Today on Salad Bowl Saturday we welcome Paula Petty, a multi-talented lady who today shares some interesting tidbids about marketing she learned the hard way. On her website she attributes these characteristics for herself: A writer. A speaker. An observer of people.
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Years
ago when I pictured myself sitting at a popular bookstore signing books with
the line going out the door, I didn’t have a clue how much marketing it would
take to get me to that point. No one is really
aware of the “behind the scenes” task that is before them to be successful, and we all know that publishing
and marketing has changed since I first started writing in 3rd grade
some (cough, cough) years ago.
I
graduated from the writing school of hard knocks and wish I had known a few
things about marketing before I ever began.
Writers need
thick skin when marketing. Not everything is going to work. Critics are in
plentiful supply. We can’t be marshmallowy and quit marketing and writing
because we have critics. If a strategy is not working for me, I’ll find another
one.
I need a
marketing approach to set me apart from the others. I am working on
a cozy-type mystery. My protagonist does a lot of volunteer work and sells
lingerie. I am already working on ways to reach those markets. I assure you it is a different marketing
approach from having a protagonist that is a cop. I don’t do book reviews on my
blog because I feel so many others are reviewing books that no one will read my
book reviews. That is why I chose to interview fictional crime solvers on
“Paula’s Coppers.” It’s different.
Never listen to
anyone who does not know what a blog or social media is. Don’t laugh.
This has actually happened to me twice. I attended a conference a couple of
years ago on the need for agents and self-publishing. Someone raised the question on the need for a
blog or social media. The author didn’t know anything about it and never used
it (She had first been published 15 years ago). I felt as if I wasted my time
listening to her. Just this past year a
published author was advising me on marketing and said he had heard everyone
talk about blogs and didn’t know what it was. Huh? Whether or not an author chooses to use it is
one thing, but she should be familiar enough to know to reject it. I don’t take
any marketing advice from those that don’t.
Don’t ignore the
little things to market your book or to help create a platform. I made a huge discovery a couple of weeks
ago. A relative was throwing a surprise
party for her husband. I agreed to handle the R.S.V.P’s. She gave them my email address for the reply.
It just so happens that my web address is included in my signature on e-mail. Some
of them checked out my website. I know this because when I visited my relatives
and saw many of the invitees, they asked me how my mystery was coming along.
They told me that they went to the website under my name. That was an
unexpected marketing surprise and gave me more fans and potential readers. And
to think—just from putting www.paulapetty.com under my name.
In
another instance, one of the authors I invited to contribute to “Paula’s
Coppers” went to my website to learn about me.
He told me to notify him when I finished my book because he wants to
show it to his editor.
Nothing takes
the place of good writing. I started working on a marketing plan not long
after I started my mystery. The marketing occupied my time and thoughts. I kept
thinking what else I could do to build my platform. The creative side of my
brain seemed to be overpowered by the marketing side. The stuff I wrote wasn’t
worth reading and I knew it.
The
best marketing plan in the world does not replace bad writing. Editors and
publishers know this.
Marketing
is a process that continually changes. I continue to be surprised at what works
and what doesn’t. Most lessons are still learned the hard way. I wish I had
learned these earlier so that I would be closer to the long lines at signings.
What
do you now know about marketing that you wish you had known earlier?
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Paula's articles have appeared in The Chattanooga Free Press, Family Connection, and Christian Woman. Her poetry has been published in Woman's Touch, Christian Woman and Sunshine magazines. Woman's Day and PTA Today have published her tips and ideas. Her Christian novel has just been picked up by a publisher (details to be released on her website when available).
Her current project is a murder mystery about a woman who volunteers to help with a community project. When Sophie Minton volunteered, she didn't mind sweeping, but come on, a dead body? In the closet?
Her website is http://paulapetty.com
All good ideas for marketing, Paula. Good luck with your mystery when it comes out.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by our blog. I like your idea of having a niche for your marketing. Clearly one size does not fit all writers.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting with us Paula.
ReplyDeleteI think you are so right that while marketing we need to be open to serendipity and use it to full advantage.
~ Jim
Gloria - Thank you for your comment. Warren - That is one of the first things I learned. Each writer has strengths to help develop a unique way to market. Jim - You are so right. It can open so many doors. Thanks, everyone, for your comments.
ReplyDeleteNothing takes the place of good writing. Well said. Writing another good book helps with sales on all of your books!
ReplyDeleteGood post, Paula!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I have learned is that no matter how much time you think marketing is going to take--it takes a lot longer! The hard part is that you have to do twice as much as you think might work because you don't know which part is actually going to be useful.
Good luck!
HMC - You are so right. Nothing takes the place of good writing. Thanks for the comment. Terry - Sometimes it seems that the more marketing I do, the more there is to do; but marketing is so important in selling your book. Most of it is trial and error. Thanks for your comment.
ReplyDeleteHey, Paula, we graduated from the same school. Let me know when the Writer's School of Hard Knocks has a reunion. Only if I'd known that writing the book would be the easiest part of the process...then the real work begins.
ReplyDeleteI just found out today that it pays to blow your own trumpet, even in a casual way. Just with a few words mentioned in a casual conversation I sold a dozen of my books, on the spot for cash ... and I was only strolling around our local market.
ReplyDeleteWith reference to not knowing about social media... while it is an important part of modern writing (and anyone is a fool to ignore it) I would argue that there is also a risk that only marketing online is as much of a mistake as not using social media at all. The internet is flooded with writers pushing their books via social media in many and varied ways - some more subtle than others - and this can mean that any individual book might get lost in the deluge. Marketing should therefore consider alternative methods to stand out and I do wonder if those 'out of touch writers' who do not understand social media may have the key to those alternatives?
ReplyDeleteRather than not listen, I would say offer an exchange - help with their social media in exchange for some ideas on how to take your marketing strategy out of the computer and back into the real world.
Some excellent points made here.