on social media, promoting that last book. Now you are running contests, heading to the post office to mail books to your reviewers, getting on Zoom for chats with your readers... the list is endless.

I really do hate this term while we are still in this Covid-19 thing, but, when it comes to marketing, "We are all in this together." The more you do and the more you get your name out there, the better the chance people will be reading your books and buying future books!

Marketing Requires Thinking Outside Of The Box

I want to start with two observations:

1. Authors are always complaining about a lack of sales and all the marketing they are doing does not seem to be effective.
2. Authors are always marketing in closed systems

These two are very much interrelated. Over the last week, I have seen a lot of authors really trying to promote their books. This IS a good thing and I certainly commend them for the efforts. But here is the thing. I only knew of these authors promoting their books because I was "following" these authors. I was already aware of these authors through social media. And that is the bind. They are simply promoting in a closed system.

Let me explain it another way. One group I follow on social media is the Harlequin Historical authors. These authors are incredible with their promotions, the blog posts, their chats and so forth. Literally, everyday, I see something about their latest book, or specials or something. But why do I hear about these people. Because I found out about their loop from one of my authors who stumbled upon it. So, who are they promoting their books to? People who were already in the know.

The same goes for promotions on Twitter or Instagram (and I am sure their are others as well). I would only know about your latest book or giveaway IF I was following you and knew about you.

Now, I know what many of you are saying...well we could but their are no bookstores anymore and right now, with the Covid-19 thing, even if we had a bookstore, how would we get that promotion out there. I would say three things here. Bookstores have been on the decline since 2008 so this is nothing new. Secondly, were people even going into those remaining bookstores and how do we know they stumbled across your book? Finally, yes the Covid-19 thing is stopping people from going into bookstores, but again, how many people would be going into those bookstores and how do we know they stumbled across your book?

So, we can talk about getting reviews for your books and getting the word out that way. OK, that sounds great, but in reality, how many people follow those random book reviewers. There are thousands out there and AGAIN, unless you know about these people and follow their individual blogs, you would not know. Those that do, probably already knew about your book release.

This becomes a huge issues for new authors who have no following, or those of you who have tried to be self-published and just toss those books out there on Amazon. 

I am not going to sit here and tell you of magic cures for that great promotion. Why? Because I do not think there is a single way of doing things. But, to become recognized, you have to be creative. You have to think outside of the box. Doing what you have always done is not going to get you anything new. For example (and by the way, I do not know what the success was here), I remember leaving my daughter's college in upstate New York and heading back to the airport. I passed a farmers market, it was huge! But what caught my eye was one stand, among the fruits and vegetables, of an author with a huge sign that said Romance Author - Book Signing. The author found a crowd and thought outside of the box. 

Your challenge this week is to do just that. What new ways can you get your name out there? 

Look Outside Your Circle

Promotion and marketing is really an important part of your professional writing, and yet, so many writers really are not being successful with getting their names out there. The biggest reason is that they are in a closed system.

We talk extensively about getting your name out there. This is TRULY a proven step for increasing sales. The more your name is out there, the more people remember you, and there is an increased chance they will buy your book. If you are out of the readers' minds, you lose out on sales.

So what do we do? We emphasize using that social media we love so much. But here is the flaw to that approach.

The only people who will see your posts are those people who already follow you. You are simply not going to get new readers. You are, essentially, preaching to the choir. Your followers were already likely going to get your new book.

So, how do you get the word out to people who don't follow you? That becomes the big challenge.

You can try review sites, but again, unless people follow those review sites, your name is not making any forward movement. I also hate to break it to you, but most readers are not on those sites. It is all of you writers who are reading each other's reviews.

You can push to have your followers make sure to forward your name to their loops. This works great, but you have to be amazingly organized and VERY proactive.

Getting out to conferences and teaching workshops is always great, but again, you have to think OUTSIDE of your loop. Presenting just to your own writing chapter is not getting the word out.

So, for this Friday, I would love to hear what you do to get new followers!

Time Outside Of Writing As A Professional Writer - Question from an author

This is a great question...

If a writer is fortunate enough to become published by a publishing company (not self), how much promotion and/or marketing does the publisher expect the writer to do to help sell the books? Not that I would ever say no, it's just that I'm wondering how much more time needs to be found for this aspect of a writing career. Also, does the author's agent help guide the author through the promotion process, tips and tricks to do well, or is this something that is between the publisher and the author only?

This all depends on the publisher and your level within that company. If you are a new author, you have a on of work ahead of you. I did call one of my authors and asked her how much time she spends. She told me that, pretty much, on a daily basis, she is spending 45-60 minutes a day with marketing. This might be new ad campaigns, answering review mail, getting ARCS out to her street team and so forth. I did ask if this is normal and she did state that prior to a new release, she is often promoting all morning and then gets to her writing in the afternoon. I should note, this author often does 1 chapter a day, 15 or so pages of text and does this in about 3 or so hours. She is ALSO works full time.

If you have a publisher, the odds are that you will be included with all of the other people being released that month so you will get a blurb and a cover photo. You might get social media, but that depends on how aggressive your editor and marketing team are.

Now, as far as the agent and his or her role in the promotion process, most will provide you suggestions but they are not here for marketing. This is the role of a PR person. Do we market though? Sure! If you have an books signing or a promotion, we make sure others who follow us know. We "Like" your posts and so forth. Ever now and then, I get online and post up coming authors and their latest novels.

But, in the end, you have a lot of work you will need to do on your part. This will also include getting out to conferences, being a public figure, offering to teach workshops or sit on panels... the list is endless.

The reality is, that when you become a published author, your work just doubled!

Who Sees Your Book Promotion?

In an age where those bookstores are not as abundant as they were back in the early 2000's, authors now need to rely on alternative methods for getting the news out about their latest release. But the real question is, who is actually seeing any of your promotions?

Let's start with social media. If you are on any of these platforms, you have to remember that people are not just "stumbling " across your information. For any of these readers to see your announcements, they have to follow your site. I know this sounds really basic, but we often forget that. I was speaking with another author about just this and she noted that it seemed like the only people following her posts or commenting on her posts were the other authors in the group. Probably not that effective?

Now, let's talk about Blogs and Vlogs. The same think happens here. The only people who would see anything you do are people who even know who you are or how to find you. Without building up that clientele,  the work you do is simply not making any forward progress.

OK, so if this is not working, how about those reviews you get? You got it. The same thing happens here. Unless the reader follows that book reviewer, or they follow your social media, the news is not going to get out to people.

Now what?

This is where you need to really utilize your friends and your personal network. Many authors have what they like to call, their "Street Teams." These are people who do follow the author, but they really work on extending that network for you. When you post something, they immediately launch into sending that information out to everyone they know.

This group also does another important task. If they read your book and love it, they immediately get on all of the "BIG" sites like GOOD READS, AMAZON, BARNES AND NOBLE and the like and post those great reviews.

The other thing many of these people do is to utilize common "Hashtags" that might draw in readers. For example, around conference time, when I post something about submissions, workshops, pitch appointments, etc, I make sure to use the current RWA conference hashtag. The idea is to tap into those links.

Is there any easy solution to this? Not really! To be successful though, you have to be creative, think outside of the box and really push yourself.

I would love to hear what some of your are doing? Let me know. But please, don't just use this blog post to advertise. I promise, I will delete that advertising.

It Still Takes A Great Book

I had several of my authors taking workshops in Denver, at the RWA Conference, on different marketing strategies for their books. Workshops like this are appearing everywhere - not only at

conferences, but in online workshops, blogposts, articles, and books. Authors, like many of you, quickly buy into these ideas as the ultimate way to achieve those dreams of publishing success. If that is the case, Doc Randall here has something to sell you that might also help.

Unfortunately, what many of these "experts" are missing, and what you as authors are missing is the real concept that will make that novel a success. These workshops leave off the fact that your story has to be amazing in the first place. The key to success of a novel has to start with the novel.

I also teach composition writing, and I too teach many of the students the things that they can do to enhance those grades. Fantastic formatting, graphic illustrations in the text, the use of things such as side-bars and so forth. We know that when an instructor picks up that paper, their mind immediately starts thinking that student put in a lot of time and effort into the project. Thinking that, the grade already is moving in a positive direction.

We know this is also the way with anyone seeing something for the first time. You have heard me use the expression from the Head and Shoulders Shampoo commercial here before: "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." That is what the marketing people are pushing.

These workshops proclaim the use of graphic design programs to create incredible social media campaigns. They talk about strategies for newsletters, blog posts and the like. And yes, we know these work, but it is still going to come back to the book.

Let me explain it this way.

How do you discover new authors? How do you discover that next book you read. The odds are, it is coming from a recommendation from someone else who read the book. How many times have you told someone else, "I just finished this book and you HAVE to read it!"

The thing about book sales is that is revolves around word of mouth. We learn about how amazing the book is when a friend tells us about the book.

It is only AFTER you have gotten the readers hooked that this social media is going to work for you. Think of it this way. If you don't have followers on social media, how will they find your fantastic social media campaign. They have to know of you first and the odds are they are not going to just randomly stumble across you.

So, what can you do as an author? You have to get your friends to talk about your book. You need to talk about your book. Get those followers first, AND THEN, work on those campaigns.

Keep Your Story Simple

I feel like I am always trying to get this point across to authors. Yesterday, however, an editor I was working with used a different explanation that made a lot of sense.

What we are talking about here are authors that make stories far too complicated than the stories need to be. They add sub-plots. They add a ton of external conflicts. They go over-board linking prior stories to the one they are working on, and then try to set up things that will happen in the next three books. Too much!

Now, while this does add depth and can work for some authors (primarily those writing large scale epic level novels, for the general novelist, this is over-kill. The issue now comes to play when the author is trying to market his or her story to agents, editors and book-buyers. You might be one of those people. Consider this...

Is your synopsis more than 5 pages in length?
Do you have to explain your story by telling the listener the backstory of how the plot came to be?
If you write historical, do you have to re-tell the entire historical period down to the exact dates of the events?
When you tell the story, do you also have to give us an in-depth understanding of the secondary characters and even those that only show up 2 or 3 times in the entire novel?

Then you probably have an issue.

So, what was the great explanation one of my favorite editors gave? She simply said that authors need to put themselves in the shoes of their editor. It is that person who is going to be responsible for drafting up the back cover copy. It is that person who is going to have to explain the story to the marketing team and the art department. It is that person who has to put together the publicity. To do so, your editor (and yes your agent has to do the same thing) has to have something short, simple and to the point. As she noted to me, that back cover copy has to be 75 words or less. And, for some of you out there, that is going to be tough.

Why does it have to be this way? Because it will be easier to remember. It will be easier to capture the essence of the story to show the uniqueness of the project when "selling" it to others.

As you get ready to start that new novel, you need to think of those 75 words. It has to be exact. It has to be to the point. I cannot be full of fluff and clichés such as "sparks flew when..." This is 75 words that have to tell us about the hero, the heroine, the conflict and their motivations. BAM!!!

This is not about word economy but a plotting issue. It is about getting to the point of the story, and then, when you start writing it, stick to it!

So, here is your challenge. Try it today... Try answering these simple questions and then blending it together:

1. Title
2. Word count
3. Genre
4. Tell us about the setting
5. Tell us about the hero
6. Tell us about the heroine
7. Tell us about the conflict
8. Tell us about their motivations

Now keep it to under 75 words.

Have fun!

Sales Sell, Reviews Don't

When authors submit query letters to editors and agents, they are often told to show the success of your writing. This is so true. If you have written in the past, we want to know of those successes! We want to see that we are getting someone who not only knows the business, but has found a way to do well in the business. We do the same thing when we submit resumes and cover letters to potential employers. The goal is to demonstrate that new company is getting a winner.

When it comes to query letters though, many authors miss the mark. These authors rely on reviews and comments they have received for their novels and not sales. Now, why is this not going to work for us? For the simple reason that reviews are not only subjective, but can be written by anyone. Let me give you some examples.

Let's start first with Amazon. This is a known procedure that many companies have used around the world. To hype up the quality of their business, they write their own reviews. They have their friends write reviews. Yes, they get great reviews, and yes, they now show up as 5 star reviews, but it isn't really an accurate reflection of what the whole public is thinking about. Authors do the same thing. When their novel comes out, they "take to the streets!" They get their followers to hype up the quality of their book.

I am not saying those reviews are lies. Those followers love their books. They would buy anything that person puts out. But these are VERY subjective and don't give the editors or agents an accurate picture.

Another twist to this would be getting those advance reviews for your books. This is always a great way to add comments to those advertising campaigns. but again, this can be a bit subjective and still will not give the editors and agents an accurate picture. Why?  Because authors know which places to send their books and where to avoid. If they already know a particular review site tends to be extra critical, or is not a big fan of a particular genre, they avoid it. Smart move, but again, not an accurate

picture.

What gives us a true picture are sales. How many units have you sold? How much money have you brought in on that book that you now want to be represented? Give us an accurate picture.

Again, be accurate with this. Don't try to hide the fact that you sold a ton of books, but did so marking everything down to $.99 to hype up sales.

Here at Greyhaus, I am always willing to look at books that have been previously published, but I always ask for authors to send me sales figures. If you show us the last three months worth of sales, this gives us a great idea.

A couple of days ago, I posted something similar when it came to the Shark Tank concept. I mentioned one guy heading into pitch to the Sharks but only had $200 worth of sales. Despite the fact that the product sounded like it was amazing (note, this came from reviews), when he showed sales, he demonstrated that the product might not be as strong as he had hyped it.

I want to remind you of something you have all been told when it comes to your writing. SHOW DON'T TELL. The same holds true with your stories and the marketing!

What Are You Doing To Market Your Book?

In today's publishing climate, marketing is essential. There are so many authors out there and only so many readers. If you have ever gotten online to find a new book, you know what I am talking about here. We can sit for hours, scrolling through title after title, just to find one potential book.

Readers out there need to be guided to your books. They are not likely going to just stumble across your book.

Unfortunately, many writers are still living and trying to make it with the old model of marketing. In that older model, the publishers would create marketing plans to get their authors' titles out there to the readers. Publishers would ship out to those great brick and mortar stores piles of books as well as marketing plans for each of the titles.

But that doesn't necessarily happen any more. This is especially the case for those writers who are taking a self-publishing approach or even working with smaller publishing that have limited resources for marketing.

Authors now have an increased responsibility to add to that marketing plan. Authors have to find a way to get their titles out there to the readers. There is not a "one size fits all" approach. What works for one author may not work for another author. Finding that right approach is not going to be easy, but it is important for authors to make that attempt.

If you want to see sales improve, you have to ask what you are doing personally to get your titles out there.

So, what are YOU doing?

Why Do You Have All Of Those Rejections?

I was reading an article from an author who was going on and on about all of the great things in self-publishing. This post, however, is not about the whole traditional versus self-publishing argument. It is about the reason this author turned to self-publishing.

This author described her experience with trying to get an editor or agent to look at her story. In the entire time she was marketing the project, supposedly she only received on request for a partial. She went on to note that she did get an agent to sign on with the book, but in the end, the agent just couldn't sell the book. On the surface, this sounds like the normal thing we hear from so many authors. But you have to dig a bit deeper with the story to know why this book didn't sell.

Please note, I am going to keep things a bit vague here so as to not make this about the author. I want to focus on the project.

This was a paranormal book involving obscure characters out of mythology. This book was really large, had an extremely complicated plot line and took the characters in directions that people wouldn't normally associate with the characters (for example taking Snow White and turning her into a paranormal prostitute serial killer).

What this author faced with a product that was simply not marketable. Because the author took such a different and unique approach to the story, it was simply not something anyone was going to buy. The lack of success this author had was not a result of the system being unwilling to look at different projects, but the fact that the story was not going to work in the market.

I talk about this all of the time when I work with writers. Before you even start working on a project, you have to do some market research. Is this a product that will sell out there. Will people really want to buy this?

I think I mentioned this before, but I talked to an author who was trying to sell a biography of her mother. The mother was a great person, but she had really done nothing special. She just grew up during the depression. The author believed this was a great story and well written. While it might be, this was a product that the general public would not buy. The story was destined to fail from the beginning.

If your story is not selling, writers need to begin first with the actual story. You might have enjoyed writing the darn thing, but if there isn't a place out there on the physical or virtual bookshelves for it, this might be the reason the rejections are flowing in. You cannot blame the system.

And I guess I should add one final note. Because the system is not buying your story, this is not a justifiable reason to go shoving the book in the self-publishing market.

Sometimes Great Stories Don't Sell

I know all agents and editors have received a follow up letter after a rejection where the author complains that the person rejecting doesn't know a great book from a hot rock. They often go on to
say that if the "publisher/editor/agent" were more open to things then... I think you get the idea. While I understand that much of this response is purely emotional venting, what these authors fail to think about often is what that this is a business. We are selling a product to a buyer and that would be the readers out there. If the market simply will not buy the product, then your book will not sell.

What is unfortunate, is that we often see some fantastic writing! There are a lot of you who tell some great stories and create some great characters, but that does not mean the book is going to sell.

As agents and editors, when we look at proposals, we are also looking at projects in terms of the market. We are always doing "market research." In some cases, we are looking at hard core data that the marketing departments have acquired. Many publishers, for example, do this when it comes to titles. They know that certain words in the title will bring the book to a screeching halt, while other titles will see spikes in sales. They also take the time to know what type of characters work and what type don't work.

In other cases, that market research is purely casual. Through conversations with other professionals or simply scanning the bookshelves, we can see who is selling, what they are selling and what the trends seem to be.

If you are someone who loves watching SHARKTANK you have seen similar situations. How many times have the Sharks passed on projects that they liked, or that they liked the enthusiasm of the inventor, but they simply saw no way to market the product? A Lot!

As authors, it is always important to take the time before you start a story to really identify if this is a story that will sell, or one you simply want to write. You may love the project, but if the story is simply not going to sell to the general public, this might not be the story to write, especially if you want to be a professional author.

I remember teaching a workshop at a Romantic Times convention one year and this author came over to chat about her book. She was writing a biography about her mother. This author was very enthusiastic about the project and you could clearly see she had really worked hard with the project. The problem, however, was this story was simply not unique and was not going to sell. She was writing about what it was like to grow up in the depression. She was focusing in on how the family struggled and how they had to manage on a limited income...and to take a line from Sienfeld "yada, yada, yada." Her only answer as to what was unique about this story was that it was a story that "had to be told."

This is a case, where that story was one that was indeed important to the other members of her family, or the people who know her mother, but for someone on the outside, this was nothing more than the same things we all read in our US History books.

So, please remember, there are times when we know we are passing on good projects. But, also remember that we are all in this for the same reason. We want to sell those books.

Using Multiple Approaches Works To Get the New Out

I have attended several workshops at writing conferences where I have heard authors speak of finding other ways, other than social media to get the news out about their latest releases. Some of the authors have commented that things such as Facebook are just not effective.

I have some news for you....

Social media does work!

A friend of mine works in the area of social media and emergency services with the Virtual Emergency Management Association and the Clackamas County Communications. This last week, they unrolled the latest addition to their 9-1-1 program, allowing people to text in their 9-1-1 call if necessary.

This is what she posted in response to those who don't believe in social media:

Naysayers of social media often tell me that social media never reaches those without online accounts. And I smile.
Earlier today, my mom called to tell me about text-to-911. She heard about it because my Cousin Ian boarded a bus in Scotland and ran into my Aunt Barbara who told her what I have been up to. She returned home and called my mom, who lives 20 minutes away from me.
That, my friends, is why I smile at the naysayers.

For authors, you have to find multiple ways to get the news out to your readers. You cannot just rely on one approach. You have to attack the market on all fronts. Sure, Facebook might not be your friend, but it is for other people. Sure, you might not be interested in Twitter, but others do like it. Others like Pinterest so use that.

If you think about how you have found out about books, movies or other new things, a lot of that comes from word of mouth. You know what I mean - A friend tells you that he read something on a Twitter post, that connected to Facebook, that someone else heard on NPR.

That is how the world works.

Look, I get that adding in all of these other approaches can be a pain. I also know that it is going to suck up some of your writing time. But, if it increases your sales, then I say go for it!

Just a real world example to think about for a Friday

Question From A Writer - Marketing

Now, to my question. My personal dilemma is (thinking business here) could I realistically do both, write and market myself. How do I go about learning what is involved in the marketing part of a writing career, such as time, expectations and the correct way to go about it?
(I'm afraid I've become a dump bucket for tons of conflicting internet info on this topic and have gotten lost in the sludge.)

This is a great question and one a lot of writers face. Let me see what I can do to answer this for you.

First of all, yes, you realistically can write and market your own work. In fact, it is expected that you will be doing that! If you are working with a traditional publisher, you have the benefit of their marketing team working with you on getting the word out to the readers. If you do this through a self-publishing model, you end up doing a lot more on your own.

I think it is important to realize that the business does not work with a writer just finishing his or her novel and then expecting others to do the work for you. It will take time and energy on your part. 

Now, if you do want to invest in the marketing a bit more, there are individuals out there who are PR specialists. You can hire them to take care of getting the news out, building websites and so forth. They are great, but yes, they will cost you some money. The trade off is, you now can focus your attention on writing and doing the marketing things you personally want to do and let them do the dirty work. Personally, until you really hit the big time, I would probably not head in that direction.

As far as the education goes, you know what I always say here on the blog. This takes time. You will need to take some time to start watching what other authors are doing. When you follow your favorite authors on social media, you can start to see how they get the news out there. When you go to conferences, you can see the things the writers are doing to get the word out! It is really an issue of finding what works best for you and your books.

I would also encourage attending conferences and listening in on sessions that focus on marketing. I will tell you, from past experience, a lot of the information right now is designed for people who are taking the self-publishing approach. Some of that information will work for you and some may not. It is up to you to sort the information out.

As far as the "conflicting internet information" understand that each writer out there is taking a different approach. Again, what works for one may not work for someone else. It isn't so much conflicting information but simply different ways to market. What you need to do is find what works best for you!

I think the big thing to remember is that marketing is a part of being a professional author. It will take up time in your writing career. But, in the end, when you find something that works, you will see some changes in your sales numbers. 

Hope that helps!

Who Knows About Your Book? Understanding Name Recognition

"Hey, I just finished this great book. You should read..."

How many times have you heard this comment and followed that advice? If you are an avid reader, there is a pretty good chance this is how you discovered a new book and possible a new and exciting author to add to your "to be read" pile. Because we are living in a world without those wonderful bookstores we loved to spend countless hours and who knows how much money in, getting an author's book out there to the reader becomes even harder. This is especially hard for new authors. But there are things that can be done.

No, I am not going to talk about marketing strategies or pricing adjustments. I simply want to talk about getting your name out there. What we know from countless studies is that name recognition is one of the biggest driving forces for people when making decisions. We see this right now in the US elections. The goal of many of the candidates is to get their names out there. The more we see of a candidate, the more likely we are going to choose that candidate. The same goes for all of those signs we see around the neighborhoods.

Examine those signs carefully. You will notice a lot of ways the graphic artist has crafted the sign to make you think of something you already know. I remember a sign for a candidate up here in Washington, who used a similar red and white image such as that of the Coke logo. So what does this do? When that voter gets ready to complete his or her ballot, it is often down to name recognition. "Oh, I remember that person!" You might even believe that there was something your read or heard that made you like that person. The odds are, however, it was probably about the name.

For authors, getting your name out there as much as possible is key. The more we see your name on a book in a bookstore increases your chances for later sales. This is part of the reason so many publishers believe in that back to back release of titles. You just finished book 1 and when you head into the store next, there is that name. "Wow! I loved that author," you exclaim and buy the book.

But what about the reviews we fight so hard to get? Don't those count? Well, sort of! Sure, having a great review is always amazing. To be able to say you title is a 5-star review is great. But the sales are coming not so much from your review, but the fact that you (and hopefully your publisher) are out there on social media, canvasing the world with your name. The goal is always the same. The more we see your name, the more we start to believe you must be doing amazing things as an author.

Think about those goody bags from conferences. Everything from book marks, to hand sanitizing liquid fills those bags. The odds are, for many of you, the content written on those items is not what you focus in on. You just see that name, over and over and over again. Again, the same effect is taking place. You will remember that person's name next time you have to buy a book. It might happen as soon as you go into the conference book store or you head into a book signing for that free book. You will gravitate to the name you are familiar with.

This is one of the things that makes professional writing difficult. A lot of the time you were spending on your writing now needs to be devoted to finding a lot of ways to get your name out there to the readers. It might seem a pain in the you know what. but we know it works.

So, who knows you as an author? If very few do, then maybe you need to get out there and spread the news today!

Don't Assume Anything In Your Query Letters

I have always argued that query letters are no different than cover letters you would include with your resumes you send in to future employers. The agency, or that publisher is your future employer. This means that your query letter is a marketing tool. Unfortunately, I see far too many authors who treat the query letter as simply an informational brochure. When authors do this, they are assuming the editor and/or agent will understand what you are submitting, why it is important, and why you are the best person for the job.

Now, don't get me wrong here. Agents and editors are not idiots. We know when we get something that slightly resembles a query letter, that this is a submission. But, you cannot assume that we see the same things about your project or your writing that we do. It is your job to sell us on your project and you as a writer. Why is it that we need to invest the time and money on you and your writing.

If you think of a cover letter, when you apply for a job, you don't just shove a resume of CV in front of an employer and say, "See? I'm qualified." You have to show them and explain to them why you are the perfect match and why their entire existence depends on you being hired. Even in the descriptions on your resume, you take the time to not just highlight what you did with the company, but to focus in on the RESULTS of the work and the OUTCOMES you achieved.

For the query letter, you need to do the same thing. Why is this story an important document for me to want to read? Why is it that this story, out of all the other projects is a must for the editor or agent to acquire? If all you can come up with is that the story is set in Mongolia and no one has written about a setting like this before, then don't expect anything amazing.

Consider this. If you are writing a women's fiction piece about a woman who has struggled with her identity her entire life. Maybe she was married before and things just didn't work out. She and her husband divorced simply because they fell out of love. But the real issue is that she is now realizing that she really identifies with the LGBT community. Marketing this in a time of this change might be just the thing people are looking for. You have a timeliness factor on your side and, if you can demonstrate that the story is not preaching a position, but looking at this from a real world approach, you might have something unique.

It is also important to realize that editors and agents are reading a lot of these submissions on a daily basis. The odds are, they aren't sitting there and giving every query letter a huge block of time for contemplation and reflection. We wish we could, but the odds are, it isn't going to happen. For this reason, you need to clearly spell things out for the editors and agent.

Let me finally say that some of you might say this is why you have gone with the self-publishing approach. You don't need to sell  anyone. In fact, it should be up to the agent or the editor to sell you as the author on why we need to work with you. The problem though, is that you are still off the mark. If you are self-publishing, which is perfectly fine, it is your responsibility to sell the readers on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or even your local book store that they should invest in your project. A pretty cover, or that fact that your friends all got you to a 5 star review is not enough to convince the reader. You have to do the thinking for them.

So, before you hit send with this next round of query letters today, stop and examine what you have written. Is this an informative document or a persuasive document? Are you truly marketing yourself to that person on the other end of the email?

Why Should I Buy Your Book?

Publishing is about marketing. It is about making sure that someone wants your book bad enough to invest in it, and, we aren't just talking about editors and agents. This also includes the book readers out there.

I think, however, that far too many authors seem to believe their story will sell itself. I don't know how many times I have received a submission or even a reply after I have passed on a project, when an author says something such as "If you would just read my book, you would love it." Unfortunately, that is not how the real world works.

If we want people to "invest" in our book, then we have to do something to draw that person in. The premise of the story needs to be something that stands out. That blurb and that pitch you make needs to be memorable and not sound like everything else out there. You have to give us enough but not too much!

Consider this. When you watch a preview for a movie, what draws you in? There is something in the action, the voice, the scene. The narration might give you a sense of "Wow, this is something that is a must see." But there has to be something there! Would you go to a movie without having any idea what the movie is about? Would you spend that ticket price, buy the popcorn, Whoppers and large coke for an unknown movie? Probably not!

The same is for editors, agents and certainly the book buyers out there.

When I go through Amazon or Barnes and Nobel to find books to add to my "To Read" stack, I pass over anything that I have no idea what it is about. If the description is vague, if the premise is not something to draw me in, I will not buy your book!

And, as an agent, I do the same thing. There are a lot of submissions that I pass on simply because there is nothing to draw me in.

Remember, this is about marketing. It is about convincing someone to invest in you.

Are you doing that?