Marketing For Authors: For Real This Time

Marketing For Authors: For Real This Time

Why Do I Say "For Real This time?"

Two reasons. First, marketing is a whole lot more than promotion and advertising.

Second, because most marketing classes at writers conferences only talk about tactics, not strategy. Without strategy, tactics are just a shot in the dark.

You have to use the right tool for the right job. When you need a pair of pliers, a screwdriver won't do.

All Marketing is Not The Same

Branding

What is a brand?

A brand is a collection of all the perceptions that your customers have about you. It is the sum total of the impressions formed through every customer interaction.

Why Should I Care?

The Marketing Mix

Price

Place

Crappy Positioning Statements:

"My book is a romance about real people with real problems."

"My book is a mystery where the main character is a private investigator."

For the reader who wants _______________, my book is a (genre) that offers ______________________. Unlike other books in my genre, my book provides __________________________________.

WHY?

Product

Important Stuff

Promotion

Advertising

Public Relations

Personal Selling

Sales Promotion

No one cares what you say

P

Positioning

What space do you occupy in the marketplace?

WARNING!

Before we can talk about promotion, we need to understand your customers.

Before you say something,

you need to know what to say.

For the YA reader who wants mystery, action and romance, VARIANT is a sci-fi dystopian that offers Lord-of-the-Flies brutal realism and Invasion-of-the-Body-Snatchers paranoia . Unlike many other books in my genre, my book takes place in the modern day with limited on-screen high technology, and is from a male perspective.

Warning!

"My book is well-written" is a TERRIBLE positioning statement.

P

The Writing Itself

Cover

Editing

Audio

And so on...

Brands affect our enjoyment of product, and our willingness to purchase—and pay more for it.

hip and clever

folksy and warm

wise and knowing

folksy and warm

wise and knowing

Reliability

Twitter

Facebook

Speaking

Twitter

Blog

Reliability

Speaking

Guilds/Groups

Fan Mail

Signings

Facebook

Bookmarks

Blog

Website

Literary and Erudite

Mysterious and intense

Bookmarks

Signings

Website

Literary and Erudite

Interviews

Mysterious and intense

Guilds/Groups

Newsletters

Fan Mail

Newsletters

Interviews

Covers

Well, here's what it ain't:

Logos

Jingles

Names

Books

Symbols

Signs

Trademarks

...and so on.

Writing Style

Covers

Writing Style

Witty and charming

hysterically funny

Witty and charming

hysterically funny

Sassy and fun

Strategy

Lovers, Swingers, and Haters

Parity vs. Difference

You promote the points of difference: what makes you unique? What do they get from you that they don't get from someone else?

Ultimately: WHY YOU?

Your book is expected to have the points of parity: good writing, a good cover, good editing, good typset. Those things are expected from all books, so they should NEVER BE A SELLING POINT.

Means-End Chain

Personal

Values

Personal

Benefits

Product

Benefits

Product

Features

Means-End Chain

Recapturing

Youth

Wonder and

Curiosity

Understand the

world on a

deeper level

Personal

Values

Fun

Entertainment

Endless

Possibility

Personal

Benefits

Love of

reading

Inspired

to do more

Reminded of

childhood

reading

Satisfying

Reality

Challenged

True

Emotions

Product

Benefits

Realistic

Makes you ask

questions

Out of the box

thinking

Classic

feel

Modern-day

Sci-fi (non-post

apocalyptic)

Intriguing

plot/mystery

Authentic

dialogue

Well-defined

characters

Product

Features

You're a salesman, and no one likes a salesman.

People don't care what you say—they care what their friends say.

Tactics vs. Strategy