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Marketing – My Second Novel

In a previous blog I mentioned that the best form of marketing is to write a second book. I’m about to test that theory and my second book A Suitable Bride is at the proof-reading stage with a release date hopefully soon. (I’m reluctant to name a date until the book has been fully edited as many things tend to intervene and I have to apologise for the delay.)

My first novel A Suitable Heir was marketed to family and friends, through the indie table at the Romance Writers of Australia Conference and on their magazine Hearts Talk. I sold some through my art group. We tried a local market with no success. I sold about fifty books through this process and was reasonably happy with the outcome but hopefully can increase sales for my next book.

My problem, and I think it is a problem for many writers, is that I don’t have the knowledge, inclination or time to devote to marketing. I admire those writers who have taken the plunge and got a large following of readers and are making a good living from their craft but marketing is not my forte. However, as a member of Indie Scriptorium I feel that I have an obligation to get some understanding of the various marketing techniques and report on my findings. I would love to find a book marketer who is able to market my novels for me at a reasonable cost but first I think it’s important to know what sort of marketing you want for your books.

Types of Marketing Services

Getting the book ready for the market- includes cover design, blurb, the correct Search Engine optimisation (SEO), the best keywords for your book, an author bio and reviews of previous books and make the price competitive.

Advertising – can include social media advertising, Amazon advertising, Goodreads and many other platforms

Setting up an author website and learning how to use it effectively.

Having marketing material, banners business cards, bookmarks etc.

Getting an e-mail campaign started

Doing author talks, book launches and making media releases

Listing your book with online distributors such as Amazon, Booktopia and Book depository.

Each of these areas of marketing will need to be extensively researched and require a working knowledge of the various social media and web pages. There are lots of options in most categories. I will do the Google searches, look at countless You-tube videos and try to work out the sometimes-confusing web sites and social media platforms for my own edification and to inform IS followers.

The other option is to hire a book marketer. A quick google search for book marketers in Australia reveals lots of options that all want your e-mail address so they can bombard you with sales pitches for the rest of time. It’s also a matter of buyer beware as some of these book marketers are vanity publishers who promise a lot, take your money and deliver a shoddy product and leave you in the lurch. I will keep searching for book marketers who may provide a good service at a reasonable price and keep you informed.

Indie Scriptorium has provided some blogs about some marketing techniques. See our previous blogs on SEOs, cover designs, blurbs, websites but the above is a very large checklist and we still have a way to go.

I already have a website, business cards, reviews and I’m happy with my cover design, author bio and blurb for my second novel. I will be reviewing my SEO and making sure my keywords are the best for my novel.

My initial focus will be on my social media, look at Amazon and Facebook adverts and explore Goodreads and other book distribution services. Going local and using my existing contacts in Romance Writers of Australia, organising a book launch and networking with local writing and book clubs will also be in my plan. Hopefully I can share what has worked for me, and what didn’t. Stay tuned for more on marketing.

Cheers

Book cover © Kate Smallwood and L.C. Wong 2024

It’s a wonderful feeling when you finally have your book written, edited, proof read and formatted and covered with a beautiful dust jacket or e-book cover. Now is the time to upload your book to a publishing platform but which one is the best for you?

There are many authors who do not want or need to sell their books online. Writers of local history, a memoir or an anthology of short stories put together by a writers’ group may choose to distribute their work without using online publishers. So, the first option would be to find a local printer and negotiate a number of copies and price. Mary McDee will explore this option in depth in a later blog.

Below I have listed the publishers that I have decided to consider when I publish my books. You can upload to as many or few publishers that you choose as they are not exclusive.

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) – This is the most popular platform to get authors into print. They are free and fast at getting your book available to readers. They have world-wide distribution and royalties are around the 70% mark. You will need to have an Amazon account so you can use the service. Amazon will publish e-books (to read on a computer, tablet or Kindle reader) paperbacks and even hardcover books. These can be ordered by the author for distribution or they supply a print on demand (POD) service which means a customer sees your book online and orders a copy which is then paid for (includes postage) and sent directly to the customer’s address. Amazon provide a plethora of tutorials and videos all of which appear to be user friendly. The process of uploading to KDP is meant to be easy but as of yet I haven’t tried it out. I will certainly be doing a blog about my experience in the near future. Amazon have a printing facility in Australia.
Google Play Books – this publishing platform is similar to Amazon but only does e-books. They have a Partner Centre for authors and you will need to open an account. An advantage of publishing on Google Play Books is that they have a recommendations system that makes it easier for readers to find your books using Google searches.
Barnes and Noble is another publisher who allows you to order e-books, paperbacks and hardcover books. It offers 70% royalties and is similar to other publishers.
Draft2Digital is a different type of publisher called an aggregator. They distribute your books to other booksellers. They have recently started to distribute print book on demand but not in all areas. It is well worth exploring the advantages of using Draft2Digital. They also offer a free and easy to use formatting service which I will explore in a future blog. The royalties for Draft2Digital are lower than publishing directly with other retailers.
Ingram Spark is another aggregator and they have a wide network of distribution to places like schools, libraries and retail chains. They excel at paperback and hardcovers, and you can use Ingram Spark in tandem with other retailers like Amazon. The royalties are less and they used to have a setup fee of $49 dollars but this has been waived since 1^st May 2023. They also offer free revisions for a set period of time.

There are a number of other publishing services available for authors. It is important to be wary of publishers who demand fees for their services and always look carefully at any contracts especially relating to copyright.

Having a few different platforms presenting your books is referred to as Going Wide. This distributes your book to as wide a range of readers as possible. There are no restrictions to publishing on several different platforms at the same time. However, there are restrictions to using the same ISBN on different book formats. You have to have a different ISBN for a paperback, audio and hardback but you don’t need a ISBN for an e-book.

If you use Amazon and opt for Kindle Unlimited you have to be exclusive to Amazon. This is a service that allows readers to pay a monthly fee to be able to download any number of books they want. Authors benefit by getting paid by the pages read rather than the purchase of the entire book. You can opt to have your book exclusively on Kindle direct for a set contract time of 90 days or leave it there indefinitely.

I have provided an overview of the different publishing options. I recommend that authors explore the advantages and disadvantages of several sites and also seek more information on-line.

I found the following information invaluable:

www.yourpublishingguide.com/blog/7-best-places-to-publish-your-book

Cheers Elsie

Photo attributed to Creative Commons.

Marketing – My Second Novel

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