Marketing Ideas

Whew! What a week!

I had a major dash to my ego last week when my publisher told me that my Kindle Unlimited page reads were really low. Ouch. I let myself wallow for a few hours and then decided to fix it. Time to take this marketing thing to the next level!

First, I got in contact with my local library and set up my very first book signing. Now that I have a date it allows me to do two things: 1)advertise on social media for a book signing and 2)give myself a specific allotment of time to complete some major marketing. The second might not seem like a big deal to you, but if I don't give myself a time frame, it always ends up being 'tomorrow.'

After setting up my book signing, I started reading some articles about successful signings. The thing that everyone seems to agree on is having a banner of some sort and some bling. For starters, I created some really awesome, good quality bookmarks on 48hourprint.com. I love the way they came out! Not only can I bring them to the book signing to hand out, but I can also leave them around for some cheap advertising.

I created a 78" retractable banner on buildasign.com. It looks very professional! I didn't expect to see my own face blown up to three feet long, but hey, I think it works.

I also plan on getting a tablecloth, a basket for books, and some flowers to really bling up my space. Hopefully, this will draw people over.

I saw a couple ads for promotional gigs on Fiverr.com. I've seen a lot of discussion about book cover design and editing, so decided to explore their promotional marketing. $80.00 can get you a cinematic book trailer, marketing on a book of the month website, shout-outs on social media (facebook, IG, and twitter), and creation of other marketing materials to get my book out there. We are still in the early stages, but it should be released in the next week, I believe. Obviously, can't promise sales, but $80.00 seems pretty affordable for that much exposure. I'll keep you posted on how that turns out, but fingers crossed!

I was lucky enough to connect with the owner of a local florist/gift shop who wants to start a local author book corner. I dropped a couple books off to her yesterday and am excited to see where this takes my sales! I also dropped some off to a local independent bookstore and have feelers out to a few more.

Next on the list: contacting another venue for another book signing/reading.

And finally... WRITE MY SECOND BOOK. Someone recently told me that the best marketing for debut authors is to just keep writing books. So that's what I'm going to do. Wish me luck!