Remedies for Disappointing Marketing Efforts

A Consideration for Do-It-Yourself Book Promoters

 

 

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, multi award-winning novelist, poet, and author
of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers

Every author wants their marketing efforts to be super successful.

And most of us spend an inordinate amount of time chasing big coverage in big media. That’s our dream. Trouble is, it is often a failure.

So, as a book marketing consultant, I tell my clients a little story from my early consulting days. I met June at a writers’ conference about two years after she had hit the big time with a featured four page spread in a slick, trade magazine including being its cover girl. There she was posing apparently nude but with a bathtub full of bubbles protecting her reputation—bubbles, her book, and her iPhone and were her only props. It was tastefully done. It was the perfect theme for the news cycle of the day about the advantages for working from home—and being a happily independent self-publisher. She had been the envy of many authors. Two years after that magazine was issued to tens of thousands business people across the US, she still had entire box-fulls of some 2,000 copies of the title she had published hanging around her garage. She had been absolutely sure they would sell quickly after this marketing triumph. She was for sure one disillusioned cover girl.

I gave her a 50% discount on her consultation and found myself coaching her at no charge for a year as she slid into an “I’ll-never-write-again funk.” She made a mistake familiar to authors. She reached for the stars. She did so when it seemed logical and right. She had learned to write a knock-out query letter and knew the standards for submission. She even did post promotion touting her success at events designed to help other authors. Her story was a trove of wisdom for those who long for independence.

BUT SHE ALSO VIOLATED A BASIC MARKETING RULE. GREAT MARKETING IS RARELY A MIRACULOUS COUP. MARKETING THAT INCREASES BOOKS SALES AND BUILDS CAREERS IS PROPELLED BY ENTIRE CAMPAIGNS AND REPETITION. CAMPAIGNS GROW REACH LARGE NUMBERS OF READERS  AND REPETITION REMINDS READERS TO ACT ON WHAT THEY’VE SEEN.

Here’s the saddest part.  She could have done much better with less expenditure of time and more successes that would have could have fed that repetition machine. Here the kind of media that might that might have helped her reach her sales goal as well inspire her with more positive marketing experiences--enough to keep her going for another book and then another.

Let local media keep your campaign going as your success stories proliferate including awards, local events built around holidays, local politics--whatever you can associate with different aspects of your book. 

§  Don’t neglect free media.

§  Don’t forget media from your alma maters—from newsletters to their quarterlies to their e-magazines, high school, community colleges where you took night classes...and above. 

§  Don’t ignore querying for reviews, or exclude the less prestigious ones.

§  Don’t underestimate yucky commercial stuff you find in your mailbox. Read them. Get creative. One or more could be a goose that lays the golden egg.

§  Don’t disregard throwaway newspapers found in a rack outside CVS, printed on paper that isn’t slick, edited by professionals who need tons of content to fill many pages on a weekly basis.

§  Actively seek marketing opportunities other than media. Most are great for building the kind of readers who become supporters. Have them sign a guest book complete with e-mail addresses. Then ask them to tell others. Find them at places like these:

~Seminars and readings at retailers that match your reading audience—boutiques, bars, coffee shops, yogurt shops, anyone located along the main street of your home town. Events using your personal mail list can increase their much-needed profits by 10% a day. Get them to agree to stock your book while you continue to make others aware of where to buy them, even in your e-mail signature. Have you heard of point-of-purchase sales? All they have to do is perch you book near their cash register with a little stack of your business cards and when someone looks, touches, or comments, keep the conversation going.

~ Local and not so local fairs and trade shows. 

~ Let your library’s event director know about your release. They need panelists. Volunteer for to do or help with their book displays and window arrangements. 

~ Pitch newsletters or weeklies for seniors and medical communities.

~ Don’t underestimate the reach of online entities like blog tours, articles for newsletters. You can produce your own to encourage loyal fans and readers, but a very wise Dan Poynter once told me that we reach a greater number and variety of readers—and save lots of time—when we offer content for others’ websites and blogs in exchange for nothing more than a glorious byline and bio.

~ If you are enamored with being on a big morning talk show (a danger sign by the way!), explore the local cable channel that runs your city’s meetings and determine what theme, topic, or genre of your book or your own backstory would interest their audience.

All of the editors, readers, and business leaders you meet are your future supporters. Keep accurate contact and mail lists. Using them frequently is as important as knowing how to write s smashing query letter or media release. 

Somewhere lying fallow in a musty library there is sure to be an old marketing tome—perhaps once a textbook—that would tell you about the “rule of seven.” People must be exposed to a message at least seven times before they act on it. 

If you still aren’t convinced, here’s how to combine the possibilities. Don’t think Time, Vogue, or CBS (unless it’s local CBS in a small town or region). Think obscure. Think big charities and organizations. Jim Banning, Editor-in-Chief of AAA’s Westways says the term hidden gem is a one of the most “cringe-worthy” clichés he comes across in descriptions of his free periodical. And he has first-hand experience of its value. The editors of AARP’s (American Association of Retired Persons) and the Sierra Club’s magazine editor would agree with him. They send out hundreds of thousands of magazines to their members/clients. The beauty is they’re slick, professional and did I say have a rather large distribution list? Their readers are not monolithic. If accepted an article you wrote (and pitched) would carry a credit line with its title and website address. You might also suppose they don’t hear from new authors with a great story to pitch nearly as often as The New Yorker or Playboy that might not be as impressed by your name or the title of your book—yet.

An appearance in one of these  niche periodicals expands the fairy dust around us that builds careers. But mostly their positive and frequent acceptance keeps us writing (and reinvigorated) on even our bluest days.

 

MORE ABOUT TODAY’S “WRITERS on the MOVE” CONTRIBUTOR

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a multi award-winning author of fiction and poetry but is best known for her how-to-books for writers. Find all of that series in one place on Amazon, but it’s her poetry that addresses the ills of cultures across the world. Imperfect Echoes is her Writers’ Digest honored book. Self-published in the tradition of poets since the advent of the Gutenberg press, it defies #bookbigoty as well other biases we are experiencing after a period—decades—of progress on that front. Find a review by Jim Cox, editor-in-chief of The Midwest Book Review, and its Amazon buy page at Https://tinyurl.com/ImperfectEchoes.

5 Ways Writing a Book Will Help You to Unlock Your Hidden Creative Genius

 

How often have you thought to yourself, “I’m not creative?” Have you marveled at the creativity of young children playing, wondering where on earth they come up with these crazy ideas? Creativity doesn’t disappear completely as we get older; we simply don’t exercise it quite as much as we did as youngsters. Traditional classroom schooling also doesn’t place a priority on creativity because teachers are so focused on teaching the curriculum and scoring tests. If you want to spur your creative juices once again, write a book.

Here are just a few ways you can unlock your hidden creative genius by writing a book:

1. Use the brain dump method to empty your mind of too many ideas. Experts have proven that multitasking actually diminishes productivity, so instead of trying to write your book while all these other ideas are swimming around, take a journal and just start writing everything down. And I mean EVERYTHING, including calling the dog groomer for an appointment to calling the pharmacy for a refill. Whatever is taking up space in your brain should be on that paper. Now that you’ve released these thoughts onto paper, focus solely on writing your book. You’ll discover the writing process is easier when you’re able to focus on just one task instead of one hundred.

2. Banish writer’s block. Before you start writing your best-selling book create an outline. One might think that this kind of detail will cause writer’s block. But in fact, the exact opposite happens. Because you have a roadmap to follow – and you can decide how detailed to make your outline - your brain will feel safe and allow you to write.

3. Writing itself is a creative problem-solving process. When was the last time you made a pros/cons list to help you make a decision? Or a to-do list to track your daily tasks? Or mind mapping to illustrate solving a problem? Writing out the details of our problem allows us to clarify exactly what has to happen when and it’s then easier to see connections and solutions to these problems our brain relaxes and our creativity flows.

4. Practice makes perfect. Even if you’re not aiming for perfection, this old saying holds true. The more you write, the easier the process becomes. If you’re an expert in a particular field, it makes sense to write about your expertise.  Writing content for your audience will become easier because you have the practice and you’ve done the research to know what your audience is seeking.

 5. Embrace the idea of doing something new or different every day. Our daily lives can become routine and boring but they feel safe and less effort is required on our part. But what if you tried new things, mixed up your daily routines just to be different. Take some time to explore new surroundings, take the long way home from the gym, or skip the gym and go for a walk in nature, turn off social media for a day and let your brain come back to awareness. Your brain will thank you for making it work differently, simply because you mixed things up.

Creativity is hidden inside each of us. Embrace your inner child, and use it to write a book you’ll love. In the end it will be worth it and bring great rewards. 

About Rebecca 

Rebecca Camarena is a Book Coach and author who helps women write, publish and market their impactful books about their heartfelt story of the challenges they’ve overcome so they can be an inspiration to others by sharing their words, their voice, their journey.

As a best-selling author with her co-authored book Out of My Comfort Zone: Stories of Courage, Perseverance and Victory she helped women share their stories of how they got out of their fear zone to excel in their business.

Are you’re ready to turn your heartfelt story into your dream book and become the author you were meant to be? Connect with me here, www.rebeccacamarena.com/contact

How to Make Writing Come Alive for Readers and Writers Alike

Carolyn doing what she preaches, spreading the word, having the fun!

Connecting to Authors Counts

 

Carolyn Rants About How to Make Reading
 Feel Like the Real Thing

 

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, novelist, poet and multi award-winning author 
of the #HowToDoItFrugallySeries of Books for Writers

 

Many years ago when I was beginning to dedicate myself to writing—meaning writing real books and not having other work to attend to, the LA Times reported that Harper Collins had hatched a program to “draw authors and readers together.”

What a wonderful concept! It seems new at the time, a possibility that could be nurtured with the coming of the Internet. And, yes, I’m being facetious. 

 The giant publisher offered up their big-name authors for an “Invite the Author” program. Authors like Ann Patchett (author of Bel Canto) and Wally Lamb (author of This Much I Know is True) would speak by phone to the members of a very few book clubs—chosen by lottery, no less! It seemed like a great idea to me. I was working on my the first book soon to become part of a series for writers (The Frugal Book Promoter, now in its third edition).

Of course this was a new idea of inspired by the best of marketing’s intentions—to make PR more about serving the public than mere “selling” which was okay by me especially since they publish lots of excellent titles that can be classified as literary, a genre I saw as losing ground since my days as an English major. What T’d me off is that these ladies from one of the chosen clubs, the Digressing Divas Book Club in Michigan, were so excited because they “had never met an author or talked to one before.” Can you imagine? Weren’t bookstores doing that? Libraries? But it me realize there must be avid readers who think that authors are a bit untouchable. It convinced me of what I had started to observe on my own. We all could do more but the newly minted POD authors otherwise known as the self-published had been eschewing marketing of all kinds because from what they observed it was a job for publishers and beneath the talents of creatives—that is, authors! 

Today, things have changed. I was a slog to get us to realize that not matter how we publish we are at least in part responsible for our own book’s success, our own relationships with our readers. Many authors of literary works (and other genres, too) had been keeping themselves cloistered but not all. Today even the most literary, most hightly paid ones have websites—even participate on the content we find there.  They have easily accessed e-mail addresses. They have blogs and newsletters! They have bared their very souls to their readers in their writing, for heaven’s sakes!

Today it’s easy to find authors. Look up their names on Google. Once found, visit their site and sign their guest books. Most (at least the smart ones) would be pleased to send you a signed bookplate if you ask. Most will answer your note.

Lacking an e-mail address or an interactive feature on their website, authors can be reached by writing to their publisher who passes these letters on to the author. This is not a new process. It has been going on for decades. What a concept! A personal letter with the distinct possibility that a reader will get a personal note back complete with a valued signature! 

Oh, and book signings. Well, granted some big chains got awfully uppity about who they allowed to appear on their premises, but most towns, large and small have realized the potential for an author to visit and chat with book lovers. So, if “Digressing Divas” everywhere are all that excited about chatting with authors, maybe they should be telling their bookstore proprietors about their needs. In fact there are lots of ways they can keep that author-reader relationship ball rolling:

~What would happen if B&N invited an author from a small press so their customers could get copy of an autographed first novel, maybe even a honest-to-goodness first edition? 

~And what if they actually promoted this new author? 

~And what if the people who came actually found a new voice, a new author to adore?

~“Digressing Divas” could also hound their libraries a bit. A former Nobel prize nominee, Dr. Alicia Ghiragossian, Stephen Veres, author of A Light in the Distance, and I spoke on “The Three Faces of Tolerance” at our local library. Other authors like Pat Morrison, Vincent Bugliosi and poet Bart Edelman have spoken to those in our not-so-large community as part of this same series. None of us said “No.” Some of these authors may someday be the Oateses or Faulkners or Roths of the literary world with—or without the help of a publisher.

Here’s more proof: We now have a Literacy Day. This year it’s on Mon, Sep 8, 2025.  We might still not have an opportunity to find the world’s most famous authors at every bookstore or featured on every segment of Ali Velshi’s book club (MSNBC), but it’s an opportunity to meet people who write, people with opinions and people with talent.

Our “Diva” book-clubbers could invite authors to come talk to their clubs, these days, especially if one live in their town or even region. I know several authors who have spoken to as few as twelve avid readers cozied around the fireplace at a club member’s home. One of those is Leora G. Krygier, author of First the Raven.

Some authors even teach at colleges in your area. Author Beverly J. Scott even took a road tour in one of her collectible Edsels so she could meet people in small towns!

 

Real Ideas for Making Readers and Authors Who Read
 Feel More Connected 

 

• Write to authors when you’ve read their books.
• Look up an author on Amazon.com. She may even have a link to a special biography page and/or an e-mail address.
• Check out AuthorsDen.com. Wow! What an array of writers!
• Attend book signings. Occasionally attend even if you haven’t ever read a book by the starring author.
• Join groups that invite authors to speak. Even investment groups are known to do that. I know. I was among the 300 guests in the banquet hall!
• Attend your local library’s events.
• Let your bookstore know when you have read something you enjoy, especially if you had to go to Amazon.com to buy it. Ask them to invite that author to visit their store.
• Read your paper’s Book Review section (you’ll sometimes find them in sections labeled “Opinion” or “Voices” these days); use some of the website addresses you find there to contact publishers and authors.
• Most of all, just ask for your bookish little heart’s desire. You might get it. Cross-promotion among authors is known to be one of the best promotions of all.
• If you find an author who isn’t receptive, find yourself another.

 

 

MORE ABOUT THE “WRITERS ON THE MOVE” CONTRIBUTOR

 

Howard-Johnson is the recipient of the California Legislature’s Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award, and her community’s Character and Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly’s list of “Fourteen San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen” and was given her community’s Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts.  Carolyn writes nonfiction for writers, poetry, and fiction and has studied writing at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom; Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Charles University, Prague. She is also celebrating more than a year of writing this column for Susan Violante’s First Chapter Plus and occasionally contributes to Reader Views’ blog as well. Please follow her author’s profile page on Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile to receive notice of her new books right to your e-mail address.