In the marketing loop.

It’s never ending – once you have something to sell you’re in the loop to stay. Okay, I released “Winds of Time” seven months ago but the publicity of Winds and the other books in the Daughters of the Wind series continues, continues and continues. At last I can say that the lethargy and exhaustion after Winds release has gone and the desert in my head has turned into an oasis and I’m back writing. This week I do admit to being preoccupied, firstly with my Birthday (it was a big one) when my usual daily routine of book marketing became interrupted by celebrations with friends and family. Not a bad thing, as the spiralling loop was given time to slow down long enough for me to find some balance before it sped up.

After spending 37+ years breeding, promoting and selling Arabian horses, I have a fair idea about marketing. The majority of the breeders who purchased our horses became friends and we were always in touch. I sent out regular Newsletters and spent uncountable hours on the phone assisting other breeders with anything they wanted to talk about. The whole experience, quite honestly, changed my life and set me on the road to writing “Tails Carried High”.

No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.

Knowing the time I spent with clients and friends in relation to our horse stud (I must add here that there was no Internet or Facebook for the first couple of decades we bred horses, our stud website was built in 1998) I was under no illusion about how much time I would have to spend in promoting my books. Finding time in a very ‘time poor’ world is not easy. Are the days shorter, or am I simply older and slower at the tasks I set myself? I truly can’t figure out why I can’t get more done in a day.

I began to wonder if I’m having trouble using my time productively, how do writers/authors cope if they have no marketing experience at all? Sometimes it’s easier to put it all in the theoretical ‘too hard basket’  and think about it tomorrow. I couldn’t tell you how many times times I’ve done this and after a while I realised it was probably the right thing to do. A fresher uncluttered mind is better than a flustered one but let me tell you, once you’re in the book promoting loop it’s never ending, somehow the loop keeps stretching.

What’s your biggest book marketing challenge? Do you know how to market a book?

First things first – before your book comes out, make a point to learn as much as you can about book marketing, publicity, and promotion.

It can be a chore to sort through but there’s lots of free information online.

Make sure you know who will be buying and reading your book. Know your books target audience.

To promote your book can become overpowering. I decided to focus on the one or two strategies at a time. I made sure I understood each one before moving on to another.

Plan your time  for  book promotion including social networking and publicity just as you probably do for your writing.

‘Tails Carried High’ was published in 2009 and it continues to sell, I still receive  requests for interviews, some occasional competition judging and appearances. It’s this visibility that helps to keep my name and my books in view of readers.

Even if you are working on your next novel, make sure your book is never  forgotten, you should always still market your older titles. Though a word of caution don’t bore people to tears about it give them different topics to think about.  I tend to blog about the things I love whether it’s horses, art, life’s journey and there are lots of people out there in cyber world who appear to love the same things I do. Using a new book’s release as a way to remind people of your older works is a great idea.

Marketing is huge and there’s no doubt about the effort you have to put into keeping your readers informed but once you’re in the loop and you apply a strong dedication to marketing, you can continue to sell all your titles. Publicity begets promotion begets sales.

Read the first Chapters of ‘Tails Carried High’ here :http://www.carmelrowley.com.au/features.html
Buy online here: http://www.carmelrowley.com.au/buyonline.html
Help spread the rumour here: http://www.carmelrowley.com.au/spreadtherumour.html

Like my Reading, Writing and Arabians page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carmel-Rowley-Reading-Writing-and-Arabians-Page/412148042166499?ref=hl

www.carmelrowley.com.au