Notes from Marketing Swap and Shop, WWW Conference

by Nancy Oswald

Following is a summary of the exchange of ideas from the Marketing Swap and Shop session at the 2014 WWW conference. Thanks so much for sharing and participating. 

   How do you manage your marketing time and balance it with your writing goals?

• Set aside a day of the week a for marketing, for example every Thursday
• Set a specific writing time and stick to it.  Set aside marketing time. Some felt the end of the day works best.
• Join a peer supported marketing group.
• Alternate large sections of time for writing with large sections of time for marketing.  (Keeping the focus on one thing at a time instead of trying to do everything every day.)
• Create a marketing plan and stick to it.  (This contributor’s publisher required her to have one!)

      What things do you do to launch a new book?

• BUILD IT UP AHEAD OF TIME:  lots of pre-publication hype
• Social Media Blasts
• Make it a WHOLE EXPERIENCE: themes, costumes, music, food…use imagination and creativity!
• Send personal invites to signings and other events.
• Media releases, not just press releases, but other related articles and tie-ins
• Do book signings and readings interview-style.  (Make these events more interactive for attendees.)

 

    What online marketing strategies do you use?  Are you satisfied with the results?

• Blog tours
• Themed online book launch  (See Kristen Lamb’s Blog post) www.warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/10-tips-to-organizing-a-kick-ass-online-book-event/   
• Try these websites:      
• The Fussy Librarian http://www.thefussylibrarian.com/                                  
•  The Choosy Bookworm  http://choosybookworm.com/about/   http://askdavid.com/book-promotion

• Try the FB Target Audience Feature

Other things to think about: (Information from Brooke Warner, Huffington Post article: “Your Author Platform is Not Your Social Media Following”

• social media: 10 percent
  previous media:10  percent
  previous books: 10 percent
  personality: 10 percent
  existing readership: 10 percent
  contacts: 10 percent
  expertise: 25 percent
  ability to execute: 15 percent

Other Websites that may help with various aspects of marketing:

www.authormarketingclub.com    $105 a year. (30 day money back trial period.)

www.blogtoplist.com  (to find blogs on a certain topic or visit other blogs of same interest…another way to get your name out there.)

www.weddles.com   (association directory for matching your book to an organization)

http://writershelpingwriters.net/workshops-webinars/   (all writing topics, but marketing is one of them)

PLUS:  Take 5 minutes to watch this short video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ln-CDXx1ZE

Do you have other tips to add?