I had a conversation with a new author the other day, and one of the things we talked about was marketing. There are many ways to market your work. The trick at first is to pick one or two, work on those, and gradually figure out what works for you, and what doesn’t, rather than trying out everything everywhere all at once. If you do the latter, and something works, you’re stuck doing them all! Also, if it doesn’t work, you aren’t sure why.
Buying ads isn’t the best strategy when you are starting out and only have a single book, or short stories. What you can do, though, is to build up your readership organically. If you are publishing more than one thing (and you really, really should be) make your readers aware that if they follow you on Amazon, they will be notified when you have a new release. You should have a blog, website, or newsletter (and all three can be had for free if you have no budget, and only later upgraded to a higher-cost option if you like) to stay in touch with new readers and to attract readers, outside of the retailers. Pick one, not all at once: blog, website (which can be one and the same) or newsletter. Word of mouth is slow, but sure.
If you have a way to reach out to your readers and potential readers, don’t be afraid to ask them questions. People like answering questions. Don’t do things like asking for reviews too often, but do make sure you ask periodically, reminding readers that they are important to you and your writing. Don’t be afraid to ask if they will follow you through the retailer (I assume other stores than Amazon offer this). Or, even at your blog/substack/newsletter. If you do have a blog and want more participation in comments, ask questions of the readers (maybe not ‘beans or no beans in chili?’ unless you want a flame war!) that aren’t related to your writing, and then participate in the comments with them. You’re building a relationship with people on the other side of screens, and it’s something that comes naturally to humans. Just keep in mind they are people who, like you, don’t like to have pushy sales in their face all the time. Give them interesting content, don’t make it all writing, all the time.
Need more followers at the blog? Well, on Substack I’m finding that interacting with other ‘stacks, particularly on Notes, is helping people find me and me find people. Just like the early days of the blogosphere, it’s a community of like-minded folks if you’re using it properly. Linking and sharing each other grows both your audiences, and remember, the rising tide lifts all boats. Also, be polite and professional in your comments and interactions. Trolls are rarely amusing and attractive, whatever they may think. Social media is of limited use, these days. I find that groups are better than the main timeline of Facebook, but that’s not saying much, to be honest. X/twitter is even more throttled. I’ve been focusing on content on Substack, and finding it rewarding, but I enjoy writing essays (like this one, yes, although full disclosure I’m pre-caffeinated).
Consider being multi-media. When I was doing the read-aloud children’s books on Youtube my stats there went way up, and I suspect if I could manage the time to do that more like my blog, covering a broad range of topics, it would be a good audience. If I had audiobooks available (which is a work in progress) I would definitely be doing more there. Podcasts work as well, I think. Again, consistency is key. Yes, content marketing takes time, time you could be spending writing. Here is the thing, though, if you schedule posts, after spending a couple of hours a week creating the content you are going to post, it’s not that much in the grand scheme of things. If you are going to make writing your business, you must budget into your time marketing or you won’t have the sales to support the business. It’s the creative’s paradox.
So ask. Ask things like: where did you hear about me or my book? How did you find your way to my blog?
Write that down. Compile the data. Then, you can start to find the story the data is telling you about the people who make up your audience when you put out a book or a blog post (and those may be two different audiences!)
What do you think, dear readers?