How Should You Spend Your Book Marketing Budget?

Author Brad Swift asks the following:

I have a number of fiction and nonfiction books now available through Amazon as Kindle editions and POD hard copies (through CreateSpace). The selection can be viewed on my Author’s Page.

I’m now wondering if I were to raise capital (say through a KickStarter campaign or otherwise) to promote and market the books, what would be the best way to leverage those funds so as to increase the odds of a fair ROI?

So, here are my questions: If you had a budget of $1,500 to promote and market your book(s) that are available as Kindle books and POD hard copies, how would you use it? If that budget was $3,000 what else would you do? Is there anything else you’d include if your marketing budget was $5,000?

This is an awesome question. I love to spend theoretical money!

First, let me address a background issue: It’s very difficult to raise funds via Kickstarter (or any other channel) for marketing and promotion. People DO like to support the creative process or publication process and see tangible results from their donation. But people may not be sympathetic if you ask them to donate money to help you earn money (via book sales), if you catch my drift?

But let’s say you have the money in hand. How would I spend it?

These 3 factors are critical:

  • Who’s your primary target audience? Don’t spend a dime until you know who you’re trying to sell to. You should thoroughly research your target readers’ habits, where they spend their time online, and how they decide to purchase books. It does no good to spend money on a social media advertising campaign or a blog tour if your target audience doesn’t use social media or read blogs.
  • How much of your audience do you “own”? If you have your own website or e-mail newsletter list (or other channel), then you “own” some part of your audience. You have the attention of a specific group of people who are already interested in your work. It might be desirable to invest in growing that “owned” audience, or you could improve the materials you use to market to them. If you do not “own” any audience, then you may want to invest in paid advertising, and convert people who respond to your advertising into an audience you own (by having them join your e-mail list, fan your Facebook page, etc). This is a long-term strategy that should benefit all books you publish.
  • What are your weak spots? Hopefully you have some idea of where your efforts are not what they should be. It might be your website or blog design, the copy on your website or blog, your skill level with social media or other tools, a weak network of contacts, or missing media that your audience might reasonably expect from you (e.g., podcasts or video).

I have looked briefly your site and social media presence. While I can’t make specific suggestions without deeper insights into how many people you reach, how they find you, and how well they respond to your messages, these areas are likely worth investing in:

  • Get a website makeover. You could easily spend $5,000 on an optimized site that’s designed to (1) get people on your e-mail list and/or (2) introduce people to your books (and convince them to purchase). While I think a design makeover would be helpful in and of itself, this alone isn’t sufficient. I think you’d also need to hire an online copywriter who is very skilled at content marketing—and knows how to turn a first-time visitor into someone who becomes a buyer of your books, or a subscriber to your blog/newsletter. While copy on your Amazon page is incredibly important for book sales, copy on your website is tied to long-term career growth. You don’t own Amazon’s customers. You can’t analyze what happens on Amazon’s site. But you do own what happens on your site.
  • Hire a publicist for a specific book or campaign. This is probably a viable option only if one of your books is quite new, or if you (or the publicist) can identify a hook in your subject matter/expertise that appeals to media outlets. For $1,500, you could hire a skilled publicist, with an excellent network of contacts, for probably one month to help garner mainstream media attention. Or, you could hire an expert to train you to be better at pitching all types of media (from bloggers to reporters). I do not recommend hiring a publicist or consultant if you already know and can get a response from the movers and shakers in your niche community.
  • Hire a digital marketing consultant. An expert can help ensure that (1) your Amazon marketing copy and product page is optimized for sales, (2) you’re using effective and consistent messaging across all of your media channels (site, blog, social media)—and help hone your message, (3) your social media activity makes sense when viewed as a whole, and you’re not missing any significant opportunities, and (4) you aren’t subverting your efforts or engaging in bad practices. A consultant can also give you advice on how to improve your influence, reach, and impact.

As you’ll notice, all of these recommendations have the long-term view in mind, and aren’t necessarily focused on selling one specific book. For short-term efforts, you could consider investing in an advertising package with a service such as MJ Rose’s AuthorBuzz, or trying to get your ebook featured through one of the many online promotional services (some free, some paid).

I do not recommend the following investments:

  • Broad, untargeted advertising (on any medium/channel)
  • Press release blasts or any form of mass mailing and communication
  • Buying friends, fans, or followers
  • Physical review copy mailings, especially for POD books. And—speaking more generally—I don’t think it’s worthwhile for self-pub authors to invest in physical review copy mailings, except in special cases or unless absolutely required by an essential reviewer or outlet

I know I haven’t covered all of the worthwhile possibilities for Brad, so I hope those of you reading will add your advice and experiences in the comments!

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suelange

Excellent information here. Here’s an idea for a future blog post: Hiring a Digital Marketing Consultant. Would love to hear your thoughts on that.

suelange

Excellent information here, Jane. Here’s an idea for a future blog post: hiring a digital marketing consultant. Would love to hear your ideas on that.

Jane Friedman

Great idea! I’ll address it soon.

valentine defrancis

Whether pubbed by a traditional house or doing it yourself, you have to promote, so why not do it where it won’t cost anything? I found that taking 2 hours a day, one in the morning, one at night, and joining in on my targeted audiences’ conversations on Twitter and FB and Blogspot, not only give me followers, but give me followers who’ll buy.

Websites are great, but why pay for it? Bloggers are finding that they’re getting the same difference by simply joining a blogging site. If you choose one where you can advertise your work, such as Blogspot, you get the best of both worlds.

There are ways. We just have to think past the box and do away with old concepts.

Val deFrancis

Jane Friedman

You’re absolutely right to mention that some of the most valuable marketing costs only your time. Of course, that’s a huge investment. You can’t create a single second more of time. But building a meaningful connection with your readership can’t be bought off the shelf, at any price.

However, I couldn’t disagree more with your suggestion to rely on blogging sites. Three big reasons why:

1. You don’t own what happens there. Another company does. You become vulnerable should that blogging platform go under, change how the system works, or otherwise interfere with your strategy.

2. You’ll never get the most valuable analytics about how people find you and what really works on your blog or site. You’ll be handicapped in understanding what works and what doesn’t when it comes time to amplify your marketing strategy (e.g., upon release of a book).

3. You’re limited in the presentation and functionality of your content or service to readers.

Also, most professional partners (editors, agents, others) will not consider you serious about your career if you don’t own your own URL/domain and have a well-designed online presence. 

This isn’t an old concept; it’s a fundamental principle of online marketing. Your website is a mission critical hub that makes all your other online activity (particularly social media) more effective.

Relying on Blogspot or WordPress.com is fine for early career writers, but it doesn’t cut it for the long-term. 

Vaughn Roycroft

This is fantastic stuff, and just what I need right now. I’m just getting ready to set up my website, and am already in contact with a publicist. Still have to find my way to an ‘owned audience,’ but am up for the challenge. I have identified my ‘right reader’ (i.e. target audience). Now just looking for ways to connect in meaningful ways with her, without just throwing money or time at it. Jane knows, indeed. Always concrete answers to be found here. Thanks!

Jane Friedman

Thanks, Vaughn! Sounds like you’ve got all the big pieces in place.  🙂

Juanita-wilson

Wow, Jane – what thorough advice. I bet you’d be a phenomenal publicist. Do you ever do publicity yourself -I can’t imagine how you’d find the time …. ? I bet it’s tricky to find a good publicist. How would we go about finding an experienced one with a good network of contacts? I especially appreciate how concrete you were about this:  “For $1,500, you could hire a skilled publicist, with an excellent network of contacts, for probably one month to help garner mainstream media attention. ”

Also – I hadn’t heard of blog tours.

Jane Friedman

Thanks, Juanita!

As much as I know about publicity, I don’t have the media contacts in place—I’d be cold calling people. That’s not what authors should be paying a publicist for!  🙂 

You should look for a publicist who is open about their track record—and lists their clients on their website.

Here’s an example of one:
Dana Kaye
http://kayepublicity.com/

You can use a service like PublishersMarketplace.com to search for professional publicists. Also, word of mouth is always a great method. Find an author similar to you who is pleased with their publicist!

Kitoha

Dana doesn’t deal with self published authors

Jane Friedman

I reference Dana as a model of best practices of professional publicists.

Here’s a professional publicity firm that accepts self-pub clients:
http://www.kelleyandhall.com/

Deb Atwood

Thank you!

Deb Atwood

This is a great post.
A follow-up question: A writing buddy claims that publicists have one great talent–cashing checks. How can you distinguish a hard-working publicist from a check casher?

Jane Friedman

Deb, see my comments immediately above. Good publicists are transparent about their clients and their results. Dana Kaye’s website is a good example showing what transparency looks like.

Diane Echer

Great advice as usual, Jane.

I too would like to hear more about what a publicist can do for a new writer. I was assuming their prices to be much higher. Now you got me interested.

As for physical copies… I sort of think they have the merit of presence, visibility. It’s a mistake I’m willing to make. Although I love my kindle and would not dream of leaving the house without it, I tend to forget what books I have in there. However, a physical book that I haven’t read yet is begging to be picked up–by me, or by someone else in the house. I’m counting on that factor (and I think the cover designer did a great job…)

Jane Friedman

I have to admit that the physical vs. electronic review copy discussion can be argued as a matter of preference (at least for now). There are some reviewers I know who BEG to have electronic review copies — for many reasons, e.g., because they’re trying to save space, save energy, save time.

I think physical review copies are smartest when you know the reviewer prefers them and it’s reasonably likely a review will result.

Jan Markley

Good advice and current to the technology available. 

Jane Friedman

Thanks, Jan!

Graeme Smith

Lady Jane

If I said ‘wise words – as ever’ I could justifiably be accused of crawling. And my knees aren’t what they used to be, so I’d better not :-). Mind – none of me’s what it used to be :-P.

If we’re in the realms of future postings, I’d screech to a halt right at the beginning. Because whether it’s demigrof… demogrif… demi-caf… er, knowing stuff about what different types of people like, that whole ‘Who’s your primary target audience?’ thing is a step and more to climb.

For those of us (well, those of me :-P) who can’t afford the $999 for the ‘US Book Consumer Annual Report’, the range of resources to answer this question can appear limited. Do Science Fiction writers like Fantasy (answer, perhaps surprisingly? Not most of the ones I’ve asked). Do more 25-30s read humour, or even humor, than the 40s-50s? If I’m going to hang out somewhere, should I go by the sites of famous aiuthors? Or the Association of Left Handed Ruttabagga Farmers?

Some of the writer Associations offer glimpses of this type of data. For instance, the Romance Writers of America will tell anybody who delves into their site that:

24.6 percent of all American read a romance novel in 2008, versus 21.8 percent in 2005.
29 percent of Americans over the age of 13 read a romance novel in 2008.
Women make up 90.5 percent of the romance readership, and men make up 9.5 percent.
The heart of the U.S. romance novel readership is women aged 31–49 who are currently in a romantic relationship.
Romance readers are more likely than the general population to be currently married or living with a partner.

They’ll even say that:

37.1% of their surveyed readership are in the Southern US – only 15.7% in the North East.

Other genres? Not so much. Or at least, not so much if you’re not a member.

So for those of us who are stepalogically… er, typographically… um, pedagogically challenged (well, or me, since it’s likely just me – after all, I’m an Idiot 🙂  ), I for one would love to see your thoughts on that step, and its climbing. Not, of course, that I don’t have my own ideas. But if being married as long as I have has taught me anything, it’s the value of knowing when to shut up and listen 🙂 :-P.

Jane Friedman

I hope you know what category or genre your book falls into. If you’re publishing and distributing any type of book, through any retailer, that’s something you must clarify from the start.

So let’s assume you know your category or genre. If possible, ask yourself if your book is going to appeal to a specific segment of that category or genre. (Young vs. old, beginner vs. advanced, women vs. men, etc.) Hopefully through experience you have a good idea of who your work appeals to.

Then we can put one big limitation on the discussion by saying: Where ONLINE does your primary audience tend to find out about or discuss books in your category and genre?

Is it Twitter? That’s certainly true for many YA readers and authors.

Does your genre have online communities of fans? If you’re in science fiction & fantasy, then you probably know that Tor is a pretty significant community.

Romance? More sites, blogs, and chat boards than I care to count.

You don’t necessarily need to figure out where your readers live (geographically), or how old they are, or what kind of car they drive. You do need to figure out where online they tend to find out about books. 

What tools help in that search?

– Researching who’s influential on Twitter and where they link to
– Researching who’s influential on Facebook, Google+, etc, and seeing where they link to
– Finding out what blogs/sites rank highly for your category (use Google and Technorati as one place to start)
– Checking the blogrolls of popular sites/blogs that service your primary readership

You should also check mainstream publications for leads. E.g., if you were penning a book for writers, you would want to make sure you’re familiar with the 101 Best Websites for Writers that Writer’s Digest publishes. 

Nearly every mainstream media publication/site will round-up best online resources.

Still stuck? Ask your local librarian for what sites/blogs they use to keep up on your category or genre.

Graeme Smith

Lady Jane

Oh, I know who I am. I’m comic Fantasy – well, I am if you laugh when you read it :-).

Or maybe I’m not.

There’s no BISAC code for Comic Fantasy. If I put more ghosts in, I guess I might be FIC009050 – Fantasy / Paranormal, but I guess I’m stuck with FIC009000 – FICTION / Fantasy / General :-).

Yes. I know BISAC codes aren’t everything. But I know my publisher is going to want me to pick one before long, so it’s sort of on my mind. And I’m not even sure ‘Comic Fantasy’ or ‘Humorous Fantasy’ is an official genre, whatever readers of Messrs Pratchett and Holt may think, but I’m sticking with it for now :-).

I’ll stay more serious for a moment, and say I really wasn’t trying to be specific to me – much as I’d love (sincere statement) your view. It’s just one of the questions more than a few ‘starting out’ writers I’ve spoken with have asked me. ‘How do I know who would read me’? ‘Who should I be trying to get to know?’. And most of the guides I’ve seen sort of start after the step has been climbed – that is, after a target audience has been identified.

Identifying demographics can have its uses. for instance, if I was a Romance Writer looking to attend a conference, I might be more tempted to attend one in Dallas than Boston if the RWA know what they’re talking about. But its true that knowing where your potential readers are is less important than having a plan on how to find them. Which is what I really had in mind when I wondered about the subject’s suitability as a future post. A set of steps, of guidelines, for the process.

But my thanks indeed for the reply. As ever, it gives me much to ponder :-).

Jane Friedman

Even without a BISAC code, that’s fabulous you can be specific enough to say humorous fantasy!

How do you know who’d read you? First, try out comparisons between your work and other well-known authors. Who reads those well-known authors? They’d probably read you (right?) if your work is similar.

If I Google “humorous fantasy,” these are some of the top hits:

• Top 10 Reviewer on Amazon! Wow! Are your readers like this guy?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A1D2C0WDCSHUWZ/ref=cm_pdp_pop_prof_name

• http://phantasma.onza.net/biblio/lists/humor.html

• Wikipedia’s entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_fantasy

• GoodReads list: http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/humorous-fantasy

Why am I doing this? Because you can go down the rabbit hole on each of these sites, and find out more leads into the community of people who love comic fantasy. You’ll end up with a huge list of existing authors and fans of comic fantasy, a list of sites that cater to these folks, and an idea of who’s talking about it.

You’ll end up with:
• a list of people who are influential in making recommendations
• a list of uber-fans
• a list of communities (where people talk about it)

Each type of person is useful at a different stage of the marketing process. E.g., you would send carefully crafted review requests to influencers. For uber-fans, you might simply comment or participate or otherwise interact with them on whatever sites where they’re active.

I hope this gets us closer to answering the dilemma … ?

Graeme Smith

Lady Jane

Thanks for the links, indeed! I shall set me delving immediately!

I’d be interested in your thoughts on one thing – well, lots of things, but I couldn’t afford them :-).  I’m always a little wary of suggesting (to anyone mad enough to ask for my advice) going to look for ‘authors like wot you write’. Isn’t there a risk of them appearing, trying to appear, or even becoming ‘just another ‘? I swear, there was a time when if I saw one more ‘young lad with strange, um, not a lightning bolt, see, definitely not a lightning bolt, but, like, this scar/ lock of hair, well, he goes to this school…’, or the ‘well, there’s this new girl in school, and this guy, see, he keeps looking at her funny…’ I’d have contemplated copy-cide :-(. Yes, I know there’s a difference between ‘looking for authors in the same field’ and ‘trying to be another…’ But if I go to Lord Terry’s site, and try to show people I’m a Comic Fantasy writer, they already have a much bigger image in front of them – so is their attention likely to be diverted?

And as to whether my readers are like those who read Mr Holt, Mr Pratchett, Mr Shaw-Gardner – or anybody else – first I have to have readers to compare. And ‘A Comedy of Terrors’ doesn’t come out until July, so the only readers I have so far are my beta readers. And I mostly deliberately try to find ones who hate me – they give better crit :-P! If I was both too bold and too impressed with myself, I’d try to tempt you to my site to read the Prologue, and tell me. But I’m not _quite_ that shameless :-).

Well, I try not to be. Or maybe I’m just trying :-).

Jane Friedman

Well, comparisons are a starting point to help figure out your target audience, and that’s the question we started with.  🙂

Once you figure out who you’re marketing to and where they “live” online, you don’t have to draw comparisons between yourself and A-list authors. You just have to market to them in a way you know they’ll respond to — because you’ve got their number (as they say in the marketing business).

And look: We’ve now identified your “primary target audience”, that tricky step that you need to get started. How you approach that audience is entirely up to you!

Graeme Smith

Lady Jane

And my thanks indeed. And if I may, the next person who asks a similar question, I’ll send here to this chain as an excellent how-to :-).

Graeme

shirleyhs

Thanks, Jane. How helpful, as always. Like others here, I am also doing a website, but I am moving from the free WordPress to a WP upgrade for the blog portion of my site. Do you see a problem with that? I’m anticipating book publication in 2013 and am starting to build my community.

Jane Friedman

Shirley – Sounds excellent! WordPress makes it easy to export all your content from an existing site and import it into a new one. Big thumbs up!