Let’s Talk Marketing…

Seriously one of the largest banes of my existence… But I do have a few tips and suggestions.

Full transparency, I hate marketing.

As such, I do not claim to be a marketing specialist. What I’ve found to work may not work for you. But there’s chance parts or pieces of it may. Take what works, leave what doesn’t.

I hate the feeling of having to talk about my book in a way to convince others to read it. It reminds me of sleazy car salesmen the second I step onto a lot to browse. And when I think about it, my little self-published romance novel is but one of millions of books a reader can decide to enjoy. I tend to get in my own head about things, and I know (full well) my work isn’t going to be for everyone.

Already feeling overwhelmed? Cool, me too.

But how do I find the readers who will resonate with my work?

If you do not champion your work, no one else will.

You’ve likely poured your heart and soul into the story you’ve written, the world you’ve created, you should be talking about it. Don’t be afraid to tell friends, family, your co-workers, your great aunt, and her memaw—despite what you may think, you are surrounded by people who want to support. I like to look at this level of marketing as grassroots. A good place to start. It will be easier to convince friends and family to read your work than it will be a random stranger (on socials or on the street).

This also gives you the chance to really hone your pitch. The more you talk about your book, the more concise your language will become in explaining plotlines without spoiling the story. You’ll start to look less like a deer in headlights (or Charlie Day from It’s Always Sunny in my case), and more like someone with a solid grasp of what they’ve created.

When it comes to putting yourself on socials or the internet, blanket marketing can work. (It doesn’t for me.) And without the backing of a pub house (e.g., Bloom, Tor, Penguin, etc.) blanket marketing (i.e., high visibility campaigns/ads) are costly. Not many indie authors can divest those kinds of funds. (I say divest because it can be a while before any kind of return (ROI) is seen through paid ads—whether this be on Amazon or socials.) Every dollar you put into your work needs to be intentional with clarity on what the potential results may be.

I understood the chances of me becoming a bestselling phenomenon (especially as a debut indie) was/is very, very slim. While not impossible, I’m not going to hang my heart upon it. Thankfully, I’d rather it not happen—I’ll be much happier finding a small, consistent readership versus blowing up like Clarissa Broadbent or Callie Hart.

So step one in marketing is…

Figure out your reader.

When I say this I mean really sit down and assess what kind of person would read and enjoy (read: love, become obsessed with) your characters, story, world.

How old are they? What genres do they commonly read? What authors (both indie and trad pub) do they follow? Niche down even further. What do they do (career-wise)? What are their other hobbies? Where are they located?

I did this in the early years of establishing my photography business—imagined my ideal couple and drafted my website and social presence to speak directly to them. It took time, but those ideal couples now find me consistently and photography is my full time job.

Imagine your ideal reader. The more specific you can become, the more details you figure out about your ideal reader, the stronger your marketing message will be. (More on that in a bit.)

For me, my ideal reader looks a little like this: Between the ages of 30 and 60, enjoys high or epic fantasy but find the romance subplots a little lacking, probably likes to read authors such as G. R. R. Martin, Anne Rice, and/or Sarah A. Parker. Likely fans of The Witcher, Baldur’s Gate 3, or darker faerie tales (whether this be Grimm’s original works, or movie adaptations like Legend, Willow, or Labyrinth). They probably enjoy emotionally driven music, movies, video games or TTRPGs. They probably also have an affinity for nature, find joy in the beauty of imperfection, and aren’t afraid of or adverse to self-reflection.

That’s pretty specific.

And if you really look at it, it’s probably going to resemble you to a significant degree. But the wonderful thing about it is it’s still ambiguous enough to encompass a large swath of readers. The ideal reader doesn’t have to checkmark everything across the board. The more, the better, but those that fall into 3 or more… Those are the readers you want to reach. When you market, speak to them.

This can look like talking about your work in a way that compares your work to other similar popular media. For example: Readers of book/movie/tv show/genre/hobby and book/movie/tv show/genre/hobby may enjoy [your book]. I pitch often based on vibes—especially on socials due to the character limit. So when I’m asked to talk about my book, here’s what I say:

“As Above, So Below is a dark fantasy romance with the vibes of The Witcher and The Little Mermaid. If you like fantasy with grim worlds, gray characters, and gleaming romance, my book might be for you.”

It’s not going to appeal to everyone. Some people might see the word dark and immediately pass. That’s okay. They’re likely not an ideal reader. Others might be intrigued. “Oh, I enjoy both The Witcher and The Little Mermaid… so what does that look like blended?” It’s the ones who are like “This sounds RIGHT up my alley, SIGN ME UP,” we’re working to find.

This is called attraction/repulsion marketing.

Draw in those who will enjoy the book while repelling those who will not. Don’t be afraid of repelling those who won’t. You’re saving time (and potential heartache) on both sides. The reader won’t feel jilted for reading (or DNFing) something they didn’t enjoy and you’ll avoid a potentially scathing review. (Which, gentle reminder, review spaces aren’t for authors.)

This approach also builds trust with your potential readers. If you’re transparent about who you believe will enjoy your work they’re more likely to recommend it to friends or family even if it’s not for them.

So once you have your ideal reader figured out, it’s time to start putting yourself out there. You have the pitch, you have the intended audience, now it’s time to talk. If you’re anything like me… talking to (potentially) the whole of the internet or a crowd is sweat inducing.

(As an aside: There’s no right or correct timeline for all this to happen. Some authors go through this process while working on their WIP, others, like myself, wait until after publication. The point is to make sure you dedicate the time to really break down your work and the demographics of the readers who will enjoy it before throwing pretty graphics up on socials and leaving yourself at the mercy of an algorithm entirely.)

By putting yourself out there I mean, creating author socials, and/or establishing an author website.

A website will always be more consistent with regards to organic traffic than any social media account.

This is because of SEO (search engine optimization). The longer your website exists and provides relative content the better Google ranks it as an authority in the field/topic (this is a super simplistic way of saying this—there are many other factors that play into website authority rankings. So without divulging into the finer mechanics of SEO, bear with me.)

Downside: it takes significantly longer to establish good SEO than it does to establish a presence on social media. Solid SEO can take 8-12 months to implement and see results. With socials, there’s the possibility of going viral. I did have a relatively recent TikTok post go quazi-viral (over 56k views, 9k likes, 4k comments, and 2k saves) at the end of February and it undoubtedly increased my sales, readership, and followers. Which is amazing, but we’re in this as a marathon, not a sprint.

What works on one social media platform, may not work on the other. Figuring this out can be a full time job in itself. I’ve found the most success with TikTok. (I’ve never liked Facebook or IG and while I have accounts on both, they’re severely neglected.) So for the time being I stick with TikTok and building up the SEO of my website.

There are a number of options for website hosting. For this website I use Squarespace, for my photography website, I use ShowIt. And yes, some are better than others when it comes to SEO implementation. Wordpress will forever hold the crown in this regard. But it isn’t the most beginner or budget friendly—many times people have to shell out more cash for templates or hire a designer.

To start, find a hosting service that fits your budget and offers easy (and free) to use templates. You can learn to change, swap, and alter elements later. Squarespace is where I started my photography business’ website which is why I chose it to start my author website. Will I be swapping in the future? As my author business grows, yes.

The point is, do not put all your eggs into one social and only one social.

Cause in the example of TikTok, it’s future is largely unknown with the current administration. That viral TikTok no longer means anything if no one can see it. More than that, across all platforms, the algorithms are constantly shifting and changing which can make it infuriating to keep up. And Google… Google is here to stay.

Find the social platform you feel most comfortable with and reach your ideal readers there. Send them to your website, offer things they can’t get anywhere else (like all the world building details for my readers to enjoy found in The Four Realms). Start a newsletter to keep them updated, and like it or not, blog because it helps drive SEO.

With blogging, share things you wouldn’t on socials. Give a reason for people to visit your website. Yeah a shop with signed copies is nice, but it’s the minimum if you ask me. Offer something of substance to your readers. (Kinda like how you’re here, much thanks for that btw.) Your website is your anchor when it comes to your online presence. Strengthen it.

It’s going to be a lot of learning to figure out what works and what doesn’t. But I do hope that I’ve given you a few things to consider or try as you progress on your own indie author journey.