4 answers
Grace
Student
Delano, California
1
Question
Updated
193 views
Where do I learn good marketing skills for my novel?
Still deciding whether to be self-published or go by a publishing company.
Login to comment
4 answers
Helen Grimmett
Product Manager
11
Answers
Slough, England, United Kingdom
Updated
Helen’s Answer
Hi Grace, Even if you decide to go traditional publishing you will still be responsible for much of the marketing. The decision to choose trad or self pub should not be based on whether you market your books. Trad publishers will still ask what social following you have, how active you are on social media, where you have a presence, etc. and they will expect you to promote and market your books. The benefit of a trad publisher is that they will get you into bricks and mortar bookshops, and your agent will manage the financial/selling rights side for you, which you will pay them for out of any advance.
Remember even though you may get an advance from a trad publisher, you still have to sell that amount of books 'to pay back the advance' before you see any further money, so it is in your interest to market your books.
Regarding acquiring marketing skills, while at college you could choose to do a marketing course, there are many online courses available, and for selling books its about finding your target audience, your ideal reader, your addressable market. You need to think about where your books fit in the market, age group, gender, genre, and then consider what is important to them. What would make that person, group buy your book?
Good Luck on your writing journey.
A good instgrammer that provides free advice for book marketing is Jenn dePaula https://instagram.com/mixtusmedia
Remember even though you may get an advance from a trad publisher, you still have to sell that amount of books 'to pay back the advance' before you see any further money, so it is in your interest to market your books.
Regarding acquiring marketing skills, while at college you could choose to do a marketing course, there are many online courses available, and for selling books its about finding your target audience, your ideal reader, your addressable market. You need to think about where your books fit in the market, age group, gender, genre, and then consider what is important to them. What would make that person, group buy your book?
Good Luck on your writing journey.
Helen recommends the following next steps:
Lindsey Flagg
Freelancer
16
Answers
Crown Point, Indiana
Updated
Lindsey’s Answer
It's a good idea to learn marketing skills even if you go with a publishing company, as most careers involve at least some self-promotion now and you will likely need to complete at least some promotion of your novel on your own at some point.
My suggestion would be to start with a free online marketing course, such as ones offered on Alison. Some public libraries also offer LinkedIn Learning courses for free through their websites, so you can always look to that route for a wide range of course selections on many niche marketing topics. I found their Consumer Behavior course to be very eye-opening in particular.
Books have also been published on this topic, so you might want to look for some affordable eBook options that are specifically geared toward authors. They may even help you decide if you want to go the self-publishing route or the traditional route.
Best of luck in your writing career!
Pursue a degree program that mixes marketing and creative writing in some way, such as a double major or a major and a minor. Studying business could also be helpful in your situation.
My suggestion would be to start with a free online marketing course, such as ones offered on Alison. Some public libraries also offer LinkedIn Learning courses for free through their websites, so you can always look to that route for a wide range of course selections on many niche marketing topics. I found their Consumer Behavior course to be very eye-opening in particular.
Books have also been published on this topic, so you might want to look for some affordable eBook options that are specifically geared toward authors. They may even help you decide if you want to go the self-publishing route or the traditional route.
Best of luck in your writing career!
Lindsey recommends the following next steps:
Mike Doria
Strategic Communications
7
Answers
Henderson, Nevada
Updated
Mike’s Answer
Trial and error may be your best bet here. Marketing your book will be dependent upon your skill level. For example, you could run an Instagram ad campaign to promote your book. To do that, you’ll need to know a little about digital marketing and the particular audience for your book. For example, who are the people who would buy your book? What are their hobbies or interests? What is their education level? What ages?
Marketing is less about thinking about yourself and more about others (I don’t mean that to sound rude). You have to be in others' minds to figure out what they want. Below is a list of ways to market your book for sales, awareness of its existence, or feedback.
1. Ask an independent bookstore in your city if you could do a book signing or discussion there. They’re not going to be mad if you bring them customers.
2. Ask the independent bookstore to carry your book or promote it. Would you be willing to offer them a percentage of your sales?
3. Create a Facebook group for your book, genre, or something related where authors can share ideas, etc.
4. Start a broadcast channel on Instagram where you could give updates on your writing process or how a book is coming along
5. Create an Instagram page for your book. As you interact with other accounts, you’ll be “liking” and “commenting” on your book
6. Get a linktr.ee account where you can have several links to all the places you sell your book. This makes it so much easier to promote anything.
7. As you interact with some people on social media, ask them if you can send a copy of your book for review. If they like the book, they’re more willing to share it. Be upfront about what you’re looking for.
8. Get as many reviews for the book as possible and share them on social media, a website (particularly one for your book).
9. Your book makes a great gift
10. Start becoming an authority in the genre you are writing. For example, if you are a fantasy writer, start blogging about your writing process, tips for other writers, ideas, interesting ways to develop characters, etc.
11. Get on all the platforms
12. Make sure to read other authors and play nicely. Help them, they help you.
13. Be unique. For my current book, I went on Canva.com (great for creating book covers) and found images of real people that I used as the personas for my book characters. I made a 30-second video that quickly went through each character in the novel. Putting faces to the names of characters helps people visually understand your book.
14. Create a book trailer (if possible). It’s a 1 to 3-minute video that explains your book
Marketing is less about thinking about yourself and more about others (I don’t mean that to sound rude). You have to be in others' minds to figure out what they want. Below is a list of ways to market your book for sales, awareness of its existence, or feedback.
1. Ask an independent bookstore in your city if you could do a book signing or discussion there. They’re not going to be mad if you bring them customers.
2. Ask the independent bookstore to carry your book or promote it. Would you be willing to offer them a percentage of your sales?
3. Create a Facebook group for your book, genre, or something related where authors can share ideas, etc.
4. Start a broadcast channel on Instagram where you could give updates on your writing process or how a book is coming along
5. Create an Instagram page for your book. As you interact with other accounts, you’ll be “liking” and “commenting” on your book
6. Get a linktr.ee account where you can have several links to all the places you sell your book. This makes it so much easier to promote anything.
7. As you interact with some people on social media, ask them if you can send a copy of your book for review. If they like the book, they’re more willing to share it. Be upfront about what you’re looking for.
8. Get as many reviews for the book as possible and share them on social media, a website (particularly one for your book).
9. Your book makes a great gift
10. Start becoming an authority in the genre you are writing. For example, if you are a fantasy writer, start blogging about your writing process, tips for other writers, ideas, interesting ways to develop characters, etc.
11. Get on all the platforms
12. Make sure to read other authors and play nicely. Help them, they help you.
13. Be unique. For my current book, I went on Canva.com (great for creating book covers) and found images of real people that I used as the personas for my book characters. I made a 30-second video that quickly went through each character in the novel. Putting faces to the names of characters helps people visually understand your book.
14. Create a book trailer (if possible). It’s a 1 to 3-minute video that explains your book
Juanita Joubert
I am a writer, financial accountant, social media manager, and publisher
22
Answers
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Updated
Juanita’s Answer
There is already some great advice on your question, but to give my own opinion here. I use social media as my best friend and that includes YouTube and TikTok. There are 100s of author influencers on these platforms from who you can learn to market your book. I personally follow Sarah Mae Sutton on Youtube and she is the perfect example of an author influencer. She is a self-published author of almost 12 books and if you follow her model you can get there too. But she is just one prime example, there are many more just like her. Remember, you get your audience who doesn't mind reading your pitches and then there are those who will get to know you through video content. You need to find the best platforms to market your books and that could be Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, but it can also be YouTube and TikTo. Just test out as many strategies as possible and see which one works best for you.