Hello and Happy Wednesday!
You could be sitting on the next Harry Potter series, but without a big publishing company or even bigger pockets, it's hard to get noticed. Who wants to take a chance on a new unknown author? How many times myself have I scrolled right past a "New Release" post?
So what's the trick? I have no idea, but I can share a few things that have worked for me.
Business Cards
I have had a few different business cards printed since starting my journey.
One marketing myself as an author, that highlights and directs everyone to my social media platforms and website. I tend to bring these along for networking or book conventions.
And one for each book, following their release. Including a QR code and photo of the cover is an easy way for others to find your book without issue.
I've had success with my Nauti by Nature cards so far. Coffee shops, book stores, local restaurants, and bars are pivotal places to leave stacks of cards on a table or checkout counter.
During my latest girls trip, my friends and I scattered these bad boys across Houston, which moved Nauti by Nature into the top 100 of its genre at the time.
My cards were designed through Vista Print and cost around $30 for 500 (I always wait for a promotion or coupon of some sort before I order).
Promotions
Through Kindle Direct Publishing’s KDP Select program, there are a couple of promotional options.
Free Book Promotions: gives you the option to offer your eBook for free, for up to five days throughout the 90-day enrollment. No, you don’t get royalties for these downloads, but that’s how free works. I have utilized this option a lot and usually plan them around times I’ll be distributing my business cards.
Kindle Countdown Deals: let’s you run a limited-time discount for your eBook through Amazon. You set the discount price you’d like to start at and the number of price increments your book will see throughout the promotional time frame. The price of your book will then continue to rise toward its regular price until the promotion ends. You’ll continue to earn the selected royalty rate on each sale.
eBooks Nominations: you can nominate your eBooks to be included in Kindle Deals and Prime Reading promotional programs to reach new readers for a 90-day period. I have not yet done this, as Nauti by Nature has explicit content and does not meet the requirements, but I do plan try this out once Falling is released.
Note: You can either do a Free Book Promotion or a Kindle Countdown Deal within your 90-day enrollment, not both, but eBook Nominations are separate.
Social Media
Social media is a great way to market upcoming releases and fun bookish news. The more likes and comments your posts receive, the more eyes it will reach, so make sure your content is professional, clean, and attention grabbing.
If you’re not an artsy person and you’re worried about your content, try using software like Canva or Book Brush. They have plenty of templates that will help you with layout, color, and photo options.
I have also utilized the “Boost Post” feature on Instagram and Facebook when I make big announcements. This option does cost money, but you can pick your budget. I usually stay under $15, which has reached around 2,000-3,000 people per promotion. By distributing posts outside of my current following, I have gained followers in areas of the world I would not have normally reached.
I do not, recommend sending money to people to promote your content on their social media pages.
But you just said you pay Instagram and Facebook to promote your posts?
Yes, I am aware of that.
Through Instagram and Facebook, I have the ability to monitor where my post is being seen, how many accounts it has reached, and how many clicks or follows I have gained through the boosted post.
Most promotional pages have 10k-50k followers, so it would seem that your content should reach a lot of accounts if they were to post about it. But these pages are mainly followed by other pages who work for the promotional page (their job being to leave annoying comments on every post they find about DMing them to promote your stuff). So, even if they do actually upload your content, most of their posts only receive 10-30 likes max, which tells the Instagram and Facebook algorithms to stop circulating it within hours.
I still haven't worked out all the kinks when it comes to marketing, but I do hope this information helps someone else along in their journey!
Lots of love and good luck to all my fellow indies out there!
Debra Leigh xo
