Are you continually speaking to your audience?
You wrote a book in order to share a message, information or simply entertainment value with a particular audience. Once that book is published, it is your responsibility to bring it to the attention of your audience and to keep it alive for them.
I am always blown away when I attend an event and learn that most of the dozens or hundreds of writers/authors there have not heard about SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) or about me and my books for authors. I do what seems like an incredible amount of promotion through this blog, through the many articles I write for related publications and through public appearances. I estimate that the promo that I and others do on my behalf has the potential to reach over 30,000 people each month.
So how is it that, when I attend an event like the huge Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, so many people claim they have never heard of Patricia Fry, my books or SPAWN?
There are those, of course, who do know about my work and the organization. It’s always refreshing to know that some authors and hopeful authors are reading the most informative publications and epublications and that they are doing aggressive research.
But when I go out and meet so many authors who don’t know who I am, I realize that I need to step up my promotional activities. Is this your attitude? When you meet readers of mysteries who haven’t heard about your book or people in a job search, who are seeking help with finances, who care for an elderly loved one, who want information on flying, gardening, cooking with herbs, etc and who haven’t heard about your book on this topic, what do you do? Do you get depressed because your marketing efforts are going unnoticed? Or do you start devising a more aggressive promotional plan?
Certainly, we can’t reach everyone using one or two promotional ideas. And we can’t expect to be found just by being. A website needs to be promoted in order to be noticed. Your promotional efforts must be ongoing and vigorous. Don’t submit an article to an appropriate newsletter or magazine and then wait for results. Write many articles (or stories) and submit them to dozens of publications, keep upgrading your website and invite your audience, show up at every appropriate event, talk about your book wherever you go, connect with the organizations and people who work with or attract your audience and so forth.
For more on book promotion, be sure to order my book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. It’s on Kindle and Nook—at Amazon and B&N and other book outlets on and off-line.