18 Marketing Actions to Sell More Books

At the start of every month I set myself three goals to achieve. Every month the first goal on my list is: 

Sell more books

The vision for my business is to be able to live and work anywhere - that elusive location independence.

My long-term plan is to make enough passive income from selling fiction novels, non fiction books, business support services and other digital information products; but it takes time, even as a relatively prolific writer having published four novels in three years.

I'm trying to develop a habit of doing at least one marketing activity towards this goal every day.

I'm keeping a journal, and each day I make a note of the one action I've completed.

I'm sharing the activities completed in June, to inspire you with your own business, and also because sharing it means I'm accountable...

I started the journal part way through June and so far I have 18 activities on the list:

1. Published a short story blog HERE 
2. Left a mini manuscript at the Watershed
   
3. Left a manuscript in Long Long Ashton 
4. Left a manuscript in Boston Tea Party in Horfield
5. Went to a free writing club
6. Updated my Amazon sales tracking
7. Started writing a blogging book 
8. Updated my Amy C Fitzjohn Amazon Author Page 
9. Created an Amy Morse Amazon Author Page 
10. Shared my author pages on Facebook 
11. Started Amy's Book VIP Facebook Group
12. Updating the VIP group weekly
13. Scheduled Tweets regularly about my books etc.
14. Put a call out for guest bloggers (If you'd like to be my guest, Tweet me: @AmyMorse_Writer)
15. Wrote two guest blogs, 1 has been published: '5 Ways to Unravel Your Story'
16. Organised an interview with Radio Bristol - I'm on the Richard Lewis show on Wednesday 13th just after 12 noon - you don't have to be in the UK, you can listen online here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radiobristol
17. I'm in talks with Radio Oxford about an interview - waiting for them to get back to me with a date

Number 18 is the most exciting one...

I'm working with a film maker to create a book trailer for The Sheridan and Blake Adventure Series!

We've met a couple of times and Ros (who is trying to break into freelance film making, and I'm always keen to support a start up) has got some great ideas. So far, Ros is working up a story board and reading the books and I've put a call out for an actor to play Tom Sheridan and have a few guys lined up, and I've already got a friend of mine to play the part of Sasha Blake!

We're all excited about the project, I'll keep you posted on our progress! 

What marketing activities worked for you last month?

45 Ways to Market Your Book

 2015 is Authorpreneur Almanac year. 

Join me in my 365 Adventures in Writing and Entrepreneurship...

I'm always having ideas and always writing them on lists. 

Last week I asked my readers what list they would like me to share. 

Writers often struggle with marketing their work so this list is 45 ideas you could use to market your book:

1) Host a book launch event.

Make it more of a party. Most writers opt for a rather conservative evening in a bookshop with some readings and maybe some cheap plonk. 

Why not do it a bit differently?

For both of my launches I had a party. For The Bronze Box I hired a boat and we took a trip around Bristol harbour with music and drinks, and bunting (I love some bunting). Everyone was happy to contribute a few pounds towards the cost of the boat hire for the novelty of an unusual evening out.

Bronze Box launch. Me and my husband and cover artist Graham

 

For Solomon's Secrets I had a treasure hunt and had a big chocolate cake with an image of the book on it - every party needs a cake!

2)  Blogging. Have a blog and post useful content regularly. I'm collecting some useful links for tips and advice on blogging on my 'Blogging Brilliance' Pinterest Board

Follow Amy Morse's board Blogging Brilliance on Pinterest.

3) Guest Blogging. Guest for other people and accept guests yourself. I've had some great guest bloggers on this site. I mentioned them in a recent review of 2014: http://ideaism.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/shhthe-secret-to-successful-marketing.html

4) Social Media - Twitter.
I recently wrote a post with 21 Twitter tips: http://ideaism.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/21-tips-to-make-most-of-twitter.html

Tweets by @TomCatDesigns

5) Social Media - Pinterest
I find Pinterest a valuable tool for collecting research, sharing and interaction. I wrote a tips article for Prowess Women in Business: http://www.prowess.org.uk/Pinterest-market-research

6) Social Media - Facebook
It's almost an expectation of every author to have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AmyCFitzjohn
I know some writers who swear by it. Personally, I never get much interaction on Facebook but it still helps Google to find you if you are on Facebook.

7) Write articles for online and physical magazines. Do some research and choose appropriate publications. Write on subjects that are related to your books.

8) Enter competitions. It can be expensive but there are free competitions. Writers Digest regularly share information on competitions: http://www.writersdigest.com/

9) Speaking gigs. Find ways to stand in front of an audience and talk about what you do.

10) Offer your book to local book groups

11) Get plenty of reviews on Amazon. Once you have a few reviews your book starts getting picked up in organic searches.

12) Go to literary festivals and mingle. If you can get a speaking slot or a stall, bonus.

13) Real world networking. Go to some networking events and talk about your authorpreneurhsip

14) Guerrilla marketing. Find a novel way of committing some random acts of marketing. I leave miniature manuscripts wherever I go and encourage people to interact on Twitter

15) Have some merch. Get some pens, mugs, tote bags, bookmarks, notebooks, chapbooks, business cards etc to give away when you meet people

16) Make a book trailer. I've seen some pretty poor quality book trailers. If film making isn't your strong suit, get help to create something professional.

17) Do a book tour - real world or online

18) Do a book signing at a local book shop

19) Get involved in a book fair or start your own

20) Link yourself to a charity and do some fundraising events. Give something back and get some good publicity

21) Work with a publicist who can help you with campaigns

22) Work with a professional marketeer to get a plan together

23) List your book in multiple market places

24) Run some workshops

25) Get involved with local writer events

26) Have a go at a literary open mic event. I recently wrote an article listing events in Bristol UK: http://www.bristolprospectus.co.uk/when-writers-come-out-to-play/

27) Sell your books at a market stall / craft fair

28) Get involved with a local Art Trail. This year I'll be exhibiting at Southbank Bristol Arts in May with 'Project Book 365': http://www.southbankbristolarts.co.uk/

29) Host a giveaway. Give your book away for free for a limited period and invite reviews

30) Optimise your website so that it's easier to find on Google

31) Set up a mailing list and email news regularly to your fans

32) Record a podcast

33) Make yourself available for interviews and approach people. I managed to get an interview on BBC Radio Bristol by being friendly and persistent and having a newsworthy story. The transcript of it is here: http://ideaism.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/a-face-for-radio.html

There are also plenty of bloggers out there inviting interviews.

34) Host a webinar

35) Take part in a webinar

36) Join workshops or training courses

37) Pay for advertising - but always do some research and a cost benefit analysis before committing to anything. You want a reasonable return on that investment

38) Cross promote other writers - say nice things about them and they'll say nice things about you.

39) Submit your book for awards

40) List on websites offering free author listings

41) Be active on Goodreads

42) Be active on Linked In forums

43) Look at what other authors do to get more ideas

44)  Publish short stories and eBooks. The more books you have, the more sales you'll get. If readers like your work, they'll look for more

45) Read. Books, blogs, articles etc. There are always more things you can do or fresh ideas to keep you motivated.

What marketing activities have worked for you?

 

Shh...The Secret to Successful Marketing

In 2014 I completed a 365 day project:

Operation Author: 

365 Actions to Becoming a Successful Author

  This year I have a new project, building on the last:

The Authorpreneur Almanac:

365 Adventures in Writing and Entrepreneurship

I had some successes and some...not so!

What's the Secret to Successful Marketing?

Have you noticed how when you spot something or hear about it, that it keeps cropping up? You find yourself saying something like; “That’s weird, I just heard about that the other day.” It’s known as the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon.

Our brains are hard wired to recognise patterns because this helps us to learn. Considering how many words, names and ideas we are exposed to each day it’s not surprising that our brains prioritise things that come up frequently. We mentally categorise things that don’t come up regularly as less important or uninteresting and therefore more likely to be ignored.
This is where marketers and advertisers cash in.
 

In my experience, the secret to successful marketing is little and often. It is very much a process of attrition and trial an error. 

Some things work well for some of us and don't work for others, but don't be put off, the more people see you and recognise you, the more chance that you'll stay in their mind so that when they do make a buying decision, all you need to do is give them a nudge.






Here are my top 3 Good, Bad and Ugly marketing actions from 2014

The Good

These actions really worked for me:

 1) Crowdfunding
This was a whole campaign, rather than 1 action, but having a sustained campaign for a fixed period and the input of others helped me to raise enough money to pay for some professional input during the crucial editing phase of Solomon's Secrets

 


2) Mini Manuscripts
People seem to enjoy these little handmade books that I have been leaving randomly wherever I go. If I can make someone smile with one of these funny little novelties and move them enough for them to Tweet back, that pleases me!

 

3) Interview on BBC Radio Bristol
I was really excited about being invited onto the Steve Yabsley lunchtime show

Here's a transcript for the interview:
http://ideaism.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/a-face-for-radio.html

The Bad

These actions didn't work, I had very little response from them. That doesn't necessarily mean that they may not work for you, perhaps you could put a different spin on it?

1) Offering free eBooks in exchange for a review
I foolishly thought this would be enticing for people - who doesn't want a free book? But I didn't get a single enquiry or even a retweet. Back to square 1!

2) Missionly publicist listing
I listed a job for a student to come and help me with publicity - I didn't get any responses. I'm going to have to think of another approach for a skills swap.

3) Recording the prologue to Solomon's Secrets
I've put this under 'bad' because it sounds way better in my head than in my actual voice!
http://amymorse.co.uk/SoundCloud.html

The Ugly

I'm using 'ugly' fairly loosely here - these actions were a clumsy, embarrassing or crude and had varying degrees of success:

1) Putting out Calls for Guest blogs
I've had varying degrees of success with this approach which is why I classify it as 'ugly'. Sometimes people respond on Twitter, sometimes LinkedIn groups. The direct approach has severed me best. Finding people who fascinate me, engaging with them and then asking. It can be a slow burn but the results pay off.

2) I put a call out on Twitter for reviews and got some rather curt and cutting remarks back - not pretty, oops :-S

3) Bad reviews
When I published my first book, The Bronze Box in 2013 it was a bit of an experiment, just to see if I could do it. 





I didn't expect it to be as widely bought and read as it was and reviews exposed some shortcomings in the editing of the first edition. 

In 2014 I released a second edition. 

This is the biggest problem with trying to do it all yourself and relying on favours from people. In future, as with Solomon's Secrets, I'll take care to pay for some professional editing input!


And here's a bonus - these were the really Great Actions from Operation Author...

A big Thank You for four fantastic guest blogs from fellow wordsmiths who generously supplied their wisdom for your consumption:


Marc Guberti
www.marcguberti.com
@MarcGuberti

http://ideaism.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/the-wisdom-and-enthusiasm-of-youth-3_3.html

Anita MacCallum

@loud_word

louder-than-words.co  

http://ideaism.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/know-yourself-know-your-brand-who-is.html

Donna Marie Oldfield

@donnamoldfield

http://ideaism.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/no-writing-is-ever-wasted-and-other.html

Marla Madison

@MarlaAMadison

http://ideaism.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/top-ten-tips-for-independent-author.html

What worked well for you in 2014 and what are you planning to do in 2015?