How to Do a Thoughtful Promotion as an Author
Being an author is not easy. I understand. You have to fight procrastination, self-sabotage and sleepiness on a daily basis, aside from life problems in general, in order to bring something new and creative into the world. But before your book is finished and ready to be adored by the masses, you need to let people know that your creation is actually in the works.
Now, self-promotion is a different beast on its own, and if you’re a little bit scared of it, you’re definitely not alone. Because let’s face it, it’s a deeply vulnerable thing to make something, let alone to ask people to notice it, evaluate it, like it, and pay for it.
I’ll try to discuss how to make the most of the freedom you have as your own marketing team, where to place your focus, and how to make sure your voice as an indie author shines through.
Strategy and Planning
Know your goals.
Promoting yourself and your work should be creative, but it doesn’t mean that the artistic side of things can undermine the structural side of your publishing business. Because it is business first and foremost. Do you have a clear set of goals? Do you want to keep your network of friends and family informed about what you’re doing, or do you want to build a global audience? Do you want people to attend your events, download your books on Kindle Unlimited, or buy your paperbacks or hardbacks? Do you want to make enough money to pay your basic expenses or retire early? Getting clear on what you want to achieve will help everything else take form, and will help you know when you’re done.
Note. One handy tool from the business world that might help you in forming your goals is the S (specific). M (measurable). A (achievable). R (relevant). T (timebound). system.
Know your audience.
In order to reach your set goals you should be able to clearly define your audience. To get to know your audience, it can help to paint a mental picture of your ideal fan/follower/supporter. If you are more or less an established author, describe the fans/followers/supporters you already have. If you are a newbie, describe the fans/followers/supporters of an author you think is somewhat similar to what you have in mind.
Two entry points for exploring your audience are demographics and psychographics. Demographics are facts such as a person’s location, age, family structure, income, and education. Psychographics address an audience’s attitudes, aspirations, and behaviors. To explore your audience’s psychographics, you can ask yourself these questions:
What motivates them?
What are their dreams?
What are their values?
Why might they connect with your work over others in your genre?
You also might want to make a list of other things your audience might like, such as what they do for fun, where they get their news and entertainment, and what other authors they support.
Know your analytics.
You need to get familiar with different promotional techniques that actually surround you every single day. Pay attention and start to analyze what you enjoy, what you don’t like, what resonates with you. Here are a few questions to keep in mind:
Where did you encounter the promo?
What did it look like?
What did it sound like?
How did it make you feel?
And most importantly—how was all of this achieved?
In order to promote your work effectively, it’s important to understand how a word, image, or idea might affect someone’s emotions and stimulate their senses. Luckily, as a creative person, this is where your talents will shine. As you learn from those who are doing things well, it’s equally important to learn what promotional techniques bother you. And, even if you see a peer succeeding with strategies that rub you the wrong way (and you will), resist the fear that you need to replicate them. That won’t serve that ideal audience member we just conjured together, and it won’t serve you.
Know when to stop being annoying.
Self-promotion requires you to confront the fact that your work most probably won’t appeal to everyone, but it doesn’t have to. Once you realize that if your ideal audience wants to hear from you as much as possible, they won’t be annoyed when you’re promoting your new book or upcoming project. You’ll find a feeling of confidence, creative freedom, and satisfaction in knowing that the people who are engaging with your work are doing it because they want to, and not just because they haven’t unsubscribed yet.
That being said, there are some industry standards for how to pace your activity so as not to overdo it. A good place to start is by posting to Instagram or other social media (where images are a primary tool) networks about 1-2 times a day, tweeting whenever the mood strikes really, and emailing once a month. But, the response of your audience is the best measure of how much is too much.
Know your tactics.
Tactics are the specific methods and channels you’ll use to fulfill your promotional strategy. As you define your tactics, you’ll need to pick your prioritized platforms—you don’t have time to do everything, after all. But do make sure you have presence everywhere!
Author Website
Your website is one of the few places online where you have control over what the content is, what it looks like, and to a certain extent, how people find it.
Oftentimes, I hear authors ask about the necessity of websites. Maintaining and developing them are time-consuming and energy-draining, especially when you don’t have a high level of engagement there at first glance. I get the concern and the frustration, but my answer is still ‘keep it’.
First of all, it’s highly improbable but what will happen when all the existing social media platforms disappear? How will you communicate with your audience? Where will you post about your works? Exactly, websites are your safety beacon to keep your publishing business afloat if/when things happen.
Secondly, it’s harder but more profitable to sell your books directly from your own platform. Many authors I work with offer special editions, signed copies, and licensed merch for their fans. Extra cash never hurts, you know.
Finally, it’s easier to support the community of followers you accumulate as your publishing business develops. There’s an option to create something similar to Patreon on your website to facilitate the ‘family bonds’.
Social Media
Social media is great for building awareness, deepening relationships over time, making the most of visual content, and revealing your personality. It’s also good for wasting a lot of time, and spending a lot of precious emotional capital. This is a tool that is specifically designed to grab your attention and not let go, and it can trigger bad habits such as jealousy and the generalized anxiety that everyone is doing great except for you.
All that aside, social media is a great way to be in direct contact with people who are interested in your work, and it can be positive and nourishing. Again, check in with your goals.
Platforms recommended to authors:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Newsletter and Email List
Email is the most direct way to keep in touch with your audience and make sure your message is getting through. It gives your subscribers a feeling of being in regular contact with you, and makes it easy for them to click through to buy your books, read that great review you got, or simply catch up to what you’ve been up to.
“If my digital house was burning down, it’s my email list I would save. I wouldn’t think twice. As a person who makes a living writing books, it’s the most important piece of data I possess, and it’s brought me more value—commercial, emotional, everything in between—than I can articulate. Email lists grow slowly, so the best thing you can do for your future self is to just start one immediately. Do it today.”
Collabs
By now, you might have an impression that you should talk about yourself and your work non-stop, while you’re the only one to do so. Wouldn’t it be nice if others took on that task some of the time, introducing you to new audiences and building your credibility? The good news is that occasionally, they do, and they are called Booktubers, Bookstagramers, Booktokers, etc.
Working with influencers—i.e. people with large, highly engaged online audiences—can be a quick way to expose new people to your work. Look for influencers whose opinions are valued in your discipline, and send them PR packages, which should include your book and some complimentary items related to the contents of the book.
When you’re hoping to get an influencer to promote your work to their audience, be direct: if you give someone something because you hope they’ll talk about it, be sure to ask for that specifically and tactfully. People with larger followings are more likely to expect monetary compensation for their efforts, so you may want to focus on those with smaller audiences that are exceptionally well-matched to your work or have already shown their love for it.
Success Measurement and Strategy Adjustment
Digital marketing is a deeply iterative process. You make your best guess about what will be effective, then you put something out into the world and see what actually happens, then you adjust and try again. As you experiment with new strategies, know that responding to the feedback you receive from your audience can be a sign that you respect them, and that your relationship is a two-way street.
Here are a few variables you can experiment with as you home in on the best promotional strategy for you and your work:
Timing: do your posts do better if they’re posted at 11pm versus 11am? What about Wednesday morning versus Friday afternoon?
Type of media: do still images, GIFs, or videos seem to inspire more conversation?
Voice and tone: does your audience prefer you to get right to the point, or are they charmed by a little cheekiness?
Visuals: is there a style of photography or a color palette that seems to inspire your audience’s curiosity?
Headlines and subject lines: what kinds of phrases are more likely to make people open that email or take the next step?
Every time you try something new, it’s a good idea to keep a note of what you did and how it worked out. Looking back at past posts or emails to see how they performed is an important way to learn. And, writing things down will help you remember and improve. Even if you spend just a few minutes a week measuring the results of your promotional efforts, the insights you glean will build over time, and soon enough you’ll be a seasoned expert.
In summary…
With so many tactics, you’re going to need some structure to stay focused and calm. Here are a few things to consider:
Use a content calendar
Timebox your efforts
Define and set your boundaries
Control the trolls online
Make a clear distinction between private and professional
Limit your time on social media platforms
Marketing and publicity go awry when they are executed without humanity or concern about its overall impact. As you narrow in on a promotional strategy that works for you, double down on your sensitivity, but don’t give into insecurity. Make your moves to meet your goals, and then get back to creating.