Every author eventually hits the point where they need to do some marketing. Yuck! I know, but it is a reality regardless of where and how your book is published. So many writers that I know, and have worked with, fall down when it comes to the actual selling process of their books. It is not good enough to just write and publish, because absolutely no one will know that your title even exists.
Sometimes people wait and hope that they will magically "go viral" like Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. Reality is that they didn't sell millions of books without a lot of hard work on their part.
Patience, persistence and constant promotion - the 3 P's.
Most of you will eventually, if not first, publish your books on Amazon. You might resist, especially if you are listening to legacy publishers but trust me, you will eventually find your book on Amazon. Publishing is easy for both Kindle and paper books, but then what?
Last weekend I ran across an e-book from Shelley Hitz called, "Marketing Your Book On Amazon," and you really do need to get it too. She includes 21 different real-life things that we need to do to make our efforts more visible. Yes, I am in the process of going through her "to-do" list for each of my titles and you should too. Find her book here, on Amazon and download it to your computer if you don't already have a Kindle.
I know that there are other platforms that require your attention like Smashwords, Apple, Kobo, Barnes and Noble and others, but start with the biggest and go through the steps and then move on to the next. You need to do your part in the marketing process, regardless of whether you publish yourself or with a legacy publisher - marketing and sales are your responsibility. Shelley's book takes a lot of the mystery and hard work out of the deal so I very highly recommend that you start here.
And, just to let you know, Shelley did not ask me to post this blog on her behalf - I just think that my readers deserve to have good information when it is available.
I must admit that when I was reading some other blogs yesterday, I came across several authors who write only for the sake of writing and don't really seem to care if readers find them. What a disservice to both potential readers and themselves. If it's worth writing, then it is worth reading - find your readers.
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