When I was walking Rascal this morning, I noticed a bunch of ants on the sidewalk, all gathered around a piece of candy. My mind flashed back to last night. I was sitting at an outdoor concert, put down my pop can beside me on the ground, and before I knew it, the ants were swarming onto it.
If only it were that simple to attract readers!
Here are some methods, some of which I admit to be lax about, some I do faithfully.
1. Updated website - I confess to not getting around to changing mine in a while.
2. Personal and/or group blogs - I belong to quite a few. That's good and bad, because I can't focus on them all at once.
3. Social networks - I pay more attention to Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, although I'm also on
others.
4. Egroups - I belong to quite a few, try to keep up with them, but usually don't succeed
5. Updated Amazon Author Central Page - Yes, I've done that
6. Using KDP Select program at Amazon - No, because my books are all over the place and it would be too hard to reign them in. I plan on trying it for my next book.
7. Blog Book Tour - Yes, I've done that for each book.
8. Book Launch Party - Yes, I've done that each time I have a book in print. The last one was for Forever Young: Blessing or Curse. It took a while since I made it available as an ebook first. The one for Killer Career was the opposite, since I put it in print first.
What about you? Do you use any of these methods, or can recommend others?
What works best for you?
Find excerpts and buy links to Morgan Mandel's books at
http://morgansbooklinks.blogspot.com
I love the ant analogy. Ah, yes, if only readers were ants I'd toss some sugar on my books and lay them out on the sidewalk!
Your methods for getting the word out are great. You always seem to have quite a following for book tours and blogs.
Thanks, Deb. I still feel like I have a long way to go, but maybe all authors feel that way!
Morgan Mandel
http://morgansbooklinks.blogspot.com
I try to do some of those ways you mentioned. I post regularly on FB and Twitter and sometimes on Google +. Like you, I sometimes feel overwhelmed with all the social media.
I've dabbled with all of those, but keeping up with all of them spreads my energies too thin. My most effective tools have been the combination of Amazon's KDP and Twitter, so that's where my attention goes.
I do most of these. I find that like you I tend to focus on certain groups even if I belong to several. At the beginning of the year I began deleting some of the groups I wasn't participating in much. It was too much to keep track of, and by being more focused, I feel more effective.
Morgan--you've hit all the high spots. You know, when I realized there are literally millions of readers out there, and many of them with ereaders, I realized most of my promoting is within a small circle--all those things you mentioned. How can we get to those masses out there?
I become very frustrated about all it . Much of our efforts go to other authors, doesn't it?
But how do we reach all those countless people in the beyond who love to read--but we can't figure out how to get there.
This is a frustrating topic because to try to do it all would be a full time job - and you might still not accomplish much. I do try to add content to my website that is not about me or my books, to make the site a worthwhile source of info. I think that has helped my site ranking. But then I end up begging people to read and comment on the blog posts that earn absolutely no money. I do wish there was a way to just set out some sugar for those ants!
Seeking and winning book awards is another way to gather readership. Speaking at industry events or conferences is another. Thanks for the post, Morgan.
I do nearly all of them except blog tours. But I am collecting contacts for the next book. And I blog every week unless I am guesting somewhere that week. Then I post the link to the guest blog.
I agree, it's a difficult task. The social networking takes a lot of time and effort and I wonder how many sales it really does garner. But marketing is planting seeds. It may take awhile to bear fruit.
Little Pickle's speaking suggestion is a good one too. I teach writing classes, so I do workshops occasionally for various groups.
Morgan,
Great and informative post.
Margot
www.mjustes.com
Even if not many sales come through marketing, the great thing that does come of it is making lots of great friends!
Morgan Mandel
Morgan you have great insight to this and I've tried many of them too. To me all this networking feels more like searching for the cheese in a maze than finding an audience. But we do connect with wonderful people!!
DL Larson