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!
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.
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.
Great idea! I’ll address it soon.
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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!
Thanks, Vaughn! Sounds like you’ve got all the big pieces in place. 🙂
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.
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!
Dana doesn’t deal with self published authors
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/
Thank you!
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?
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.
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… Read more »
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.
Good advice and current to the technology available.
Thanks, Jan!
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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’… Read more »
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,… Read more »
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… Read more »
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!
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
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.
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!
I love the first three questions you ask before even getting to the money question. Too often, writers skip over these questions too quickly, and in the end, are very limited as to the impact they can have when they go into marketing-mode. As always – great advice here Jane! Maybe you should have a weekly column: How Jane would spend $______. Just you, virtually spending money!
-Dan
LOL! I love that idea. Thanks, Dan.
Jane, thanks for posting this. This is massively insightful. I would love to read an article by you about how to determine your target audience. Do you have one already?
You’ll see I’m attempting to address that question in my comments above!
But it all starts with identifying your genre or category. Do you know where your work would be shelved in a store or library? Or how it would be searched for online? That’s the first step.
HI Jane,
Thanks for your reply. I read the above posts and they help a lot. You are very well versed in this subject. I am writing a social dystopia (www.multiparent.com) and I’d compare it to The Road, 1984, I would even say Dickens’ Hard Times. Because of that I am having a hard time categorizing it and target the right online communities that are interested in that type of literature. Do you have any thought on where I should look? Thanks in advance!
Well, dystopian literature is definitely a genre! 🙂 See here for books tagged as dystopian lit on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/tag/dystopian%20fiction?ref_=tag_dpp_cust_itdp_s_t&store=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dystopian_literature
More broadly, people who read speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy) are usually also interested in dystopian lit.
Dystopian teen lit is particularly popular right now, and might be a secondary market? http://www.iggiandgabi.com/2011/03/ya-cafe-adventures-in-dystopia/
Hope this gets you started in the right direction.
Thank you!
Incredible post, Jane (as always). I echo some of the other commenters who’d like to see further development in your suggestions, esp. the digital marketing consultant.
I’m on it! Thanks, Jim.
What about if you have zero dollars for marketing, but a lot of elbow grease?
Building your audience via social media and content marketing goes a long, long way.
Very interesting post and advice! I’m curious, would your advice be the same for a traditionally published author?
The same, yes! Great question.
I see you’ve noticed Steve Godden and the ‘Tales of the Shonri’
http://writerlot.net/writerlot.htm
He’s a good catch. It’s worth following him
There’s no ROI on book marketing (unless you have a “back end” business)
Save your money on book marketing. Instead, I would spend the $1500-3000 on a business coach to flesh out your products and packages, seminars, signature presentations, consulting, etc.
Spending money on a publicist will lead to visibility. Visibility without a tested revenue model is a waste of time, IMO.
Alicia Dunams
http://www.BestsellerInAWeekend.com
I mostly agree with you on the ROI.
A business coach could be tremendously helpful, though for a novelist (or creative writer, as opposed to business/nonfiction writer), this approach wouldn’t make sense.
Agreed. My comment was directed to non-fiction/business writers.
[…] Jane Friedman – Book Marketing – If you had $1,500 or $3,000 or $5,000 how should you spend your money to get the best return (sell the most books) for that investment. Jane gives some great advice. Rate this: Share this:FacebookTwitterStumbleUponLinkedInLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. By Marcy and Lisa • Posted in Writing Prompts 0 […]
I disagree. Marketing is not about selling books. It is about branding. If you are just selling books, you’re just being a merchant.
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Great article Jane, and wonderful discussion following it. I like how you have defined a clear difference between what a publicist does, and what a digital marketing consultant does. I can’t recommend starting with the latter enough; there is an absolute need to get the basic, overall message of your marketing campaign clear and honed before even starting to target reviewers and publications. If you’ll excuse the terrible analogy, it’s like giving a friend, who is looking for love, a wonderful makeover + a clear idea of the type of man she wishes to date, well before she goes out… Read more »
Thanks, Laura! Appreciate you adding your perspective. Agree!
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[…] How Should You Spend Your Book Marketing Budget? Assuming you had a few thousand dollars lying around, here’s what I think you should do with it. […]
Jane, you have certainly helped many with your insights about where to invest to promote book sales. My return for investment has been highest in the area of speaking and touring. Usually, I’ll get paid to speak and I will have the opportunity to sell books. It does take time and it does have it’s initial costs, (travel, mailing, promo material) but these are small compared to the return. I would love to tap into the benefits of using the multitude of internet channels for promoting my books. I feel old and clunky when I try, like I’m reaching around… Read more »
If you want to know what online efforts are working (or paying off), you have to be disciplined about tracking everything you post or link to. Here’s a case study that shows how a self-publishing author carefully tracked every effort so he could see what led to sales: https://medium.com/next-to-launch/getting-traction-for-traction-book-12-328-copies-by-the-numbers-d62cbb1527f6
Hopefully I can sell my book Jane, It is a family history book called TURNER TREES, it took me years of research and I have links to many famous people, just the authors alone include Hardy, Austen, Shelley, Twain, Pepys, Dickens, Chase and De Maurier. if only I could get to the masses I could show readers how they could be linked to a famous person too.
These tips are the most valuable by far. Thank you:
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