Marketing Madness

It’s the dream—or the bane—of every author: marketing our books. We’ve poured our heart and soul into our novels, traveled the long and arduous journey to get it published, survived editing, rejoiced over book covers and names in print. And now our “baby” is out there.

Authors everywhere are eager to tell people about their books. It’s just that some authors are better equipped to do that. Some have been preparing their path of exposure for some time, a voice to accompany the sale. Speaking at conferences, church events, luncheons, ladies’ teas, you name the venue and they’ll be there. T.V. and radio? Just give them the opportunity and tell them the date and time. They’ll be there!

Then there are others, more like me unfortunately, who also long to tell everyone about their books but find the whole marketing mystique a burden rather than an opportunity. Meet the introverts. The shy ones for whom public speaking comes with night sweats and nausea.

And yet even the staunchest introvert recognizes we cannot ignore the whole marketing madness if we want to keep selling books, if only to convince our publishers we’re willing to help. It’s one of those things that simply comes with the job. If you’ve been blessed to have a job as a writer then it’s up to you to find a way to do even this.

I’ve found some aspects of marketing I DO enjoy, after all. Visiting reader’s groups, for one. A reader recently contacted me because she noticed my post office box was local to her. She asked if I might be interested in visiting her reader’s group. Now this is the kind of small, intimate group that even an introvert can enjoy!

I had a great time chatting and eating. The personal connection is one of those “dream” parts of marketing that even those who resist other parts can enjoy.

Blog interviews are another form of marketing fun. (See my latest at: http://writesthoughts.blogspot.com/) These kinds of interviews are especially fun to me, for a variety of reasons. The questions are as varied as the hosts; I’m usually given plenty of time to answer the interview questions, so my schedule is manageable; marketing these days is more about the Internet than it is about print magazines; it’s free, or basically free, costing only the price of a promo copy of the book and postage to get it to a blog winner (if a contest is part of the interview). And for an introvert like me, not having to speak in front of an audience is a definite plus!

There are some forms of marketing that haven’t seemed worth it, even if they have been fun. Investing in post card mailings, for one.
For my first several books I had fun designing post cards with the lovely artwork from my covers (I’ve loved all of my covers!).
I would look forward to seeing the post cards, with the flip side describing the story and how the book can be purchased. And then, using my Christmas card mailing list and another list I complied of book stores and some libraries, I would spend hours affixing labels and stamps, then trot off to the post office and send them on their way with a prayer that they might make a difference.

I cannot say for certain that they made much difference as far as sales, so I’m chalking that activity as fun but not much of a payoff.

This is a banner Tyndale House designed for me. Isn’t it great?

So far, I’m finding blogging to be more fun than work, and a quarterly newsletter easy to do. (I’m sending one soon, so make sure you’re signed up!)

And so my journey continues, trying out marketing methods and seeing which ones fit. In the spring I’ll be speaking at a women’s retreat, and for some reason I’m not at all worried about that form of public speaking. For one thing, it’s in February, so ask me again at the end of January if I’m worried about it or not. But more importantly, it promises to be a relatively intimate group of women that I’m sure will be similar to the lovely reader’s group I mentioned above.

For something like that I can set aside my introvert status and enjoy some face-to-face time!