Guest post: I published a book, now what?
Valerie Day Sanchez guest posts on my blog today! She is a YA author, like me, and has a few words of wisdom when it comes to marketing a novel. It's time to stop being shy, and start talking yourself up! :)
So you’ve written a book, and you then took the plunge and self-published it. That’s a huge accomplishment, but what comes next??? You can’t just publish your work and expect it to sell. So you then tell everyone who you think will care, (family and a handful of friends) about your work. Wow 12 sales the first week and then maybe 20 sales, but then nothing, zip, zero. Now what?
As writers we rarely like to interact with people let alone gush about ourselves, and what we’ve written. We expect the work to stand for itself, after all isn’t that how it works for other authors? WRONG. Think about the last time you read a book, how did you think to pick that particular piece off the shelves? Did the cover just scream, READ ME? Most likely no, and if that was the case then think about the book you read before that. More than likely a friend, acquaintance, TV personality, blogger, a funny tweet, Facebook status or even a Bestseller List are what dictate what you purchase from the Kindle Store.
If you’re self-published, you’re going to have to create that same buzz around your book. If you’re extremely shy then I recommend starting with social media. It’s quite easy to tweet about your book’s release, and update your Facebook status so that it mentions your book, maybe even post a pic about it on Instagram. Start there, then you can graduate to telling people about it when they ask how you’re doing or what you’ve been up to. From there, plan a book release party, and then approach your local bookstores and libraries about book signings. Remember the goal is to get people talking about your book. For instance I had a book signing last weekend and people would come and chat but not all of them bought books. The best words from those visitors were, “I’m going to tell ‘so-&-so’ that you wrote a book.” Yay free publicity.
I know it’s hard putting yourself out there, and you’ve taken a huge step in self-publishing but that is only the first step.
Valerie Day-Sanchez writes YA Fantasy. Her first published work is, Harlow Whittaker & The Soothsayers available through Amazon at, www.amazon.com/author/valeriedaysanchez.com. She received both her B.A. and M.A. in Communication Studies from New Mexico State University. She works as a part-time college instructor and has two sons who keep her quite busy. During her free time she likes to give the characters in her mind worlds to live in, which is a slightly off-putting way of saying that she loves to write.Her passion of the desert southwest is often depicted in her writing.Writing Y.A. Fantasy is new to her but she is loving every minute of it. For more on Marketing your book, or Book Launches check out her blog at, www.valeriedaysanchez.blogspot.com
