Indie Book Marketing 101’s first rule is: use social media to promote your books. Thus directed, indie authors excitedly create flashy websites, engaging Facebook pages, Instagramaccounts, etcetera, and are then faced with the dilemma of how to ask their friends, family and anybody else who happens to land on one to buy their books.
For something that should be a pretty straightforward proposition, this can be embarrassingly awkward. The direct approach can come off as begging or, worse, like you’re trying to sell something. You are trying to sell something, but you’re desperate not to sound like it. So, rather than come out and ask folks to buy your books, you, as an indie author, post book announcements, updates and cute graphics, which get lots of “likes” but no “buys”.
Indie authors typically then seek the advice of other indie authors who, if they’ve hit on a system that works, are rarely in a hurry to give the most helpful stuff away; and end up pitching their books to a bunch of fellow authors who are all trying to do the exact same thing. Everyoneexchanges words of support, none of which results in a single copy ever changing hands.
The world, they say, is full of unrewarded genius. The world of writing is no exception. There are many fantastic writers out there who, through either lack of resources, knowledge or both, find themselves either self-publishing or going through small, independent presses. This is no reflection on the quality of the books they produce. Some are nothing short of brilliant. They’re just harder to find than books published through larger, mainstream houses.
For readers who like finding hidden literary treasures and supporting the authors who producethem, the best way to do that is to buy the books. Think about it: if everybody bought, say, two indie books a year, posted reviews and told others about the best ones, little-known authors might not be doomed to stay that way. Significant book contracts have come to authors whose independently-published books gained enough sales to get editors’ attention. And a single purchase is worth more than hitting all the “like” buttons in cyberspace.
Finally – and this may come as a shock – you will be doing indie authors a bigger favor by buying their books from someplace other than Amazon. Surprised? Don’t be. The competition for position on Amazon is mind-boggling, and works aggressively against indie authors. Amazon, like most places, also makes money from advertising, and since indie authors generally don’t have a lot to spend on Amazon ads, they don’t get nearly enough exposure to be helpful. Other online booksellers, after selling a few copies of an indie book, are more likely to take notice of it, and position the book so that more readers are likely to see it. The more places a book is sold, the more exposure both book and author are likely to get. Those authors and indie publishers will thank you for it.
Joel Bresler is the author of the forthcoming Bottomless Cups.
Joel Bresler is the author of Letters to be Read in a Heavily British Accent, Sunderwynde Revisited,Sunderwynde Revisited Againand The Moskowitz Code. His latest humorous novel Bottomless Cups is scheduled for release February 27, 2020.
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Reblogged this on Meeka's Mind and commented:
Hmm…you’d think I’d know the difference between ‘Press This’ and ‘Reblog’. Ah well, second time lucky!
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Many thanks for sharing, Meeks 🤗❤️🤗
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Excellent article – made me laugh…and want to cry. I buy Indie almost exclusively, and I’m an avid reader. I review, but not as much as I should. Reblogging on Meeka’s Mind.
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Thanks for sharing, Sue 🤗❤️🤗
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Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio and commented:
Check out this Guest Post by Joel Bresler titled Support Your Local Indie Author from this post on The Story Reading Ape Blog.
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Thanks for sharing, Don 👍😃
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You’re welcome.
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What a lovely post. It makes me feel better already.
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The sad thing is this inexplicable reader resistance. They judge on origin rather than actual merit. People who will happily lash out lots of money at book retailers don’t seem to bother with examining the excellent indie books on offer. I wish there was a way of changing this mindset.
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I think we need to be more creative with how and where people hear about our books. Newspaper and magazine articles about us and our books contributed by someone other than ourselves, reviews submitted to places other than Amazon – break away from what we’ve always done.
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I wish I could be as creative on this aspect as I am on the books themselves!
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Wise words here from Joel. Members of the WordPress writers’ community, however, do buy and review one another’s books. Thanks to Chris (and Sally, and Sue) who make their blogs available to help us promote our works!
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Joel, thanks for reminding everyone that a few buys and reviews mean the world to the little guys like us. Interesting point about buying elsewhere than Amazon. I haven’t kept much of an eye on how I’m doing at Kobo or the like, but maybe I should.
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It’s my opinion we should be focusing more on those other places, work with them in making our books more visible to their customers.
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