Kelly Wilson's Thoughts on When Should You Start #BookMarketing @LiveCheap #Memoir #AmReading

When Should You Start Marketing Your Book?

Writers no longer have the luxury of writing a great piece of fiction or nonfiction and sending it off to an editor to be made into a book. Even for those with traditional publishing contracts, the book marketing responsibilities are placed squarely on the author’s shoulders.

It took me about ten years to finish Caskets From Costco, my funny book about grief. And by the time I submitted it for publishing, I had been marketing the book for easily two years. When Caskets From Costco was finally released, people were ready to buy it.

How did I know? From an exchange on Facebook, in which I asked for people’s opinions about the book cover design and one person commented, “Quit playing with the cover already - when can I buy the book???"

That’s when I knew that I had been doing a good job marketing my book. Regardless of whatever stage you find yourself in writing or publishing your book, it’s never too late – or too early – to put effective book marketing strategies in place.

Write a Good Book

Marketing comes second only to writing a really good book. Even though book marketing wants to suck the time, life and creativity from writers, it is essential to prioritize the craft of writing. Take classes and workshops, read books about writing, read for enjoyment, write every day, join a critique group, and make the most of your writing skills and talent. No amount of publicity can replace writing a book of which you are extremely proud.

Build a Website

When it comes to effective marketing efforts, start by building a foundation through creating and maintaining and quality website that belongs to you. Consider your website the home of your marketing efforts, building a place for readers and writers to come back to time and time again to connect with you.

Websites can range from expensive and complicated to cheap and simple. Decide what you want to spend on hosting and the initial set up, and then ask for help from people you know. Chances are good that a friend of yours has already gone through the process and will help you out at little to no cost. Include information about you, your books, and how to connect with you through social media to create a solid online presence.

Produce a Consistent Blog

If your website is the home of your marketing efforts, the blog is the décor. A blog needs to change often – at least once a week – so that search engines take your online presence seriously and readers come back to your writing again and again. Writing blog posts is also an excellent way to keep learning more about and practicing the craft of writing on a regular basis. Build in an email-capture system on your website so that you can gather email addresses of people who visit. You can then target your blog posts toward your consistent readers.

Maintain a Social Media Presence

Social media isn’t just about viral videos and selfies. There are actually very effective ways to connect with fellow readers and writers using social media outlets, and each one has their advantages.

A Google+ page is important to Google, so it needs to be important for book marketing.

Facebook makes it easy to build an author page.

Twitter makes it easy to connect with fellow writers, and writers seem to prefer it.

LinkedIn has a great group function and a lot of writing groups to choose from.

The trick is finding which one really works for your needs. Start with one and get to know it, then move on to another social media outlet from there to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

So when should you start marketing your book?

Is the book finished?

It doesn't matter.

Is the book published?

This also doesn't matter.

The answer is to start marketing your book NOW.

For twenty years, Kelly Wilson thought that she had been marching through the stages of grief in a straight line. She had been following the formula, crossing each processed grief experience off her list.

Except that Kelly was totally deluded. And she didn’t discover that until Jim, her beloved father-in-law, died. She found herself drying off from her shower the morning after his death, really hoping that he couldn’t see her naked. Or, if he could, that he was averting his eyes.

From that moment, Kelly's path through grief resembled a roller coaster, spiraling and twisting and turning, circling back around. Echoes of past trauma, including childhood abuse and cheating death, would no longer be ignored. She somehow needed to get from the beginning to the end of this grief adventure, and she doesn't have a good sense of direction.

But what is always present during a journey through grief, regardless of the path chosen?

Hope.

Caskets From Costco is a funny book about grief that demonstrates the certainty of hope and healing in an uncertain and painful world.

Bio:  

Kelly Wilson is a Portland, Oregon author and comedian who continues to sweat through writing conferences of all kinds. She is the author of Live Cheap & Free, Don’t Punch People in the Junk, and Caskets From Costco, along with numerous articles and short stories for children and adults. Kelly Wilson currently writes for a living and lives with her Magically Delicious husband, junk-punching children, dog, and cat, with a stereotypical minivan in the garage. Read more about her at www.wilsonwrites.com.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre - Memoir, Humor

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author

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