It’s Sunday afternoon, and it’s raining cats and dogs. Which makes this afternoon even more melancholic than Sunday ones traditionally are. So, I decided to get some work done, hoping to forget the sad weather outside (on the upside, the garden badly needed some watering. This is me seeing the silver lining in everything).

I ran into this post on the London Book Fair on the Creative Penn, which really sums up some book marketing tips that most of us already know and/or are trying to do. I will go through the most important ones, along with my thoughts:

  • Write for an audience and stick with it. In other words, build a brand (name, cover design, fonts, genre etc) and promote it as your unique selling point. This means I am already in the wrong, because apart from fantasy and sci-fi, I have written also children’s books – which I am having illustrated and plan to publish late May. Apparently, authors should undertake new genres when they are already known for their main genre and have acquired a fan base. I will let you know how my approach goes!
  • Laughing Meli

    How can I ignore this face?

    The next one is to write, write, write – most people need at least ten books before they start making a living as an author. Obviously, this needs a lot of work and dedication – and I think that my wife, dog and two cats will probably have some objections of their own, which I will have to take into account!

  • Start your an email list, and use at least one means of social media. I’m not terribly fond of email lists, but I may have to reconsider. As for social media, I’m already on Facebook, Twitter and Linked in – not to mention this very blog.
  • Allow time in the market: patience is usually a virtue of mine. Well, often. OK, Not so much. Still, I know all about organic growth – I am a web developed with over 20 years of experience, after all. During all of which time, I’ve been telling my clients, “your website will need time to become popular, be patient”. Now that I have to endure said patience and serenity, I can’t believe how hard it is to actually follow my own advice –I think that next time I will be much more understanding towards my clients!
  • Work, work, work: apparently the idea of a ‘9 to 5’ writing schedule is not going to work. You need to work and pursue your efforts pretty hard. Then again, it’s Sunday evening and I am writing a blog post, checking at the same time whether a client’s website is up and running (they’ve been having some server-related problems).
  • Connect with other authors (and be kind and helpful with them). It ties in nicely with one of my favourite sayings; that you need to help 100 people succeed before you, too, deserve success. Still, I’m overwhelmed me at how many authors I’ve met in the Indie scene have been nothing but supporting and caring towards me – and how there doesn’t seem to be competition. So, I’ve grown to love this sense of community!

Read the original post on the London Book Fair 2014 on the Creative Penn.