2.1 Marketing principles

I have another book, How to Market a Book, which goes into a lot more detail on book marketing, so this is just an overview, but will hopefully get you started.

In this section, we will look at marketing principles and prerequisites, the things that don't change even when tools and tactics shift over time. These principles apply regardless of the type of book you write.

(1) Change your attitude toward marketing

It's important up front to focus on attitude.

Many authors feel that marketing and sales are negative in some way, but that just makes the whole thing more difficult. Whether you have a traditional book deal or you’re self-publishing, you will have to learn marketing if you want to make a decent level of sales. So, it's time to reframe what marketing is!

Marketing can be defined as sharing what you love with people who will appreciate hearing about it.

Marketing is NOT tweeting "buy my book" or accosting readers in bookstores with copies of your novel. You should never be pushing anything to those who are not interested. Instead, try to get noticed by people who will love what you do.

For example, if you've written a book on gluten-free weight loss, it's likely that you have achieved success with gluten-free weight loss. You're trying to help people, so why wouldn't you want to spread the word about the book?

If you write fiction, you're likely a reader and you love to find new books to immerse yourself in. I certainly do! If you've written a great story in a genre that readers love, why would you ever be ashamed or embarrassed about promoting your books in an ethical way to fans of that genre?

Once you change your attitude in this way, the whole marketing landscape shifts because it's now a positive thing. You're sharing things you love and attracting like-minded people.

If you start enjoying marketing and make it part of your creative life, you'll find it works a whole lot better — and it might even be fun!

(2) Think about the reader

Writing is about you. Publishing is about the book. Marketing is about the reader.

When we write, we are in our own heads. We're thinking about ourselves.

But when we publish and market, we have to switch our heads around to the other side of the equation. Consider the person who consumes the product and what they want out of the experience.

This will help you with the words and images around your book. If you use references that others may not understand, it's no wonder they don't try your book. But if you consider what emotional reaction a reader might have to the words and images you're using, you will be much more likely to sell copies.

(3) Own your own website. Own your own email list.

When you write a book, you need to have somewhere to direct people so they can find out information about you and what you write.

There are many options for building your home on the internet, but an important consideration is who owns the site you build on.

If you use a free site, it is owned by someone else, whereas if you pay for hosting, you control that site. You can back it up and make sure it is always available.

Because things change over time.

Some authors let their publisher build a website for them, but what if you move publishers?

Some authors just use a Facebook page, but what about when Facebook changes the rules (as they have done several times already)?

Some authors use a free website service, but if that company disappears, what happens to your site?

If you're serious about writing and selling books for the long-term, then consider building your own website and growing your own email list. These days, it's easy and cheap.

Check out my tutorial on how to build your own author website in just 30 minutes:

www.TheCreativePenn.com/authorwebsite

Once you have your home on the internet, you can do other things to sell your book, but at least you'll always have somewhere to send people.

Equally, it's important to build your own email list of readers who like your books, because again, who knows what will happen in the future with the book retailers or the publishers you use?

If you have an email list of readers, you can always sell books on whatever the latest platform is.

I personally use and recommend ConvertKit, which has a simple interface and everything an author needs for email setup and growth.

Check out my tutorial on how to set up your email list here: www.TheCreativePenn.com/setup-email-list

(4) Metadata is marketing

Metadata is the information about your book, rather than the book itself. It includes title, sub-title, series title, sales description, keywords, categories and author bio.

Think of it as the information that helps the online retailers understand where your book fits in the ecosystem. With hundreds of thousands of books published each year, the online stores need a way for readers to find the books they might like. This metadata helps them do exactly that.

Eventually, as 'big data' processing power grows, the book itself may be metadata, but until then you have to find the best way to describe it using these other fields.

When you self-publish, you will need to enter this data into the distribution platforms in various fields. It's important to try to use the most effective metadata, so research the categories that best fit your book and use the full amount of space for your description.

This is marketing, as your effective use of these fields will aid your discoverability in an increasingly online shopping environment.

If you need help deciding on sub-categories to target on Amazon, check out the reports on K-lytics: www.TheCreativePenn.com/genre

You can also use Publisher Rocket to identify categories and keywords: www.TheCreativePenn.com/rocket

(5) Consider how you will get attention

In my experience, writers are a combination of massive ego and chronic self-doubt!

We oscillate between wanting to hide in our writing caves and be alone and shut everyone out so that we can just create, and wanting people to buy our books so that we can make a decent income. I experience these swings daily, and I expect you do, too! More on this in my book: The Successful Author Mindset.

There are so many millions of books in the world and many more published every day, so authors need to be responsible for getting attention to their books for the long term. But, as above, it doesn't need to be in any kind of scammy or sucky way.

In the olden days of marketing, the only options were traditional media – newspapers, TV, radio, magazines and live events – but now we have a whole range of online options. These can be more effective, as they are targeted to niche audiences and can be measured more easily.

Some examples of getting attention online include:

There will always be new tools emerging over time, but sharing in text, video or audio format will remain as the fundamental ways in which people consume content.

I fully expect to be running online events or even my podcast in virtual reality in the next few years, or doing a virtual book launch in the Paris Catacombs one day, but the concept of getting attention won't change.

Of course, you don't need to blog or podcast or do videos or social media to sell books.

You can have a sustainable career as an author by using the books themselves as a way of getting attention.

You can use free books as a sampler, a bit like the cheese and wine tasting in the supermarket on a Friday night. This little taste of your work can lead people to the rest of your books. You can also publish short stories in magazines or online.

You can write and publish books more regularly and take advantage of the way the book retailers work, driving more readers to your books with a spike in the algorithms through paid advertising and other traffic sources (often called the ‘rapid release’ model).

You still need a way to connect with readers, e.g. an author email list, but you can focus on writing more books as a way to get attention as well as sales.

Once you have someone's attention, your aim will be to attract them onto your email list so you can begin a long-term relationship. Selling one book is always exciting, but ideally, you want that person to continue buying for as long as you're writing.

(6) Attraction marketing vs. paid advertising

Whichever way you want to attract attention, you will pay with either your time or your money.

I've built a multi-six-figure business based on content marketing, putting out blog posts, podcasts, videos and useful social media in my niche, all using free media tools.

But it has taken me many years, slowly growing my audience through word of mouth.

For more on content marketing for fiction, in particular, check out my course at www.TheCreativePenn.com/learn

If you want to grow faster, and you have a budget, then it’s worthwhile paying for advertising to reach people more quickly.

Examples of effective paid advertising for authors include Amazon Advertising and Facebook ads, as well as paid promotional email lists like BookBub and FreeBooksy. These sites change over time, but the principles remain the same. You are paying to reach a specific target market.

Of course, you can use a combination of both options, and many authors do. But it's best to put together a strategy so you know where your focus is over time instead of jumping onto every new shiny object. It can be overwhelming to try and keep up with the latest thing!

Remember to keep building your email list so that you can continue to reach people every time you put a book out. It's not just about a single book launch, but an on-going relationship with readers over time in order to build a long-term career as an author.

(7) Generosity, social karma and co-opetition

Authors are not really competing with each other because we can never individually satisfy the voracious appetite of the reading public!

We are all competing against other forms of media like gaming, TV, films and social media, all of which vie for people's attention and take them away from reading books.

Even if they do buy your book, think about the experience from a reader's perspective. They've waited months for your new release and then they devour it in just a few days, maybe even hours. They want another one immediately, but they can't get it from you, unless you have a huge backlist waiting for them to read!

This is where generosity and co-opetition — co-operating with your perceived competition — come into play. You can help each other, promote each other's books, do joint events together and more to keep readers reading in your niche.

I recommend promoting authors who write in the same genre or category as you, but don't necessarily expect them to promote you in return. This is social karma: If you give first, then you generally receive back, even if it's from a different source.

This attitude of generosity and social karma keeps us focused on the positive and happy side of being an author. It's terrible to be comparing yourself to others all the time or feeling jealous about someone else's book or film deal, so stay focused on the positive.

(8) Be authentic

The more you share on a personal level, the more people will get to know, like and trust you, then they are far more likely to want to buy your books.

Of course, you have to draw your personal line in the sand. I don't share my address, or pictures of my family. I know some authors who use codenames for their children so they can talk about being a parent while still protecting their children's privacy.

I share pictures of my travels and what I'm up to for research, and over time, I have become a lot more honest about what I like. It turns out that there will always be people who are as weird as you, and they might like your books!

For example, I'm a taphophile. I enjoy walking around graveyards and taking pictures. I like ossuaries and crypts as well as art history and cultural aspects of travel. I share pictures on Instagram @jfpennauthor.

When I share this tidbit with a live audience, I generally find about one third of the room share my love for graveyards. That might also be true for what you're into, so be authentic and you’ll find people who enjoy the same things as you.

I share my love of travel on my blog and podcast at www.BooksAndTravel.page where I talk to authors about their travels and the inspiration for their books, as well as sharing my experiences and pictures.

These are just some ways I share my personal side while still marketing my books in an authentic way.

(9) Build your author brand

Branding is your promise to the reader. It's the words, images and emotions that surround your work and the way readers think of you.

You can see this demonstrated very clearly with book covers by genre. Go browse the romance section and then horror. Or go and look at Nora Roberts' website and then at Stephen King's. Or my own thriller site at www.JFPenn.com and then my site for authors at www.TheCreativePenn.com. You can easily see the difference in branding.

Many authors consider using a pseudonym when they write books that differ in terms of audience. That's certainly why I use J.F.Penn for my thrillers and Joanna Penn for my non-fiction, because they are separate audiences and I need separate brands.

You should already have some idea of the books and authors that are comparative to your own. Have a look at their book covers and the color palette they use as well as their author websites. What words and images are used? What emotional resonance does their brand present? How does it make you feel as a reader? Now try to apply those principles to your own author brand.

(10) Book reviews are important

Yes, book reviews are still important … but not the ones that you might be thinking of.

Many authors obsess over getting reviewed in traditional media, but this type of review is unlikely to get you many book sales even if you can get one.

The important reviews are those on the online bookstores and places like Goodreads. They provide:

Free books are the easiest to get reviews on, so if you're struggling to get started, put your book on a free promotion and then do some advertising to get downloads. You'll soon get reviews on it.

You can also give away review copies to your email list. This type of Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) is commonly used in the publishing industry and is now used by many authors, although we tend to give away ebook copies, rather than print. You can use BookFunnel to provide these files easily to readers for their preferred device.

You can also pitch book review bloggers. Google the name of the author or book that is similar to yours + book blogger e.g.

"James Patterson Alex Cross + book blogger"

That will return a list of blogs that have read and reviewed Alex Cross books. You can then email the reviewer with a personal pitch that indicates they might like your book as it is similar to Alex Cross.

Do your research on their site and never write "Dear Blogger." I get that type of pitch all the time and immediately delete the emails! Spend a few minutes and make a personal connection and you have a far better chance of success.

(11) Measure the success of your marketing

Unless you're measuring the results of a promotion, how do you know if it works?

Marketing should ultimately result in sales.

If you're self-published, you can measure this easily, as you get daily sales figures from the self-publishing platforms. You can also check your rankings on the stores and take screenshots before the promotion and after to check results.

This is why I prefer online marketing to traditional media and PR. If you have a clickable link associated with your promotion, you can track results and you will know what works and what doesn't.

When I first started out, I had national TV, radio and newspaper coverage but it had no noticeable book sales impact. Compare that to paying for an advert on BookBub or emailing my list, and the resulting sales spike. It's obvious which is more effective if you measure promotion, rather than basing your opinion on assumptions.

(12) Think long term

There are spike marketing techniques, like paid advertising, which will raise your book sales and rankings for a short time. But if you want a sustainable career as an author, you will need to consider a longer-term approach to marketing.

As we go through some ideas in the next section, consider these questions:

For example, I like taking pictures on my phone and always share images when I travel on social media. This is authentic marketing and easily integrated into my life. It's sharing something that I like and others will find interesting, too. It's not related directly to my books, but it's certainly a way that someone might stumble upon my profile and then dig further. Sharing pictures is fun for me and therefore sustainable over the long term. It's also free.

I also do a weekly podcast on The Creative Penn which has turned into the backbone of my non-fiction marketing over the last ten years. I also have another podcast, Books And Travel, which feeds into my fiction. Anyone who listens to hundreds of episodes of a podcast will end up being a fan! I also enjoy doing audio so I know I can continue it for the long-term.

But clearly, you can't do everything. So, choose what works for you and commit to it for the long term, and you will build an audience and book sales in a sustainable manner.