Marketing 101

Authors who publish with a small press have more responsibility when it comes to marketing. There just isn't the infrastructure or funds for small presses to take care of marketing of every book they publish. In regards to infrastructure, small presses have small numbers of staff who are usually wearing several hats. Truly, it is quite amazing how much they get done and done well.

With my recently published book, I decided to try several things with marketing. My goal is to market myself as an author, not necessarily just market my book, but create an interest for future books as well.

1. I started building my Facebook profile immediately after I signed the contract. This included friending other authors and groups but also accepting friend request from fans. I also started reading most of the status post that come to my feed to comment or like. This takes time, but it is worth it to get to "know" other writers and readers. (more on this later)
2. Twitter is your friend. Twitter is great for quick updates and info. I grew my list of followers like I did with FB.
3. GoodReads is a great reader haven. I used GoodReads prior to publishing and knew it was a great way to connect to readers and authors alike.
4. Blog visits. So far I've guested on 3 blogs in less than three weeks. Blog tours or visits bring your name to a larger crowd and allow for you to reach more potential readers.
5. I've requested reviews from professional review sites. Next time I'll try to have access to my ARC earlier so I have the reviews closer to the time my book is released.
6. I have done a very inexpensive advertisement with InD'tale Magazine. To me this is worth it to be on their website for a month and my book will be reviewed by them as well.
7. Use technology to do some of the work. I love If This Than That https://ifttt.com/ a great way to have one post, status update, or tweet show up in multiple places. 
8. Google+ communities are another way to reach readers and join a writing community where you can ask for advise or share writing information. I've joined several communities for writers, readers, and historical readers.
9. I look at each and every friend request or follow request. I want to make sure that the requester does not post items to their FB or Twitter account that could be uncomfortable for me or my followers. Also, there are a lot of fraudulent FB profilers who are up to no good and you can tell right away. Those request are deleted immediately.
10. Finally, for my next book, I'd like to create a Facebook event. I've attended a few and it was fun and interactive.

I think the most important thing is to reach out to readers and not just market your book, build a brand so that readers will want the next book by you. In fact I've seen FB status updates stating that readers hate when authors just post links of their books and don't really try to relate to the reader. I make it a point to thank every friend request with a post to the requester. Again timely, but worth that extra connection. 

That's it according to Madelyn~

Tootles~
Maddy