Last weekend the writers' group to which I belong had a presenter speak about marketing. In three hours, he had time only to scratch the surface of what we writers could do to market our craft. He discussed building a platform and a brand. It was interesting and informative. His main point was 'get your name out there'. Make friends. Build relationships. Network, network, network.
I get it. I need to get out of my shell, off my butt, and promote myself. But I hate that! I don’t want to do that! I have a writer friend who wants to do all the writing and illustrating and let ME do all the work of publishing and marketing. I DON’T THINK SO! Of course, like me, that’s what most writers would like.
So, I did a few things the presenter recommended, like fix my tags to include more things such as my website address. That wasn’t so hard, was it?
Then I did something else I loved. I’m in the middle of my novel, and my main characters are having a baby. So—I had a contest on my Facebook author page. Suggest a name for the baby, and if I pick the name you suggest, you win a free, autographed book. One of mine (obviously). I ran the contest for one day, and I had a great response. I chose a name (actually two names) which I announced in a post, announced the winners, and private messaged them to tell them how to choose a book. Guess what. They want to wait for this book!
Now all these people know I’m working on a novel and they feel somewhat invested since they helped me find a name. The two winners are excited about getting a free, autographed novel. Hopefully, they’ll tell their friends, and so on. The word is out! Today, I ate lunch at a local restaurant and with a big smile, the waitress asked me if I decided on a name. YAY!
I'm on the way. I'm building my platform. I'm getting my name out there. Now I’m trying to think of another way to get more people invested in my book. Bless my soul, I'm marketing!