Hi friends!
If we feel insecure about our writing and marketing, we need help and that's what this group is all about. Today I've invited someone to guest post who may be able to help you with your marketing. We all know marketing is easy, right? Wrong! And it's complicated. My guest Tania Joyce tells us just how complicated it is!
You do it, don't you? Scan the Acknowledgements in traditionally-published books. Read all about those who've helped the author - agents, early readers, publishers, researchers, fact checkers, more readers, editors, book cover artists - I usually count at least 40 people involved in one book.
So why do many self-published authors think they can do it without a tribe of their own?
I've been gathering a tribe around me for years. But the most important members of my tribe are my critique partners - Tania Joyce and Sheila Korner Grice. We formed an alliance after meeting each other at a Margie Lawson Immersion Class 3 years ago and have critiqued each other's work ever since.
I forgot to give Tania a word limit when I asked her to guest blog, but with the number of times I read bloggers feeling insecure about marketing, rather than try to edit this article down, I'm going to leave it to you to take what you wish from it. Some parts are so technical I shudder and roll my eyes and pray for understanding, LOL. If you, like me, have any questions, ask away in the comments.
Here we go...
If we feel insecure about our writing and marketing, we need help and that's what this group is all about. Today I've invited someone to guest post who may be able to help you with your marketing. We all know marketing is easy, right? Wrong! And it's complicated. My guest Tania Joyce tells us just how complicated it is!
Before Tania gets underway, I want to thank Alex's awesome co-hosts for the March 4 posting of the IWSG: Jacqui Murray, Lisa Buie-Collard, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence! Visit if you can.
Click HERE for the list of participants to read more...
You do it, don't you? Scan the Acknowledgements in traditionally-published books. Read all about those who've helped the author - agents, early readers, publishers, researchers, fact checkers, more readers, editors, book cover artists - I usually count at least 40 people involved in one book.
So why do many self-published authors think they can do it without a tribe of their own?
I've been gathering a tribe around me for years. But the most important members of my tribe are my critique partners - Tania Joyce and Sheila Korner Grice. We formed an alliance after meeting each other at a Margie Lawson Immersion Class 3 years ago and have critiqued each other's work ever since.
My fabulous critters, Tania (left), Sheila (right)
I forgot to give Tania a word limit when I asked her to guest blog, but with the number of times I read bloggers feeling insecure about marketing, rather than try to edit this article down, I'm going to leave it to you to take what you wish from it. Some parts are so technical I shudder and roll my eyes and pray for understanding, LOL. If you, like me, have any questions, ask away in the comments.
Here we go...
Five Things I’ve Learned About
Marketing Other Than Putting Half-Naked Men on my Covers
1. You
have to treat being an author like a business. It takes time, effort, a lot of
trial, error, research and investment to know where you fit into the author
landscape and the marketing strategies you want to undertake. The best thing
though is, in this business, you can start with a small budget and work your
way up. But you do have to spend money to make money.
When I first
started creative writing at the tender age of 36, the first thing I learnt
about author marketing is there is so much to learn. With fifteen years’
experience in corporate marketing, I thought I knew how to market, but author
marketing was a whole different world. I had to start from scratch. Online
marketing, social media and promotions unveiled an entirely different approach
to product marketing. It’s exciting and forever changing. I knew nothing about
Facebook Advertising and Amazon Advertising. I dabbled at first and have slowly
built my brand awareness and product sales by reading, going to conferences and
doing online courses. Enrolling in Mark Dawson’s Self Publish Formula course
and studying Brian Meek’s Mastering Amazon Ads provided the foundation and
turning point in my author career. I have done courses, read books
and I’m involved with many online groups like 20Booksto50k. It takes time to
sift through the clutter of ads, offerings and advice to find what works for
you. I do well with AMS ads, but I’m still trying to master FB ads. Grrr! What
works for one person, may not work for another. Being flexible, patient and
persistent is key.
Mark Dawson’s SPF
Course: https://selfpublishingformula.com/
2. Finding
your tribe and people who can help you is essential. There are numerous
best-selling authors and industry experts out there who can help you learn and
achieve success, but for me it has been fundamental in finding a group of local
authors who are on the same journey. I’m fortunate enough to have joined a romance
writing group when we were all newbie authors, unpublished and had no clue on
how to do this authoring thing. We met at the Romance Writers of Australia
annual conference. Over the years (since 2012), we’ve all been published (some
traditional, some self-published, some hybrid). We’ve all done various courses,
workshops, attended conferences and continued with online training. We share
our findings, what’s worked, what hasn’t, and we constantly help each other.
It’s incredible to have this trust and be always willing to help and share our
knowledge.
I was traditionally
published. I quickly learnt that traditional publishers do not have outlandish
budgets for new authors — there were no book tours, no advertisements, no book
launch party, didn’t even get my books into stores. I got a couple of online
blogs. That’s it. I learnt that most, if not all, marketing fell onto my
shoulders. At launch, I had no idea how the book was doing, because I had no
access to sales data. The royalty check at six months was my only indicator. It
was dismal.
When the division
of my publisher folded, I opted to get my rights back. … I’m now 100% indie. It
has been the best thing. I got control. I got access to data. I could
now change covers, blurbs, run ads, manage keywords, fix that one annoying typo
in my manuscript, see instant sales data and ad performance all within a quick
click. While the learning curve has been steep and challenging, it has been
totally awesome!
3. Love
your data. You may hate it, but you have to do some maths. The platforms you
sell on eg Amazon, provide you with a bucket load of information, but it’s a matter
of sifting through it, and analysing your results so you can work out what is
and isn’t working, only then can you work on improving and scaling marketing
strategies.
Learn what your
clickthrough ratio is (Impressions/clicks), your conversion rate (clicks/sales),
and if writing a series, your readthrough rates (sales_Book2/Sales_Book1 etc).
They are vital statistics for advertising purposes and to see if your books are
actually selling.
The unfortunate
thing here is places like Amazon do not give you all the information in one
nice report. Current AMS ads reports do not include Kindle Unlimited
information. You have to download data from different places to work out your
ratios and rates, but it’s worth it. I
have this down to a fine art. It takes me 15-20minutes a day to download my
data, enter it into my spreadsheet, add in my expenses and sales figures. I can
see what ads are performing, the ones that are not, and make any tweaks if
necessary.
Out
of my six books and 1 x duo bundle, I have 213 AMS ads running. My average ad clickthrough
ratio is 1:930 (1 x click per 930 impressions…which is good), my clicks to
sales is 1:6 (one sale every 6 clicks…freaking awesome!), my readthrough on KU is
75%. My ROI is 43% (and slowly getting better.) Learn to love your data.
While the
information in this book is dated in regards to cost-per-click data and some ad
types have changed, this resource has all the formulas in it and is a great
place to start for ads. Brian Meeks: Mastering AMS Ads: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072SNXYMY
4. Be
prepared to change. The market is a continual moving set of goal posts and you must
be prepared to move with it. Facebook and Amazon continually change and update
their algorithms. What works for you one month, may not work the next.
Know your genre,
sub-genre, analyse the top-selling authors in your genre, study their image,
their book covers, their blurbs. Use this research to market your books. (Sorry…half-naked
men on covers works for my genre!) When I first got published, I didn’t want
bare-chested men on my books. I wanted to be professional and classy. My books
didn’t sell. I changed the covers and instantly saw a change in sales. Follow market
trends in what is working in artwork and graphic design. Your cover needs to
sell your book, genre, capture the eye, and be in line with your branding and
image.
5. Be
relevant. This is critical for advertising. Learn to target correctly. Use refined
keywords, target like-authors, similar book titles and niche genres. Platforms
like Facebook and Amazon “learn” through its algorithms where to place your ads
and to which customers it should show your ads. Just because you like reading
Stephen King novels, don’t use “Stephen King” as a keyword if you write sweet
romance. It’s not relevant.
I write rock star
romance, which falls into the category of New Adult Romance. But this category includes
everything from vampires, shapeshifters and witches, through to bad boys,
bikers and billionaires. It is important to zone in on your niche. I make sure
I only target ‘rock star romance’ books, authors and keywords. It takes more
time but conversation rates will be better and making sales is what it’s all about.
As an indie author, marketing is a
constant and essential part of my business. New ads, new graphics, new content
for social media posts, promotions, learning and data analysis all have to fit
around writing the next book and my family. Time management is critical. A
great support network is imperative. I’m fortunate to have the best critique
partners in the world. Our tight timeframes keep me from spending too much time
on Facebook, obsessing over ads and drowning in information overload. Love your
data, embrace marketing, make it fun! And hopefully make money along the way!
About Tania Joyce
I'm an author of New Adult and
Contemporary Romance novels. My stories thread romance, drama and passion into beautiful locations ranging
from the dazzling lights and glitter of New York, to the rural countryside of
the Hunter Valley in Australia.
I like to write about strong-minded, career-oriented
heroes and heroines that go through drama-filled hell, have steamy encounters
and risk everything as they endeavour to find their happily-ever-after.
I call Brisbane, Australia, home.
LATEST RELEASE
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Today I was supposed to marry the
girl of my dreams. She didn’t turn up.
Life in world-famous rock band, Everhide, has pushed Kyle's and
Gemma's hearts, careers and friendship to the limits. But they are soulmates.
Their love is profound. Intense. Getting married is their dream come true.
But not everyone feels the same way.
Someone obsessed with Kyle wants Gemma dead.
DEAD!
Someone obsessed with Kyle wants Gemma dead.
DEAD!
Surely the danger isn't real? It's just some crazed fan pulling
a prank.
When the threats escalate, Kyle's over-protectiveness kicks in
and Gemma's grip on sanity wears thin. With concerts and festivals to play
before their big day, she won't let anyone derail their wedding plans.
But one
false move puts her in danger.
When life
teeters on its edge and she risks everything she loves, can Gemma find the
strength to let Kyle into her guarded heart before it's too late?
If you like sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense,
full of intrigue and heart wrenching romance, RAPT – The Price of Love will
captivate you. With strong heroines, and intense heroes, this rock star romance
will make your heart race right up to the epic emotional ending. Be prepared.
Grab your copy today.
- Did you enjoy Tania's article? Any questions? Ask in comments...
- Do you have a marketing tip or two? Do tell...
LOVE IT - TWEET IT! LOVE IT - TWEET IT!
@TaniaJoyceBooks @DeniseCCovey, #author shares #marketindtips https://dencovey.blogspot.com/2020/03/iwsg-post-it-takes-tribe-to-publish-and.html #amwriting #ammarketing #amazonads
Learn some #marketingtips https://dencovey.blogspot.com/2020/03/iwsg-post-it-takes-tribe-to-publish-and.html @TaniaJoyceBooks @DeniseCCovey,#amwriting #ammarketing #amazonads
103 comments:
I am traditionally published, so a lot of that I don't have control over, but I do know most of the marketing falls to me. And my tribe is the IWSG!
Yes, having a tribe is important. Being supportive of other writers is a good way to build a group of people willing to help you. That's one of the things I love about the IWSG too.
Eek! Marketing is scary!! I'm heading toward publishing a small-town romance series later on this year (I hope!) and I've avoided the bare-chested men... Hmm....
"Marketing, my favorite part of being an author" ... said no author, ever! Still working on that end of the process, but I do like the shout out to your crit partners. Having insightful feedback is an absolute must!
Great article, Tania! Your clicks to sales is impressive. I'm not quite there yet but today I updated my book description and am hoping that will make a difference. I'm sad that YASIV may be discontinuing. That was so handy for research!
Hi Denise!
I am so glad I got my rights back for this very reason. It was so hard to get anything done without their approval. Freedom is bliss.
I love my tribe. I wouldn't be the author I am today without them.
Mmmm...yes! Bare chest, cowboy hat, jeans and boots. Now we're talking!
My critique partners are AMAZING! We each have our strengths and always there to help each other out. Love my gals!
Thank you. I do like my click:sales ratio, too. It's taken a lot of work and blurb writing. I changed from a "traditional" back-of-book blurb style to a first-person style and the results shone. (My books are written in third person - doesn't matter. Just do it!!!) Yasiv was good but there are other sources like Listopia on Goodreads, Also Boughts on Amazon, PublisherRocket. Use a tool like Instant Data Scraper (Chrome plugin) to save time from typing.
Hi Lyn. Great to see Tania here, isn't it? Glad you're getting into the promo. I've got it all ahead of me.
I totally get your tribe, Alex!
The tribe is all important in so many aspects of life, Natalie!
Hi Jemi. You've gotta do what you gotta do. I give Tania digs about her half-naked men, but it works for her genre.
We mostly all hate it, Ian, but it helps if someone leads the way -- like Tania who totally gets this stuff!
Yes! Awesome to see Tania here. More great tips! I hadn't thought to put the description in first person, though I'm starting to see more and more of that around. And Yep, I use all those great sources for research and scrape the heck out of them ;) Still somewhat time consuming, but oddly fun.
It takes a tribe to get most things done, and marketing an intangible is one of the most challenging! A book is selling an experience not just the physical or digital pages. The author/publisher is marketing that experience. Great analysis and tips from Tanya Joyce. Thank you both.
Hello Critters! Tania, your marketing advice is spot on. I'm so grateful to have you and Denise as critique partners and friends. Like Denise said, being part of a supportive tribe is essential.
Hi, Denise, Tania, thanks for the information especially on the use of keywords? We're always looking for the secret to getting that right? And I totally agree having the freedom is key, but knowing how to market is a learning process for most of us. Thanks for your help! Congratulations on your success!
Hi Denise. This was helpful. Though as of now I'm really struggling with being on Social Media. It doesn't help but adds on to the misery. I've just taken a while off. I hope I can work towards it.
Sonia from https://soniadogra.com
Thanks Tania and Denise. I love data--but finding it sounds like a right of passage! LOL
This was all so right on the mark, Denise. This is a business, and it takes many more skills than creating a good story. Thanks so much for the excellent post.
Hi,
I really appreciate Tania opening up the grey box of marketing. I have been reading one or two books and talking to several people. They all say that for the new writer on the block, marketing is the key to letting people know your book is out there and this work come from the writer. So what I have heard agrees with everything she's said. Thank you for hosting her on your blog and I wish her all the best. And you too
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
A lot of it does fall on the author's shoulders, but some aren't prepared for that. Keywords and data is something I have to check for all of DLP's books.
Marketing definitely seems scary to me, but I try not to think about it too much right now until I actually finish writing my book. It's nice to read some advice to keep in the back of my brain, though!
You're welcome.
Love my critters!
Being relevant is critical.
Take it slowly. There is so much to learn. Find what works for you.
I love data too. It is essential for marketing/advertising correctly.
Glad you enjoyed the article.
Hope you find some useful tips. Good luck.
Find what you are comfortable with. You can do it...from newsletters, to posts,to ads, to data analysis data and more.
You should start now. Get your website, FB Page and newsletter subscriber list going. Start finding your audience to sell your book to when it is ready.
A clever article, but somewhat discouraging. I know Tania's list is a solid one. I'm just not sure I could do it myself. If I had an agent for just sales and marketing... A writer could dream, right?
Wise words Nila!
Love to see us all together on my blog spreading the marketing word.
Ha, scraping is the key to keywords. More about that...
Sonia, it's a big task but we need all that marketing and social media is a necessary evil. Perhaps you're spreading yourself too thin? Choose one or two and don't be temped to be on everything!
I'm sure you'll sort it Holly!
I struggle with it being a business, Lee, but it's no good writing books that no one reads because they don't know they exist!
You'll sort it, Pat. When I become 'expert' like Tania, I'll help you!
I think there was a great seismic shift when authors became their own marketers, which is why I've decided not to go traditional.
"Finish the book" was Margaret Attwood's best advice. But you have to start some things happening beforehand.
I find this fascinating - and more than a little daunting. I have long suspected that writers have to hold down at least two jobs (not counting paid employment and relationships which are jobs of their own).
Yet again, a huge thank you to all writers. I deeply and fervently admire the blood sweat and tears which goes into your work.
All true. The only thing for me is that ads don't work because I'm traditionally published, so I don't earn as much as self-publishers would for the sales they get through ads (my publisher takes a cut). And, yes, it is very true that authors with publishers have to do all of the marketing. That's one thing many don't realize beforehand and that turns them off.
Traditional or Indie, I think having a tribe does make a lot of difference!
Interesting point about the data. Thanks for sharing!
Marketing seems like a full time job! When do you have time to write, lol.
These are fantastic tips. I don't put too much thought into marketing at the moment (other than having a blog and social media presence) as I'm concentrating more on learning the craft and getting words on the page, but I always bookmark posts like this for future reference.
I definitely need to work on building my tribe. I have several online writing buddies but nobody offline that I could meet and chat with. I live in quite a remote area where there are no established writing clubs or anything like that, but perhaps I should put out feelers and see if there are any like-minded people out there.
Great info, Tania. Thanks, Denise, for inviting her to speak to us. Great help.
I'm glad Diane. So much to know.
Yes, Anstice, as wonderful as online critique partners are, there is no substitute for facea-at-face. My writing only started working when I met regularly with Tania and Sheila. We all have complementary strengths and weaknesses.
Your writing received WEP's biggest gong this month! Congratulations!
Exactly. Luckily I have Tania who's gone before me and pioneered the way. When I find something that works, I'll tell you Partner!
Makes all the diff, for sure.
Which is why the indies are making the big bucks when they do it right.
I'm always astounded when a trad-pubbed best-selling author still says they can't afford to give up the day job even after 8 or so books. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark...or trad publishing.
Wouldn't that be everyone's wish=, Olga. I get twitchy when I lose writing time, but if we want to make any moolah, we have to do what Tania is doing very successfully.
Don't be discouraged. Take small steps.
LOL - There is certainly a lot of blood, sweat and tears...and that's just with my crit group (love you gals!) I saw the big turn around after Book #5. The marketing compounds because you can continually promote your backlist. It's more about refining and streamlining processes when you do it all yourself.
Yes - I used to get so frustrated when I was trad published. Love the freedom now. Just keep pushing your trad publisher to do promo for you. It's what they are supposed to do. Make them earn their money :-) (Easier said than done, right?)
Finding my tribe made the world of difference. Likeminded people, common goals, passion for writing is key.
Data is essential for monitoring and adjusting your marketing. It can get addictive. Enjoy it.
Some marketing can take time to setup, but once done, it's easy to maintain and tweak. And yes, I should be writing right now :-)
I know I'm very fortunate to find my writing buddies. Put the feelers out there, you never know who's lurking. Good luck.
Hope you find some useful tips. Thanks Denise for having me.
great guest post - i also think romance just sells better, especially with a hunky cover =)
so yes, do all those things, but marketing is still a lot of work for little return. good thing i have a day job to pay the bills!
and Denise, wanted to say thanks for stopping by my Beast World campaign at Alex’s!
Tara Tyler Talks
I could relate to a lot of what Tania had to say. I haven't run all the reports she talked about- but they do sound interesting (and important to learn about). Wishing her all the best with her books.
Great post!
~Jess
Hi Denise - sorry I'm late ... glad Jess is late too! This does seem so thorough - though I'm not in the field ... but I do enjoy the knowledge. Great to have it set out for us ... cheers to you and your 2 special pals ... Hilary
It sounds complicated Hilary. I agree.
Thanks Jess.
You're welcome Tara.
A lot of authors have made ads work for them. It's not really possible to earn much without ads.
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