A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: What kinds of marketing should an author be doing?

 

It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. 

Today's topic is, again, marketing. We address the question: What should authors be doing for marketing? 

There are a couple ways to answer that question. There is an expensive answer and there is a hard answer. As with anything else in life, the choice is between money and time. 

Choosing money, marketing efforts can be delegated to paid support:

• Hiring a full-time or full-fledged publicist is the most expensive and the most expansive. While some publicists are less expensive than others, hiring knowledge, experience, and contacts is never cheap. (And, often, like other things in life, you get what you pay for though bargains exist.)
• Hiring a freelance marketing assistant to help with specific marketing campaigns or just individual tasks will require fewer financial resources but more time resources. This might include preparation of ads, press releases, social media, website development, and a host of one-time or ongoing activities.
• There are organizations that will take on some tasks for a small fee. For example, BookAwards Pro charges a small monthly fee to handle identifying appropriate award competitions and submit the book.

Choosing time, the onus for campaigns and specific tasks is on the author:

• You will need to decide whether to launch a book -- how, where, when -- and organize your launch with various events coordinators.
• You will need to get your press release posted in as many places as possible and e-blasted wherever you can (if you are traditionally publishers, your publisher will take care of this, at least, the original PR).
• You will need to design a website and keep it updated.
• You will need to correspond with professionals interested in using your book in some way (if you are traditionally published, your publisher will generally do this for you).
• You will need to determine the major source for book promotion -- workshops, training, seminars, social media (X/Twitter, blog, Instagram, Face Book, TikTok, booktok, Siubstack, among many other options) -- and be consistent about your participation.
• Advertising, e-blast promotions, book exhibit arrangements, and award competitions will all fall onto your shoulders. 
• And more...these are just starters.

Bottom line: Marketing, like anything else, requires both money and time. If you do not have money, you can invest the time. If you do have the money, you can buy yourself both breathing room and expertise.

Lesson for today's Tuesday talk: There are always options, money, time, or various balances of each. The important thing for every author is to look at the resources available objectively and factually.

See more Publisher Conversations with authors HERE.

 Learn more about publishing from an acquisitions editor -- how to get your book proposal accepted, why proposals are turned down/accepted, and how to find the right publisher for your book. On special sale for $5 while inventory lasts at MSI Press webstore.

The Tuesday talks reflect real discussions between the management of MSI Press LLC and our own authors or those would-be authors who come through our doors but don't make the cut--yet. If you have a topic that you would like addressed, leave the question in the comment section. Chances are, in our 18 years of publishing first-time and experiences authors, we have had a conversation with one of our authors that we can share with you.

                             

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