Let me start off with these points: 1. I am self-published on a budget (no budget), therefore, I have no professional backing for publicity and marketing. 2. I am not good with internet stuff. 3. I have had no training or experience with this sort of thing. 4. I am the unprepared protagonist setting out on a quest and, odds are, I will stumble into the snake pit, have to avoid trolls, get knocked off my horse, and have to pick myself up to go again until the end of the story.
So, ready to take the journey with me as I attempt to transform myself from unlikely adventurer to successful quest-er? Let’s go! If you have enjoyed my posts in the past or find you like this post as you read through, consider subscribing to get new posts directly to your email. Also, please give me a ‘like’ and let others know about me.
Now, as someone who knows next to nothing about how to publicize or market online, I decided to start a blog because it had been suggested to me even before I wrote “Boys Will Be Boys.” (See my Products Page and/or “I Have a Tale to Tell.”) To top that off, in search of how to promote my book, I read, from various sources, (most of which I have forgotten at this point) that a blog was a good way to go. I didn’t want my blog to be all about promoting my book, so I went ahead and wrote more about the writing journey I have taken and continue to take, in hopes that others might benefit also. I added a products page to allow people to go to the page if they feel they are interested in the book without my having to shove it in their faces on a regular basis. Might I include a sort of ad; a “Hey. Look over here. I have a book for sale” sort of thing later on? That, I suppose, depends on how things go. As for subtle hints… well, see above.
What has been more important than an ad for my book has been trying to make sure the blog is a good experience for readers and that people will be able to find my blog in the first place. So far as the first goal goes, I depend on subscriptions, comments, and page views to let me know how I am doing and all of those depend on my second goal; people being able to find my blog in the first place. That has been very difficult. How did you find my blog? Leave a comment to let me know.
Since I know very little about getting myself noticed online, I printed up flyers and asked stores to post the flier I would give them somewhere people could see it; in a window, on a counter, or in the back for the employees. This increased traffic. I have also been asking people to share the flier on social media. I have no way of measuring the effect of this method.
One of the many websites I have browsed, and, sadly, forgotten to write down addresses from, suggested Goodreads. Ok, a few suggested Goodreads. I, reluctant as I was to use social media, decided to use this form because it seemed a little more… simple. Since then, I have read conversations about other people who have trouble figuring out what they are doing on Goodreads. I am not alone. I see no benefit so far. Is this because I am fumbling my way through? I don’t know. Time will tell… I hope. (If you don’t know about Goodreads, follow the link to a post on Howstuffworks.)
Really, I lean toward offline book promotion, just because it feels more hands-on and personal, and I can relate to the physical rather than the cyber. There are a few things I have been doing in that area, but I hope there is enough more to write concerning these efforts that it will take too much time to write it down here.
To sum up, I have a few avenues to go down, more research to test out, and more research to do. It is a choose-your-own-adventure book and, thankfully, I am able to go back and try a different path if I get swallowed by a dragon or fall down a mineshaft.
Subscribe if you would like to join me… on the journey, not down the mineshaft. Have fun and laugh it up.
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