Last Updated on October 8, 2023 by ADMIN-TOM
I’m no marketing expert, in fact, quite the opposite. Despite being an indie author for over twelve years, I still feel my marketing efforts are perhaps a little hamfisted, even amateurish. But I have discovered little niche areas that seem to work for me.
I’ve read so many books that purport to give you the secret to selling a million eBooks, and the one thing I can say with confidence is there is no secret formula to marketing your self-published book. Selling a million will probably be down more to luck than judgement, or a secret formula. Take it from me, marketing for a self published author is all about hard work and being a little creative on social media.
Social Media
It may not be apparent to some, but you cannot be a serious indie author without having a platform on social media from where you can orchestrate your marketing efforts. The same goes for a website with a blog attached. You need to advertise yourself, i.e., market yourself as a serious writer by showing off your writing skills. That works out to be a double-edged sword. It will hone your writing skills and at the same time, advertise your writing and your books using content marketing. More on content marketing toward the end of this piece.
Facebook has always been a bit of a bête noire for me. It’s not that I haven’t managed to gain a following, but it seems no matter how I interact or post on Facebook I get little or no traction and therefore sales. However, there is one little exception to what I’ve just written. Groups on Facebook, in particular book groups. You can split up book groups into a whole set of sub-groups. For example Free Books, Book Promotions, Sci-Fi Book Groups and many more. My particular favourites are free book groups and promo book groups. In particular, I’ve promoted my permanent free book, The Brittle Sea, on such Facebook groups to great effect. It’s book one in a trilogy and the idea is that readers will download and read book one, and hopefully (fingers crossed) they will purchase books 2 and 3. It works… but I’m still waiting for the millionth book sale. I live in hope, dear reader.
I cannot get my head around Instagram. No matter what I do I seem to attract the attention of a certain group of young ladies. No, I know it’s not my charm or good lucks that is the attraction. I shall only point out that I don’t write erotica so I have no idea what is going on and leave it at that.
Twitter or X
I can’t get used to calling Twitter, X. And it seems Twitter cannot stop calling itself Twitter, as in https://twitter.com/TigerBites which is my profile page. So, for the purposes of this article I’m sticking to Twitter.
Twitter is my go to place for marketing my books and for some great interaction with other Twitter users. The writing community on Twitter is supportive and friendly, exactly what new writers need when they’re taking their first steps into a new and unknown world of writing. I joined Twitter twelve years ago and have built a following of just over 16k followers. Twitter, to me, feels a lot like home.
As for marketing, I use three strategies. Writer’s lifts, scheduling marketing posts on TweetDeck and content marketing on my blog, which I then post links to on Twitter.
If you’re wondering what content marketing is, well, you’re reading a piece of content marketing now. The first paragraph in this section has a link to my Twitter profile but more importantly, there is a line at the end of the Facebook section that will take you to my Brittle Sea free book page on Draft2Digital.
Writers lifts are easy to find on Twitter and are a post from fellow writers to promote their books and inviting authors to add their own books to the lift. To find them, use the #writerslift hashtag in the search box on Twitter. The results should be a listing of current and old writers lifts. Be careful you don’t use old lifts. I usually only use #writerslift that are less than 3 hours old.
TweetDeck allows you to place posts on Twitter at timed intervals. If you can’t Access TweetDeck, you can still do timed posts using the schedule icon under your posting. Clicking on the icon allows you to set a date and time for the posting. I usually do mine every hour over a 24 hour period, rotating between different publications so it doesn’t get too spammy.
And that is my secret plan, that isn’t a secret now and can’t really be described as a plan. More like common sense. Mind you, it has taken my twelve years to get to this point. Which only goes to show that I’m a slow learner.
Good luck with your own marketing.
Copyright © Tom Kane 2023
FREE eBook
The Brittle Sea – Free Historical Fiction eBook
The fateful journey of the Titanic sets off a chain of events that will leave a legacy of treachery, deceit and heartbreak.
Magda Asparov travels from Ukraine, oblivious to the danger she is sailing into when she boards the Titanic to sail to a new and rich life. With an arranged marriage to Matthew Turner, a corrupt wealthy American businessman, waiting for her in America, and a manipulative independent spirit, Magda knew what her destiny would be.
But when the Titanic goes down, Magda survives and awakens with no memory of who she is, where she’s from, or where she was going.
Rescued by Captain Richard Blackmore of The Lady Jane, the ship’s steward names her Maggie.
Maggie learns to navigate the unfamiliar waters of her new life, but must confront the secrets of her past while falling in love with Richard Blackmore.
Believing Magda survived the Titanic sinking, Turner has set his vengeful henchman, William Harker, the task of finding Magda. Harker relentlessly pursues Magda and, as the search intensifies, Blackmore finds himself in the crosshairs of danger.
With suspense and psychological thrills, The Brittle Sea by Tom Kane is book one in an exciting historical drama trilogy.
The Brittle Sea is a FREE ebook.
