The sun is shining, the heat is rising and my mind keeps drifting outside to the garden and critters.
It must be summer!
Let’s start with a quote and then I’ve got a surprise share for all of you.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“God has given us two hands – one to receive with and the other to give with. We are not cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels made for sharing.” Billy Graham
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Last week I asked all of you to share your ideas on marketing. My buddy Mike Friedman, author of “The Carriage Driver,” took me up on that offer. Here are his thoughts.
You’ve done it. You have written a book. Through sheer will power, a bunch of support, a few cheerleaders and yes talent, inspiration and tenacity you have a book. You got it written, edited, then went off in search of an agent. You stopped by the ‘Talent-Scout Store’ to show off your wares. You told your friends. Then you paid to have it printed.You know for a fact that the publishers are wrong. Those snooty New York advertising agents wouldn’t know a talented writer if they fell on them. And a stack of rejection letters is not going to get you down.
Besides you have reached the top of the mountain. Book held high in triumph celebrating your victory. Nothing stood in your way. You look up and what do you see another mountain. The name of the mountain is “Selling your Book.” There are cases of them in the garage.
Undaunted you proceed down the unfamiliar road of ‘getting the word out.” You note quickly all that you know about advertising and national marketing. You watched “Mad Men”, right? Have a drink; you are going to need it.
The very first thing you do is bore all your friends on Facebook. Hey, that is what they are there for. “Hey everyone, my book, my book. Gamble and use an exclamation mark.” Yes, tell them twice, it is obvious that they did not hear you the first time. Add pictures; add lots of pictures. Change the Timeline background, surely once they see your wonderful book they will be unable to resist your marketing Sauvé. And look your Mom and sister offer to buy a copy of your book, but you are obligated to give them copies.
Once you have Facebook in the palm of your hand. You say, “What Now?”
And you think “Free Classifieds”
AdLandPro, Backpage, Bestadposter, Classifiedads, Classifiedsforfree, epages, Exigoo, Freeadvertisingforum, Freeclassified, INetGiant, Highland classifieds, Localnexo, Locanto, oregonlive, Pennysaver, Sales Spider, SuperAds, TheRoadCode, Recycler, wes cosmo.
You write your award winning ad and post them to every site listed. Twice, just for starters. Most are completely free, some have upgrade options. Some of these upgrades sounded plausible, others did not.
You have now, printed out a list of states and the most populated cities. That is where you want your ad to run.
Some of you may have noted that I left out Craigslist. They discourage National ads. I selected Manhattan and have run the same ad there a couple of times.
Now your book title has been seen by dozens of people. Yes, that’s right dozens. This is fun right?
You know the answer lies in the Internet. Go online. Take a good look around, read a few blogs and how to articles. Some will recommend that you can drive traffic to your web page/ blog page. This is true. I’ll share an experience.
WAIT TILL NEXT WEEK
Did that sound familiar? There’s more so you’ll just have to wait. Bottom line is this: oh, heck, I’ll give you the bottom line next week. LOL That’s known as a teaser! Thanks to Mike for the guest post…the rest of his post will be shared next week.
HAVE A GREAT WEEK
I know I will because, well, I’m a writer, and any day I am able to write is a good day.
Bill
“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”
Billybuc
Artistry With Words 
Loved the teaser and can’t wait for Mike’s punchline. Happy Tuesday and wishing you a wonderful day ahead now!!! 🙂
What a surprise! Janine is first to read and comment!!! Thank you dear friend and Happy Tuesday!
I have talked to a lot of authors, both traditionally published and self-published. Whether there is a publisher in the wings or not, we all need to realize that if marketing is to be done, even the publisher expects us to do the lion’s share.
Thanks for the list of online classified advertisers!
Very true, Donna! This is something most fledgling writers don’t understand…they are the marketing department. Thanks for pointing that out.
Hello Bill – Thanks for sharing this episode in marketing. I am sure there are many ways to reach our audience. Just announcements on Facebook is not going to get the message outside our circle of friends. It is a learning curve for sure.
Hands on, as in book signings may be the only way to reach the general public. As of yet I have not tried this.
Once again thanks.
I totally agree, Mike…and thank you for being so quick to guest-blog. I needed a break!
Marketing is my weakest point really–I am not sure how people get good at it!
Audrey, i think if a poll was taken, it would be number one for weakest attributes for writers….by far.
Bill
Excellent post here. I’m slowly learning not to worry about what I don’t know😉 There are some great tools to help me with marketing but I need to take the time to learn how they work!
Keep this up.
Lawrence
I’m with you all the way, Lawrence. That’s why I haven’t done my podcast yet…but we will both do what we set out to do. Of that I have no doubt.
I’m also trying to figure out how to put a blog together lol!
“Any day I get to write is a good day” – LOVE that!
And what a teaser on the marketing, Bill lol. Enjoyed the post and your tips as always. Thanks my friend, have a great warm weekend. Brrr… it’s chilly this side of the world, but we’re loving it 🙂
Mel, I love your attitude…chilly and you’re loving it! Have a great weekend.
Glad I caught this encouraging post today. Yes, we must not give too much thought to those NY critics. Have a wonderful weekend.
Thanks again, Dee! Any writer who lets critics get under their skin probably better quit publishing.
I love Mike’s sense of humor. Can’t wait to see what he has to say next week! Or, should I say what he said a few weeks ago…. 🙂
Thanks for being here Sha. I agree, Mike is a gem!