One of the most challenging things about publishing books independently has to do with marketing. Compared to writing the book and even publishing it, making people aware of the book is by far the biggest hurdle to get over. Awareness equals sales. Without it, an author’s voice will never be heard. At a minimum, these days marketing requires a website and social media presence. But having these things doesn’t guarantee sales. It just means your product can be found. But how do you get traffic to your site? How do you get eyes on your social media posts? It can be very difficult to get more than just the eyes of friends and family on your projects. In order for your social media posts to get seen you have to know how the algorithms work and what hashtags/key words are trending. So…what do you do? In my experience, it is helpful to invest some money into the marketing of your books. But what is a good investment? Many of the responses to my social media posts have been from accounts claiming to guarantee 5000 reviews or something similar. Or maybe they claim to have a massive following and, should you pay to have them post your books to their page, the exposure to their audience will guarantee sales! I call BS. Not just because I’m pessimistic, but because I have actually paid for these services. While I did appreciate the review or the post, my sales didn’t really jump.
At this point in my journey, I’ve found the BEST way to get market my books is through events like the Black Boy Art Show and book signings. Start with local events and try to move up to bigger ones. People have the opportunity to meet you in person and make a purchase if they choose. These events have resulted in some great connections for me and even more new customers. Recently I participated in ReadersMagnet.com’s Festival of Storytellers. It is a virtual book event showcasing the talents of numerous authors through roundtable discussions and interviews. I LOVED IT. It even appealed to the introvert in me because I could participate in the event from the comfort of my home. With this event I was able to network with other authors, answer questions and really put myself out there. My session had over 300 viewers. While I have been to several in person book events, I’ve never interacted with that many people at one time. If you’re an author I highly recommend it.
Writing these children’s book has been easy. Making people aware is difficult. If you’re anything like me, take a deep breath, sign up for those events and have your business cards ready!