How Writers Can Enjoy Marketing Their Books
About The Author:
Margaret “MJ” McGriff is a YA fantasy author who writes about pirates, magic, monsters, and treasure-hunting nuns. She’s also a content marketing strategist for fiction authors, giving them the tools and resources they need to rock their book marketing. You can learn more about MJ’s books at mmcgriff.com and her fiction author services at margaretmcgriff.com.
“Why is marketing a book so hard?” you ask.
While writing a book can be challenging, many writers find promoting themselves and their work to be far more overwhelming. Just the thought of marketing is often enough to make many writers want to put a blanket over their heads. It can easily become many writers’ least favorite tasks.
But what if I told you there’s a way to actually enjoy marketing your books? It’s true!
The secret lies in a mindset shift. Instead of thinking of marketing as an icky way to beg people to buy your books, think of it in terms of one of your favorite things to do: writing a story.
Just as stories take their heroes on life-changing adventures, good book marketing takes readers on a unique journey. That journey begins when readers land on your website or Instagram page and ends with them becoming a life-long fan who buys all of your books. But how?
Let’s explore three ways you can approach book marketing like storytelling…
Tip 1: Know What You’re About & Get Excited
You know the excitement you feel when someone asks about your book? You could talk forever about your characters, conflicts, and story world — maybe even your magic system. Because you’ve spent so much time writing your book, you know it inside and out, and you’re eager to tell everyone about it.
Now take that excited feeling and apply it to your book marketing. After all, marketing is just a way to tell interested readers all about the book you’ve written. So why hesitate?
You can even experience that same fun and excitement as you build your author platform, an essential element of marketing that publishing pro Jane Friedman defines as “an ability to sell books because of who you are or who you can reach.”
Sharing your stories, the books you’re reading, the movies you love to watch — all of that is part of your brand. In book marketing, you get to be your awesome nerdy self, sharing what you love and what you do with people who get you.
Tip 2: Know Your Ideal Reader Like You Know Your Characters
Speaking of people who get you, another important part of your marketing is your ideal reader. This person is the heart of every successful book marketing plan. They dictate every marketing thing you do, from what to include in a newsletter to the #bookstagram images you post on Instagram.
Your ideal reader is the star of your marketing story, and like every great book, it’s the characters who drive the story forward.
When you know your characters inside and out, your plot flows in a way that’s natural and engaging. When you have no idea who your characters are, you get stuck or end up with a story that feels forced or contrived. The same thing can happen with your marketing.
When you don’t know who your ideal reader is, your marketing plan proves ineffective no matter how much content you create. So treat your ideal reader as a character in your novel. Give them a backstory. Flesh out their struggles. Map out their traits and flaws. List what they love to read and watch.
The more you get to know your perfect reader, the easier it will be for you to find and engage with them online, as well as what to share or create when marketing your work.
With your ideal reader in mind, you can ask yourself questions like “Would my perfect reader open up this newsletter?” or “Would my perfect reader find this book review helpful in finding a new book to read?”.
When you promote yourself and your work with your ideal reader in mind, marketing doesn’t feel icky or complicated. It feels like helping a friend. To define your ideal reader, check out this Well-Storied blog post.
Plot Out Your Marketing Plan
One of the biggest reasons that book marketing can be so difficult and stressful is a lack of planning. Many writers try to do all the things and get burned out — or get so overwhelmed with what they believe they should be doing that they do nothing at all. You can avoid both of these extremes by planning out the marketing journey you want your readers to experience.
How can you do just that? The same way you would plot your novel, of course.
Begin by brainstorming ideas for marketing content: videos, blog posts, social media posts, podcast topics, and emails. Treat those ideas as you would scenes in a story, organizing them in a way that takes your reader on a journey. Ask yourself:
Which content idea would be great for introducing myself to new followers?
What marketing ideas would re-engage readers who’ve already bought my book?
Once you know how you’ll execute these ideas, whip out your calendar and create a marketing schedule. What days will you post to Instagram? When can you work on new blog posts? Having a plan keeps you focused and free from overwhelm so you can actually enjoy what you’re doing.
Tip 3: Know where Your Marketing Journey Will Take Place
As a fantasy and sci-fi author, one of my favorite writing tasks is world-building. Whether I’m crafting a magical scepter or an entirely fictional story world, I love creating a fantastical escape for my readers — and because it’s my world, I get to make the rules and include what works for me and my story.
This same principle applies to your marketing endeavors. When promoting your book, you get to decide where and how you’ll take your readers on a journey to fandom.
Don’t think you have to do exactly what another author is doing. The beauty of marketing in today’s world is that the steps you take to reach your ideal readers and build your author platform start with you. Just as there isn’t a formula for writing a bestseller, there isn’t one path to writing or marketing success.
What should you consider when crafting your marketing world? Content and platform are key.
If you love blogging and your ideal reader loves reading blogs, then why not start a blog on your author website? If Instagram is more your jam, then go ahead and make that your main social media platform. Terrified of doing live video but love to speak? Why not launch a podcast?
The key to successful book marketing is to create content you love that you know your ideal reader will love, too.
In the end, marketing isn’t about begging people to buy your book. It’s about taking your ideal reader on a journey where they get to know, like, and trust you. Once you have that, your books will practically sell themselves.
