January 20, 2015

Marketing 101

I started this blog about a year ago or so to document my writing journey. I wrote a book, signed a contract, and now my book Dream Hunter has been published. The End. All done. I can wipe my hands clean and start writing the next book, right? Uh no. Now the hard part begins.

I thought editing was the hard part. Now I need to peddle my book daily as a virtual unknown author to a bunch of people who love to read, but are also being pursued by every other author out there. And, at the same time, I want to position myself to relationship build not outright sell. Sound easy? Try tiring. I don't want to continually send out the "buy my book" tweets and Facebook posts. But what else can I do?

I have a Commerce degree and I have taken a few marketing courses. So I thought I would develop a marketing plan. Unfortunately, all the marketing plans I studied/developed in school sold widgets not books. So if you have widgets to sell, give me a call! There had to be some similarities between selling widgets and books. I pictured the widgets being sold door-to-door. How to maximize sales? Sell every day. So I developed a daily schedule to market and promote my book. Every day I check my email and Facebook accounts. During the course of the week I update my website, post to my blog, tweet, and send out book review requests/set up interviews and promos. You have to be out there. Everyday. And it's not just about you. I often have guests on my blog and participate on other blogs.

Concurrently, I am finalizing another book, also a paranormal romance. How better to sell one book then by publishing another. Call it synergy, momentum, whatever. Writing has been a lifelong dream of mine and once I set my sights on something, I let nothing stand in my way. Ask my husband.

As for the marketing plan, I'm no expert. This is my first time around and only time will tell if I did things right. This is a learning process for me and I'm open to any advice.

Happy writing (and reading)! If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, stay warm this January...

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