Well, welcome to the club. Most of the authors I work with, or coach, have day jobs; they try to cram in as much marketing as they can after an exhausting day at the office. Working this way can be completely overwhelming. It’s no wonder most authors market their books for ninety days and then quit.
Enter the one minute marketer. As tempting as it is, you can’t do everything. It’s just not realistic. Instead, try doing just three things a day. I found that authors are not only more focused this way, but tend to be a hundred times more effective. If you're marketing your own book and you're becoming overwhelmed by the magnitude of the work ahead of you, try doing just three things a day.
Some of these will only take you a minute and in one week alone you'll have promoted your book in fifteen new ways. And remember, your three things don't have to be earth shattering, they can be as simple as sending a thank you note.
Here are a few One-Minute Marketing Tips:
• Call your local library and sign up to do a talk. You won't get paid for this, but they will let you sell your book (for a 10% commission back to the library).
• Want to drive more attention to your book? How about creating a contest! Contests are great promotional tools. Design one around the topic of your book. For example, I'll be holding a contest soon asking people for the top ten things NOT to do when you're marketing your book. Get the idea?
• Pitch your story to a local radio and/or tv station.
• How's your web site these days? Remember, it's your 24/7 marketing tool so make sure it's up to date. And Blog here!
• And while you're updating your web site, why not list it on search engines like Google, Alta Vista. Or go over to
www.addme.com and let them do it for you…for free!
• Have you thought about submitting an article to a topic-related ezine? Ezine publishers are always looking for content! If you currently subscribe to an email newsletter that you'd like to contribute to, email the editor and ask them what their guidelines are. Or, you can submit your article by registering at the following yahoo group: Publish In Yours.
• Have you started calling bookstores for signings? Why not start that today.
• Send your thank you notes! Whether it's to a news person who did a feature on you or to the book store manager who recently hosted your book signing, saying "thank you" is a great marketing tool!
• Magazine articles are a great way to get exposure. Why not submit an article (or book excerpt) to a topic-related magazine today?
• Are you a member of all the pertinent organizations in your field of writing? If not, you should be. For example, if you wrote a mystery novel you should think about joining a mystery writing group in your area. Not only will you be able to promote your book at meetings but most groups are always looking for speakers.
Happy Marketing!
www.PamPerryPRCoach.com
Posted By: Pam Perry
Tuesday, November 18th 2008 at 4:31PM
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