Wow, I can’t believe March is over all ready and we are into April. It seems like only yesterday I wrote part one in the realities of self-publishing. if you missed it last month but would like to read The Realities of Self-Publishing part one, I have linked it here. Since then we’ve had even more rain and plenty of follow-up sunshine. The water tanks are overflowing and the lush green grass is in need of mowing, (which it didn’t need all Summer.) Hubby has already had the ride-on lawn mower bogged in the soggy long grass where the septic tank grey water runs off. Oh the joys of living in the country.
You may be interested to know I survived my nerves and our talk at the SCBWI ACT conference last weekend went well. David Conley and I decided to make it more of a conversational chat than a formal presentation. It seemed to have gone across with the audience well. As usual and to be expected the speakers before us ran overtime, so I was concerned we would have even less time to present than the twenty minutes plus ten minutes for Q&A allocated to us so that the conference could still finish on time. However, my concerns were unfounded, we spoke for nearly forty-five minutes including questions and people still came forwards to ask for more advice after we were finished. It was a great day and I felt proud to speak alongside David and impart our combined over ten years wisdom of lessons learned , do’s and don’ts in the the self-publishing industry.
David Conley and I speaking on self-publishing at the SCBWI ACT Professional Development Day.
Now, down to the nitty-gritty I know you have all been waiting for. - Marketing.
Whether you are traditionally or self-published, you will more than likely need to do all of your marketing. There are very few traditional publishers who will invest time and money into a book tour unless you are a well-known celebrity, so don’t count on that as a reason to go the traditional route.
First of all, let’s change the name from self-publishing to independent publishing. It has a more professional ‘ring’ to it. Stand proud and own it, after all, you are now a small independent publisher. As mentioned last month, you have invested heavily in your book, so you are the publishing company.
Marketing should start early. Months before you even have that first copy of the book in your hands. You need to establish yourself as an author on social media, via a newsletter and/or blog posts. These all need to be done consistently. You need time to build up an audience of excited readers anticipating that release.
But what should I be posting? I hear you ask. Establish yourself as an expert in a particular field. For example, well before Fossil Frenzy the Adamson Adventures 3 was to be released, I started discussions about dinosaurs, not just the everyday common variety that every kid knows and loves, but some of the more unusual dinosaurs that are unique to Australia. It didn’t take long before I was known as ‘the dinosaur lady.’ Over the years I have applied this principal to all of my books.
Do you plan to hold a book launch? I hope the answer is yes. You’ve worked hard to make your book baby a reality and it deserves to be celebrated. Again, you will need to start planning this well in advance. You may have an independent bookstore you have in mind, or another special place specific to your topic. I often use my local independent bookstore here in Canberra, the Book Cow-Kingston, but for Fossil Frenzy I changed it up and was lucky to have the National Dinosaur Museum agree to launch the book there. As Tracks in the Mist, the Adamson Adventures 4, was set in Tasmania, I reached out to the Hobart Bookshop , (Hobart is the Capital of Tasmania for my overseas readers), who kindly agreed for a launch there as well as my local bookshop. Note; If you are planning a launch somewhere, please be mindful that shops are busy places and need plenty of warning to plan events ahead of time. You will also have more luck if you make a connection with the shop before-hand. Don’t just walk in off the street as an unknown and expect someone to make time to talk to you. Email first is always a good option and ask if you can make an appointment to speak to the person in charge.
Book launch of Tracks in the Mist at The Book Cow - Kingston
the Hobart Book Shop
The National Dinosaur Museum in Canberra agreed to host a book launch and invited me back several times.
Sometimes launches aren’t always possible, or you can’t have a launch in every bookshop in town. An alternative is to request a book signing instead. These can be daunting. The bookshop will give you a table to set-up, then you will sit there for an hour, two or more depending upon your agreement. Signings are often slow, you may only get a handful of people curious enough to speak to you, and that all important buyer can be quite elusive. Launches are for family and friends you know are loyal and want to purchase your books, signings are different, beast, you are relying on the good will and interest of strangers.
Now I am about to contradict myself. I just said email ahead and request a time to speak to someone. Well, believe it or not, cold calling has also worked for me. It’s hard to come out of my shell where I prefer to hide and walk into a store and request to speak to the manager, but I have done it. Going back to the point I made about finding places other than bookshops to sell your books, when I released my picture books, Emma the Eager Emu and Frazzled Freya, I looked for unique places to offer them to. Being both about Australian animals, I decided to try the two local National Park gift shops near me and they both kindly agreed to stock them. To add to that success I decided to try two tourist information centres near me, who also agreed. Then to add further to this, as I did not have a distributor to sell my books around Australia for me, I decided to take a box of books with me when we drove across Australia. Each town we arrived in, I found the tourist information centre and more often than not, they too, took on a few copies. When we were at the Pinnacles in WA, the manager wasn’t there at the time, but the assistant kindly offered to take a copy of both to show her later. A few days on and I received a request for a number of copies of both books, more than any place has ever ordered.
The Big Merino Golbourn
When I was in Hobart, Tasmania for the book launch, I found another store that sold all sorts of items specific to Tasmania. They too, agreed to sell copies of Tracks in the Mist, and in fact have placed several orders since. I guess what I’m saying is, you never know unless you ask. Sometimes you do need a thick skin, but sometimes it’s all worth it.
I’m going to conclude this blog post here. I still have more to say on marketing, but that will have to wait until next month.
Have you found this useful? Then please keep in eye out for the next one at the beginning of May.