I was asked recently, "How do you market your books."
The simple answer I gave them was, "I don't".
"Why the hell not?" they asked me.
"Because I can't stand marketing." I replied.
And in all honesty, it's the truth. Marketing has always felt dirty and a bit dishonest to me. I fully understand that I am probably missing out on making a boat load of money, but money was never the reason I started writing in the first place.
I started writing because I had a story that wanted to be told, not because I had some grand delusion about being able to wipe my butt with hundred dollar bills.
I mean I did the usual, and setup a Facebook page. Which garnered me likes from relatives and such, but I'm not a real social person (massive introvert right here).
Then I was told I needed to get a Twitter page, so I begrudgingly made one. I quickly discovered that Twitter for authors is more of a circle jerk than anything else. Other authors like you, you like them back and you get pelted by advertising in return. I post the odd quip here and there, but mainly it's just a sea of incoming "I'll drink bleach if you read a chapter of my book." Which really doesn't make me want to read that book. It makes me want to send that person a link to a support group. It also made me realize that I didn't want to do that to people. I didn't want to harass them every five minutes with a post that is basically begging people to read.
I was even told to try the "I'll market, post, and talk about your book for $5" route. So I did, as an experiment. Frankly I wished I would have spent the money on a value meal at a burger joint instead, but your mileage may vary.
So at the end of the day, I'm happy with the trickle of people who stumble across my books. For me at least it's not about how many stars I can get, or reviews. It's just about those adventurous few who took a chance on the unknown.
Thanks for reading,
Steve G.
The simple answer I gave them was, "I don't".
"Why the hell not?" they asked me.
"Because I can't stand marketing." I replied.
And in all honesty, it's the truth. Marketing has always felt dirty and a bit dishonest to me. I fully understand that I am probably missing out on making a boat load of money, but money was never the reason I started writing in the first place.
I started writing because I had a story that wanted to be told, not because I had some grand delusion about being able to wipe my butt with hundred dollar bills.
I mean I did the usual, and setup a Facebook page. Which garnered me likes from relatives and such, but I'm not a real social person (massive introvert right here).
Then I was told I needed to get a Twitter page, so I begrudgingly made one. I quickly discovered that Twitter for authors is more of a circle jerk than anything else. Other authors like you, you like them back and you get pelted by advertising in return. I post the odd quip here and there, but mainly it's just a sea of incoming "I'll drink bleach if you read a chapter of my book." Which really doesn't make me want to read that book. It makes me want to send that person a link to a support group. It also made me realize that I didn't want to do that to people. I didn't want to harass them every five minutes with a post that is basically begging people to read.
I was even told to try the "I'll market, post, and talk about your book for $5" route. So I did, as an experiment. Frankly I wished I would have spent the money on a value meal at a burger joint instead, but your mileage may vary.
So at the end of the day, I'm happy with the trickle of people who stumble across my books. For me at least it's not about how many stars I can get, or reviews. It's just about those adventurous few who took a chance on the unknown.
Thanks for reading,
Steve G.
