5 Thing Every Writer Needs To Know About Marketing

Ah, marketing is a scary word. For people who endeavor in the creative it just seems to ruthlessly practical, and boring. But whether you are going the traditional publishing route or the indie publishing route they are five basic things about markets and marketing every single writer needs to know.

 

1) Marketing is unavoidable. You must engage in it if you ever want to sell a book. Most of the time, though these decisions don't seem like marketing at all. You market your book every time you write a blurb or cover letter or synopsis. And every single type of buyer is different. Agents and editors want to know the book is finished and close to ready to go, a reader just wants to be engaged in the story. You market reader, agent, editor in these cases are all different and require a different thought process. But you can't sell to any of them if you don't market your book. Marketing is simply the art of putting your book up for sale.

 

2) Know your audience. Agent, editor, reader we covered that, but who is going to read your book? Your book is done now you need to decide what kind of book it is. You can resist labels all you want, but to your own peril. What writing comes close to yours? It your book fantasy or romance or a thriller? You already know that, but can it be further segmented and should you? And though this answer may differ between trads and indies, what you need to know is how to segment it and if this will help you. For example JK Rowlings Harry Potter books can be categorized as both children's literature and fantasy. Both are broad categories, but if she tried to sell it as a straight up fantasy she would have been laughed out the of the room. So children's became the dominate category, then fantasy, then I suppose what is now called middle age grades. This refinement helps to sell her books, especially when her agent was targeting publishers. Now if you can see how your writing breaks down it will help you figure out who to sell to.

 

3) Know where your audience is. These days that means online, so where are your readers hanging out and find a way to connect with them there. The more friends you make, the bigger your audience. This is about demographics people. If your readers are in their late teens or early twenties, chances are they hang out on Twitter, so a platform there is essential. If they are more late thirties to early retired then Facebook might be the way to go.

 

4) Know how much money your audience has to spend. If you're my teenage daughter and your readers are your peers, that usually means book money comes in after cool clothes and music, so Wattpad where you share your work for free will garner a bigger fan base than selling your stuff. Money can come later, when they get a little older, just make sure you grow with them. If your audience is more affluent, then make sure to get your books where they are and priced right to move.

 

5) Make sure your work is high quality. It's easier to keep a customer than it is to replace a customer. It takes 3 times as much money to replace a customer than it does to keep one. This rule is true for in every single business. So the better your work, the more readers you'll keep the easier the next sell is either to an agent or to the public.

 

Good Luck!

 

Melanie