The “I Have a Life!” Marketing Plan

Posted on by Saundra

Okay, so most people don’t enjoy publicity and marketing. They also like to eat and bathe and, you know, do other stuff besides fill out postcards and design schwag.

And I know that sometimes having advice out in the ether can make some people feel bad because they can’t, or don’t want to, or aren’t able to take it. The last thing I ever want is to make another author feel small, for serious.

So, for triple-strength obsessives like myself, I still have the Bossy Self-Marketing Timeline. But today I’m going to share a short, tiny, easy, WTF is wrong with you Saundra, I HAVE A LIFE YOU KNOW marketing plan. For those who want to do some marketing, but not get a secondary business degree and/or learn to love insomnia.

Here it is, in all its glorious two parts:

STEP ONE: TWENTY FOUR POSTCARDS

After the catalog comes out, please get some postcards. Your cover should be on the front, your title, ISBN, release season and URL on the back- and I hear you already saying, “I don’t ever pay attention to postcards, I just throw them away.” And I throw them away too… unless someone wrote something on them.

You’re going to send 12 postcards to the independent booksellers in your region, and you’re going to send 12 to the public libraries in your region. On the bookseller postcards, please write “I’m a local author, and I hope you’ll consider my new (category) novel for (name of store.) It comes out (on this date.)”

On the library postcards, please write, “I’m a local author living in (your city) and I hope you’ll consider my new (category) novel for your collection.” Then, you can add, if it is true, “I’m available for library visits!”

I promise, the hand-written message makes a difference. I have booked no fewer than 40 events from postcard contact alone.

Twenty-four postcards. One a day, takes less time than one tweet, you’re done in a month. Even if that month is February.

STEP TWO: ARCs & AUTHOR COPIES

Your publisher may write a press release for you. If so, kindly ask your publicist for a copy. If they don’t have one, write a one-page fact sheet about your book. Include your name, the title, any other titles in the series, the ISBN, the publisher, the release date, your publicist’s contact information, your contact information, a summary, your biography and a brief rundown of any blurbs, honors or awards.

Now write a brief business letter that says, “My name is (MY NAME) and my new (CATEGORY) novel (TITLE) will be published by (HOUSE) on (DATE.) I’ve enclosed a signed copy; I hope you’ll enjoy it and consider ordering it for (NAME OF STORE.) Sincerely, (MY NAME).”

How many ARCs and author copies do you have? Print that many press releases, fold them, and put them inside the books. Now personalize and print that many cover letters, and sign them. Put them neatly in a package, and mail them to:

  • Your local independent bookseller
  • Booksellers you’ve met online or at trade shows.
  • Booksellers who host book festivals.
  • Booksellers who have supported you in the past.
  • Booksellers who nominated books like yours for the IndieNext List.

STEP THREE: BASK IN BEING DONE WITH @(#* MARKETING

No seriously, that’s the whole plan. If I had to limit my marketing, out of all the advice I’ve given, and all of the things I’ve tried, these two steps are the ones I feel give the most return for the effort (and, conveniently, are fairly inexpensive as well.)

But the most important thing to remember is that the book is what matters. Enjoying your life, and your career, that’s what matters.

So if you hate marketing and never, ever want to do it– don’t do it! There are enough hard things that we have to deal with as writers; you absolutely do NOT have to add extra guilt and obligation on top of it. But if you want to do something, just not, like, all the things, then perhaps this is the marketing plan for you.

Because dude, seriously, you have a life!

I Want to Touch It; It is Shiny

Posted on by Saundra

I learned to write by writing fan fiction.

Okay, to be fair, I’m sure my mom and my kindergarten teachers had something to do with my learning to actually write. But the crazy-imagination-find-some-worlds-and-go-nuts creative bits, I practiced on other people’s characters.

Though I didn’t realize it at the time, my pencil-written epic about Sarah coming to her senses and returning to the LABYRINTH- totally fanfic. The continuing adventures of Han Solo and Princess Leia, as enacted by 4 inch figurines in my mother’s tomato garden every single day for approximately forever, also fanfic.

Then I grew up and found actual fanfic. I was a screenwriter, already writing spec scripts, when I discovered the fiction form. It’s not a huge secret that I wrote for multiple fandoms and some of y’all reading right now are like, “Uh huh, I know.” But I do generally keep which fandoms are mine to myself. In large part because even though writing is my job now, fanfic remains my hobby.

That’s right. I love writing and fanfic so much that job and hobby, twain constantly meeting. My head is a messy place, I can’t help it. If I fall in love with a world and a character, I want to spend more time in it. I want to manipulate it, pull its strings. I want to rub it shiny, and figure out how it works. When the credits roll, I want another crime to be solved. I want another monster to arise. I want more of the things I love, and that’s how I ended up writing fanfic.

I love writing alternate universe versions (among my favorite, you won’t be shocked to hear, historical AUs.) I love thinking about how to get Civil War-era Scully out of her father’s parsonage and into the Jefferson School of Medicine. And I love writing case files, or monsters of the week– stories that could fit right into the existing canon, if only they’d let me have a turn at the wheel.

Examining a universe and its logic thrills me. Extrapolating from a character’s known qualities, to figure out how they’d solve something not yet encountered in canon is fun. Screenwriting taught me so much about pace and voice. Fanfiction taught me about place and characterization.

Certainly I understand why some authors and some TPTB just don’t like it. They made up their toys, they don’t want anybody else playing with them. That’s fine by me. I can satisfy myself with the Lestat that already exists as Anne Rice wrote him. I don’t need to go looking for more. But for authors and artists who don’t care, FRABJULOUS!

I’m not going to argue whether fanfic is legal. I continue to maintain that because I am legally allowed to write spec scripts of extant television shows, and I’m furthermore not only allowed, but encouraged, to copyright my original expressions in those scripts, that fanfic is legal. Likewise, I don’t think it’s plagiarism– though obviously, the source should be credited always (how else will we know which bits are your brilliance?)

If you think I’m wrong, more power to you. But I’m not going to argue about it. I love fanfic, I’ve always loved it, and I wouldn’t be published without it. I think people are designed to embroider stories. We have a primal need to make things our own, to explain ourselves by incorporating ourselves into the stories that surround us. Greek mythology didn’t start out with 47 different origin stories for various gods- everyday Greeks added.

PARADISE LOST and DANTE’S INFERNO are fanfic. ROMEO AND JULIET is fanfic. PHAEDRA is fanfic. MAN OF LA MANCHA. WIDE SARGASSO SEA. WICKED. THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING. All fanfic. They’re stories that were changed. Examined. Explored. People saw the shiny and wanted to touch it. They picked it up, and made more of it. I see shiny and I want to touch it, too.

I love fanfic, and I love that people will never stop writing it.

Your Bossy Self-Marketing Timeline (II)

Posted on by Saundra

So last time, we covered the long lead time before your book comes out with our marketing timeline. Things are going to speed up here a bit, but the upside is- once they get fast, they get over with quick, and then you can rest.

And as an aside- the most important thing to know about doing your own marketing is that you don’t have to do all of this. You don’t even have to do most of it. This is just a guide of things you can do, if you want to.

If it’s stressing you out and making you unhappy- stop!

I just like to be busy when I’m not writing and marketing can keep you busy like whoa.

So, let’s skip on up to about a month before your release!

Timeline: Author Copies

* Take half of those copies and sign them. Put them in the mailers you built earlier, and get them in the mail.

* Depending on how many you have, this is how I would spend the other half of your author copies:

  • 1 or 2 for a GoodReads giveaway.
  • 1 for your own giveaway, if you’re hosting one.
  • 5 to a local book club.

That last one is technically marketing, but really, it’s just a nice thing to do. It’s fun to share your book!

* Write up any guest blogs and finish any interview questions from reviewers and bloggers in this month. There seriously will not be time once your book comes out, and you’ll feel like you’re drowning if you try.

* Send out invitations to your launch party if you’re having one.

* Write a press release for your launch party. Send it to your local media (print, television, radio,) to relevant groups (if you write romance, your local Romance Readers Club should get one, for example,) and to any available community calendars.

Your house may write a press release for you- if so, just modify theirs to include the date, time and location of your launch party.

Timeline: Debut

* Celebrate. Seriously, if you’ve done all your marketing ahead of time, and prepped all your mailers, all you have to do now is show up at your launch party and signings, and watch everything you put into action unfold.

You’re still going to be wicked busy- interview requests will come in, guest blog requests will come in- but by doing most of your marketing ahead, you will have time in your schedule to say yes to unexpected opportunities.

* Launch your personal giveaway if you planned one.

* Take pictures of your launch parties and signings; make sure to share them.

* If you get an especially good photo from your launch or signing- particularly if you get a photo with more than one author in it- send it to Publisher’s Weekly for their newsletters. There’s no guarantee they will run it, but they definitely won’t if they don’t have it.

Timeline: 3 Months Later

Don’t get upset, but this is about the time when your books will start disappearing from the chain stores unless you’re a bestseller. It’s the natural life cycle of books and it’s nothing personal. However, that doesn’t mean you should stop promoting.

* Shore up your relationships with the indie booksellers, and make some new ones. You can do another round of bookseller mailings, targeting stores you didn’t contact previously. You’ll have to buy the books this time, so think hard about the best way to use those books.

* Host other authors who are debuting. This has nothing to do with marketing, but like giving the books to book clubs, it’s nice to help out. Being part of the community is its own reward.

* Have you been nominated for anything? Has something happened in the news that makes your book topical? Write a press release, and send that sucker out.

Timeline: Holidays, Etc..

* If the content of your book ties in nicely to a holiday, host another giveaway. Halloween is a great revival time for paranormal and horror novels, Valentine’s Day for romance, Arbor Day for trees… I mean… well you know what I mean.

* Your book is always an appropriate gift for whichever December holiday people celebrate. Collaborate with another author or two and create a holiday gift pack.

* Your local library (and no doubt many other libraries) probably has a summer reading program. Offer your bookmarks or schwag as prizes.

* I like to send thank you notes and holiday cards to independent booksellers, bloggers, and authors who have supported my novel, and I think it’s a good practice to have. It’s not necessarily marketing, but being grateful and aware is never going to hurt you.

And that’s my bossy self-marketing timeline. Like I said- you don’t have to do all of this. You don’t have to do ANY of it. But if you want to, I hope these guidelines help demystify the process some, and give you somewhere to start. It’s your book- you love it best, and you’ll sell it better than anyone else.

Good luck and happy marketing!

 

(Last updated July 11, 2018)

Your Bossy Self-Marketing Timeline (I)

Posted on by Saundra

I’ve written several pieces on marketing for authors, but the number one question I get is, “But where do I start?” My answer is usually, “Anywhere, just start somewhere.”

But I understand that marketing is a great big subject, and anywhere is too general. So I’d like to present a self-marketing primer. I’ll tell you exactly what to do, and when to do it.

My advice is YA-centric, because that’s what I write, and generally US-based, because that’s where I live. But I think most of it can apply regardless of your genre or location.

Timeline: Signed Your Contract

Congratulations! You sold your book- now you’re going to wait a while for your revision letter. During this time period:

* Buy your domain name. I suggest starting with your own name, because your book can be featured on your author website. Especially because your title can, and may well, change. Stick with .com if you can; when people randomly guess an URL, they’ll most likely try your name dot com. Try to avoid underscores or hyphens; people don’t guess those and they’re easily forgotten.

* Put together your barebones website, or hire a designer to do it. Your name, a picture of you, the name of your book (once announced,) when it comes out, a nice biography. A contact page with your e-mail address and social media handles is popular too.

* Register your name Facebook, Insta, Tumblr, Twitter. Do this even if you don’t want to maintain all of those. Do it because it prevents someone else from using your name on those platforms.

* Start blogging/Tweeting/Bookstagramming– whichever one you want to do. But please, only do the ones you *want* to do. People recognize compulsory participation, and why make yourself miserable? If you’re particularly politically active, Twitter is a very popular choice for YA authors.

* Start building your mailing lists– the hard copy kind, where you’ll want to send postcards/review copies/etc.. Start with all the independent booksellers in your region. Then build a list of independent booksellers in the region where you set your book. Now do the same for public libraries in your region.

Then, if you’re YA or MG, you can build a list of all the high schools and middle schools in your immediate area. Is your book a well-served genre? Build a list of those genre stores throughout the country. You now have four or five mailing lists, numbering somewhere from 75-300 addresses on each.

*No need to sign up with postage clubs these days. You can Click & Print postage on the USPS website for no additional fees. This works best if you stick to Priority Mail packages, because they all go at flat rates. However, you can use a kitchen scale to weigh packages, so you can ship Media Mail and standard First Class, as well.

* While on the USPS website, you can order Flat Rate mailing envelopes and books. The USPS will send you priority mailing supplies FOR FREE. You can also buy rolls of postage– this comes in handy if you do postcard mailers.

* Buy a box of Avery 5160/8160 labels. You’re going to burn through a lot of them.

Timeline: Got Your ARCs

* Buy your book’s title domain name. Redirect it to point to your author website if you don’t want to make a dedicated website for it.

* ARCs are not for your friends and family. Either take these in person to your local indies to introduce yourself, or mail them to your local indies to introduce yourself. You can also give one to your local newspaper, and your local librarian.

If you have a metric buttload of ARCs, you might give one or two away on your blog. SAVE THE REST, because invariably, someone will be hosting a contest/charity event/something big and ask you for an ARC. You want to have one available for that. (These are not for reviewer-hosted ARC tours, either. Use author copies for that.)

* Start planning your launch party, if you want to have one. Many booksellers need at least six months’ lead time for you to have an event in their store. Make those connections and arrangements now.

* Is your cover art final and public? Are you sure? Once your editor signs off on it, you need to make your cover synonymous with you. It should be your background on Twitter, your avatar everywhere, everything. If you can post somewhere, and there’s an image to identify you, it should be your cover art.

* Design, or hire a designer, to create bookmarks and postcards for you. (Even if you’re not design-inclined, you can use free programs like Canva.com to put together something that looks great.) The front of the postcard should simply be your cover. A bookmark front can be more artistic, as long as your cover shows up somewhere. The back of your bookmark and postcard should include:

  • Your title
  • Your name
  • Your house
  • Your ISBN 13
  • Your URL

If you want to include a synopsis, or blurbs from other authors, or special details, or your photo, that’s fine. But those are extra- it really must feature everything above. Leave room for a personal message on the postcards, because…

* Now is an excellent time to start writing your postcards. Note I say writing. You need to wait until your book is in the house catalog before you send anything to booksellers. So address your postcards, and start writing, BY HAND, a personal message on each.

  • Your region postcards: I’m a local author living in X, and I hope you’ll consider my novel Y for (YOUR STORE NAME).
  • Setting region postcards: I’m (NAME) and my novel Y is set in Z, and I hope you’ll consider it for (YOUR STORE NAME).
  • Public Libraries: Same as region card, only you hope they’ll consider them for their collection.
  • Schools: I’m a (YA/MG) author and my YA/MG novel Y is coming out (DATE). I will be available for school visits (DATE).
  • Genre Indies: My novel X is (YOUR GENRE) and I hope you’ll consider it for (YOUR STORE NAME).

* Think about (and perhaps order) your schwag. Stickers, rubber bracelets, dog tags, custom candy- whatever you want to give away when you do signings and bookseller mailers, start thinking about it now. Non-perishable items can be ordered now as well.

(The longer you write books, the less of this stuff you’ll buy– but you may as well go all out on your first!)

Timeline: Your Book is in the Catalog

* Mail your postcards. There is no point in mailing these until booksellers and librarians can order your book.

* Put together bookseller mailings. Your contract should tell you how many author copies you’ll be getting- those aren’t for friends and family, either. Half of those author copies, you’re going to sign. You’re going to put them in an envelope with some bookmarks and some of your schwag, with a personal note, to independent booksellers.

But you don’t actually HAVE your author copies yet. This is working ahead so you don’t feel rushed when they arrive (usually a month before your book comes out.)

Choose stores in your region, or your genre, or that you’ve heard about. Just make sure they’re stores that carry your kind of book, otherwise you’re wasting time and money. Now write a personal note, BY HAND, and introduce yourself and your book to the bookseller. Put the address labels on, and put these aside until your author copies arrive.

* If you want to have an online giveaway surrounding your book, start planning it now. Start buying the prizes now, as well. You don’t want to have to scramble at the last minute to find things that relate to your book.

* Add your book to the Young Adult Books Central database. You can also upload press releases, news, and other details here.

Next Time: Timeline: Author Copies, Timeline: Debut, Timeline: 3 Months Later, Timeline: Holidays

(Most recently updated July 11, 2018)