Many
writers detest promoting their books, but it’s a necessary evil if we want
readers. Too many of us indies publish our books, promote them for a few weeks,
leave them to flounder and then fade into obscurity. If you’re going to be
writing for the long haul, there are at least five excellent reasons to promote
your books.
It’s great for visibility. This is obvious and, clearly, the
number one reason to share information about your work. People are busy and
there are oodles of things vying for their attention. If you don’t put your
book in a position to be seen, it’s a sure bet that after release day
visibility will taper off and soon the rankings will blow up to a huge number.
2. You never know who you’ll reach or who’s watching. It’s a good idea to
have several graphics for your books that you can rotate on advertising
platforms and social media. I’ve found many readers simply by posting my
graphics in various places, on some kind of schedule.
3. It provides a mind shift. Most of us are writing and promoting at
the same time. The intervals we use to showcase our work puts our brain in
another gear and gives us time for fresh inspiration to take root until we sit
again to write. If you like playing with graphics, that’s another way to change
your mental channel to another station for a while.
4. It keeps your eye on the prize. Including promotion as
part of your day helps you stay disciplined. It’s also a great reminder that
your aim is to sell more stories. All of us would like to find our tribe of
readers, and regular promotion helps us to gain traction one reader at a time.
5. Promoting helps expand your knowledge. Indies have to know a
little bit about a lot of stuff. I now know what promotional material works for
me and what doesn’t. I know what time of day I can catch my audience, I’ve found out where my ads do better, and I
continue to read books that talk about the why and how of promoting and
marketing.
What
is the most valuable thing you’ve learned about promoting? What works best for
you? Do you know you can swap/share promotional material with other authors to
get the word out about your book/s? What can you do differently to promote your
book/s?
