Promotion for the Pre-Published Author
Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm all about evangelizing promotion, including for pre-published authors. And recently, I was invited by "1st Turning Point" (an online site created to teach and discuss promotion for writers) to write an article on this very topic.
Promotion for the Pre-Published Author
by Christina Arbini,
1st Turning Point Guest Columnist
Copyright © 2009 Christina Arbini
If you don’t have a book to promote, you don’t need a website. Focus on the writing, not networking. Marketing doesn’t happen until the contract is signed. That might have been the mindset at one time, but times have changed. In the age of technology and social media, marketing has become a crucial tool for everyone from Fortune 100 corporations to the local author-published or not.
Marketing is all about creating a buzz. How often have you heard about a product or movie months before its release? Then, by the time it hits the shelves or the big screen, you are excited to experience it. Marketing for writers is the same. You want to create a buzz around yourself as a writer even before you have a book to sell. A lot more marketing is left up to authors nowadays, especially if they are new authors. And as I’ve often heard, you’re only as good as your last book sales. So, why wouldn’t you want to do all you can to help your sales well in advance? Marketing yourself as a writer is critical, but when you are still pre-published, in my opinion, it’s just as important.
While I’m still currently in the pre-published phase of my writing career, I’ve been making a concerted effort to market myself over the last several years. As a result, I’ve not only made a wealth of connections with other writers, I’ve introduced myself to potential readers, and generated name and face recognition with writers, agents and editors.
I know there are many people who believe a pre-published writer should only worry about writing the best book possible. Well, of course, that part is the highest priority. But it’s only smart to plan ahead for the business side of writing, namely the selling of that book you’re working so diligently to perfect. After all, in which scenario would you rather find yourself? 1) Writing a great book, selling that book, then hoping readers will somehow find you on the bookshelf; or 2) Writing a great book, selling that book, then knowing you already have a potential reader base set in place that knows who you are? With the market as tight as it is and more and more promotion left up to the author, why wouldn’t you want to give yourself as much of a head start as possible?
Having worked in my day job as a Public Relations Manager for the last 16 years for a global branding and design firm, I’m very familiar with how the creative side can’t survive without the business side. It’s the same with writing. If you want to make it a career, you have to balance the creative with the business.
So, how, you might ask, can you start getting yourself more exposure and connecting in an authentic way? Following are five things you can do now to start building your name recognition and gaining exposure:
• Create an author website (or have one built/designed for you). Make sure this is to promote your writing and not a blend of family updates, other side businesses, or non-writing related interests. It’s important to make it professional and reflective of your style of writing. While you aren’t yet published, you need to start portraying yourself in a professional manner. If you still aren’t quite ready to invest in this, at least reserve your URL now through a web hosting service such as GoDaddy.com.
• Start a blog. The beauty of having a blog is that you can do anything with it. Post articles that other writers or readers might find interesting. Share photos and overviews of writing events you’ve attended, such as book signings, book launch parties, or writing workshops. This is your promotional canvas. Create something unique out of it that will have readers returning on a regular basis.
• Enlist the use of social media tools, such as Facebook and Twitter. Today’s technology has made gaining exposure and building relationships easier and more sustainable than ever. Not only can you connect with other authors, you can reach countless potential readers. But don’t be a lurker. Make a point of developing a connection with people now, before you want to sell them something. Keep these relationships based on dialogue, not monologue.
• Promote your fellow published authors. You’ve heard the old adage; what goes around comes around. Call it Karma, or call it being supportive. Whether you post a blurb or review on your Facebook or Twitter page, host a contest on your blog to promote an author’s newest release, or leave comments on other people’s blogs, you are giving the same support you hope to get from others when you’re finally published.
• Keep an ongoing spreadsheet of contacts you gather from your social networking outlets, blog comments, contest entries, and from writers you meet at conferences to use for your future promotional needs.
If you follow these simple suggestions, when your fellow authors are wondering what their next steps will be to market themselves and their newly published books, you will be able to move seamlessly into the phase of promoting your book, while building on that momentum with each subsequent release.
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Christina Arbini has worked as a Public Relations Manager for 16 years in her day job, and is actively writing and seeking publication for her Women’s Fiction novels.
Labels: 1st Turning Point, author, pre-published, promotion, writing








