Welcome to our fall 2019 series, “Promoting Your Book.” In this series, the site’s regular columnists will discuss an element of marketing that’s worked for them. Nowadays, every writer needs to have some involvement in the promotion of their work. Ideally, this series will give marketing novices a starting point, or writers with some experience a notion of how to do things better.
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By Wendy Tyson
When I was a new mother of twins, I took pride in my ability to multitask. Draft a work email while cooking dinner? No problem. Watch my older son’s soccer game while finishing up a short story? I got this. Work, write, take care of three kids and two dogs, manage a household, and still do all the normal things thirty-somethings do? Bring it on.
Sound familiar?
This worked fine until it didn’t. One day, someone asked me to volunteer at a school function. The task involved baking something and then showing up with my dish the next day at school to celebrate with the kids. Despite a work deadline, I said yes, figuring I could whip up whatever it was the night before, go to work early in the morning, take the train home later that day, and eventually arrive at my son’s elementary school with something wonderful in hand—all tasks completed and completed well. Instead, my day looked like a scene from a sitcom (or a Greek tragedy). I went to bed too late, the babies were up half the night, I arrived at work irritated and exhausted, and by the time I got to school—meh cake in hand—I was in no mood for a party. I should have recognized my own limits and simply said no. I learned a valuable lesson that day, one I would have to re-learn half a dozen years later when my first book was accepted for publication.
Fast-forward to 2013. My first novel, Killer Image, was just released. Like many of us, getting published had long been my dream, so I vowed to do everything in my power to make this book a success. I said yes to everything. Book multiple blog tours? Sure! Write guest posts for two dozen bloggers? Why not? Set up a signing at any bookstore that would have me? Of course. Agree to drive across my then home-state of Pennsylvania to do a signing at a small diner in a tiny town? Absolutely. How about an even smaller venue in North Carolina? Yes!
Looking back, 2013-14 was a memorable year, noteworthy not only because my first book came out, and I experienced the joy and misery attendant with that, but because it was such a draining period. I drained my financial resources, my energy, and my limited non-work time chasing or saying yes to every opportunity that came my way. Some things paid off. The signing at that small town in North Carolina? Not one person bought a book—but I had the idea for the Greenhouse Mystery Series while there. The blog tours? They got my work in front of readers. But I felt like I was always running a race, and I wasn’t sure where the finish line even was. Of course, I was doing all this while trying to meet my deadline for the next book in that series.
My takeaway from that year was to learn to be judicious with “yes.” In other words, “no” is not a dirty word. Practice it—with others and with yourself. To help me say no, I’ve since developed a few guardrails that, when it comes to marketing, definitely help:
- Be thoughtful about guest posts and blog/podcast appearances. When I was starting out, blog tours were a big thing—especially in my subgenre. I don’t know that they’re as popular now, but I’m still asked regularly to write guest posts for fiction-related blogs. I happily do it—for the right blogs. In the past, if someone asked, I always said yes. Now I ask myself whether the blog or podcast is a good fit for my work, whether the blogger/podcaster has a decent following, and whether I have the time to interact and promote the blog and my post.
- Consider alternatives to guest posts. When Killer Image was released, I think I wrote about thirty guest posts. That’s a lot of time spent on original content—for other people. Now if time is tight, I ask if I can be interviewed or maybe post an excerpt instead of writing a post.
- Use social media wisely. We all know what a time suck social media can be, and it can be easy to mistake the hours you spend scrolling or even posting on Twitter or Facebook as marketing time. Develop a strategy for using social media and stick with it. Discipline is key.
- Make friends with your local bookseller. New writers are often surprised at how reluctant some bookstores are to schedule signings for new or lesser-known authors. Event coordinators want authors who will draw readers, and ideally they want authors who will promote an event. Knowing that my time is limited, I’ve spent it cultivating relationships with a few local bookstores, and I book events there for each release. I’ll still arrange events at other bookstores and libraries, but I make sure I have the time and resources to promote them beforehand.
- Make the best use of “yes.” I would probably still say yes to the small diner in Tiny Town, PA or the bookstore in the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina. What I wouldn’t do is treat them as standalone events. If I’m going to set up signings that are far outside of my local area, I make the best use of my time and look to book a few additional events along the way.
- Be open to alternatives. Sometimes the best way to promote your work isn’t through a traditional method. Last year, I did a book talk and signing outdoors in Bryant Park in New York City alongside two food bloggers. Our topic was sustainable agriculture, real food, and fiction. The event was a success for all of us because we were able to reach a crossover audience.
- Understand ROI. Not everything will give you a return on your investment. As you advance in your writing career, take note of the things that serve your goals most effectively. These may be things that sell books, but they may also be things that introduce you to new readers (like book clubs) or that introduce you to others in the industry, such as agents or new publishers. Figure out what your marketing goals are and find ways of measuring the effectiveness of your actions.
- Make time to give back. While it’s definitely important to say no on occasion, it’s perhaps even more important to give back to the writing community. Whether it’s through volunteering at a writers’ conference, teaching a workshop, or writing a blurb for another author, giving back not only serves the broader community but helps widen and deepen your own network.
Once your first novel gets published, there will likely be a second book—and maybe a third, fourth, and fifth. You may have had years to write your first novel, decades even, and only months to finish the next installment. Even if you’re writing full-time, your resources (time, energy, and money) will be limited. Marketing is critical, but just as critical is prioritizing your resources so that you can focus on what’s most important. Don’t be afraid to say no.
WENDY TYSON has written six published crime novels. The first in the Campbell series, Killer Image, was named a best mystery for book clubs in 2014 by Examiner.com. Wendy is also the author of the Greenhouse Mystery Series. She lives with her family on a micro-farm near Philadelphia.
To learn more about Wendy Tyson’s most recent novel, click HERE.
Previously in Promoting Your Book
J.J. Hensley on Saying Yes
Gwen Florio on Why Conferences
E.A. Aymar on Hosting a Good Book Event
