The Marketing Monster

Some people are very good at marketing their self-published books. Or marketing in general. They are people who naturally have a gift to be able to persuade others to buy a product with the energy and care needed. I think it must be a real talent if they are able to sell hundreds or thousands of copies of their own material and not seem arrogant or overbearing at the same time. I do not think I am one of those people.

The thought of having a step by step plan of setting a release date, building hype, doing blog tours, getting a list of preorders, etc. sounds terribly aggressive to me personally. However, such things are likely necessary when self-publishing a novel. Is there any way to go about promoting your book that’s natural for the non-sales-person?

Marketing a blog is a slightly different story. I read an article recently called “Ten Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started a Blog,” by Elyse Jackson on a new writer/reader site similar to Wattpad called WriteSpike. (I am one of the new authors creating content for this site.) Elyse wrote about how building a blog is really a full time job, researching and learning about SEO, networking with other bloggers, etc. to congregate hundreds of followers per day. It’s not enough to simply write heartfelt content. Especially for learning about the best blogging websites, I recommend reading her article.

Speaking of recommendations, I have two friends who recently opened shops on Etsy. One is Artipede, and the other is TheVelvetVirtues. Check them out!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Artipede?ref=search_shop_redirect

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheVelvetVirtues?ref=shop_sugg

Also, a year and three days ago, I self-published Fish Out of Water. It has not sold more than 50 copies, I believe. And yet, I have three more books in the series to write. If you love excitement, this book will keep you guessing at what comes next. There it sits on the Amazon shelf amid thousands if not millions of other books. There is something to be said about doing a job right in writing: if you do it yourself, you got to do all aspects all the way.