Hi Writers,

Sorry for the brief lapse in postings. I've had a cold for the past few days and am afraid that anything I might have posted would have sounded a little uninspired.

One of my intentions with this blog is to begin with simple marketing strategies and build upon those ideas to offer you more specific solutions. I've been reading a marketing book by Ilise Benun and Peleg Top of the consulting firm Marketing-Mentor.com. This particular book was written with designers in mind, but as I've said marketing is communication and the ideas in the book are great no matter what it is you have to market (which leads me to another thought, just like with your writing, look for your marketing ideas all around you--my book on monsters has actually been selling really well at a local car-wash of all places... how weird is that?)

But I digress. The book I'm reading, The Designer's Guide to Marketing & Pricing, discusses simple, effective and inexpensive marketing tools that you can use to get started: Networking, E-mail Marketing, Online Presence, Cold Call, Promotional Piece 

Let’s explore how each of these tools may be used by a writer to market their work.

Networking

Try to attend a couple of events each month. Writing conferences, writing workshops or book clubs are a great place to start. If you write about a particular topic try to attend meetings or conferences related to your subject (for example, let's say you write historical fiction, perhaps attending a genealogy group meeting might be a good idea).

E-mail Marketing

Maintain an email list of contacts, family and friends and send them email updates about your work. If you have a book out, let them know how it's doing. If you an article published somewhere, let them know when it's going to come out. Keep those close you informed and chances are they'll help spread the word for you without you even having to ask.

Online Presence

I won't belabor this since I've talked about it in previous posts. Let's just say that a blog or a website is essential. If you don't have one, start one. If you have one, make regular posts (he says after taking 4 days off from posting).

Cold Calls

Ick. Maybe you hate doing this. I know I do. But, even as a writer you can use this. Call up your local newspaper, area college newspapers, local radio and TV stations. Let them know about your book. Even if you have a publicist who says they're doing this for you, calling them up can't hurt. Of course, be polite. Be patient and courteous. If you charm them, maybe they'll be interested in doing a feature on you.

Promotional Pieces

Make yourself business cards and carry them with you (especially if you do freelance writing.) You never know who might need something written or edited. If you attend a conference maybe make some flyers that showcase the things you've written or have your website or blog address on them. And make sure you put all your info on there (urls for website or blog, email address, list of books you've written, etc). I recently created a flyer with all kinds of great info: all my available books, my website, my blogs, and I forgot my email address (boy, I felt stupid). Oh, and one other thing... your book. If you have a book, it's the best promotional piece you have. Don't be stingy with them. Send out as many review copies as you can afford to (target newspapers, magazines, radio stations, bloggers, or any other media you can think of that might have an interest in your topic.)

These ideas are great way to kick off your marketing plan, even if you have limited resources starting out. I'd love to hear your comments about these ideas: if you've had good luck using one of these kinds of tools, or if you have another cheap marketing tool that's worked well for you.

Good luck.

Almost everyday I talk to book authors who have different ideas on how they think their book should be marketed. Everyone has a different approach to the way they think about "self promotion." A handful of authors are really interested in doing lots of lectures and workshops to promote their books... and that really works to their advantage. On the other hand, I find that many writers I talk with think of "self promotion" as an unsavory part of the business. I totally understand. For most people the act of writing is an art form. An act of creation. It's easy to understand the hesitance one might feel when it comes time to sell the work.

The good news is that Marketing doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as it did in the old days. The internet has changed the rules and forced marketers to rethink their old approach of "advertising to the masses."

I recently read a great book about new theories on Marketing titled The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott. The book discusses using tools like blogs, podcasting and other online media to reach your audience. This book is full of great ideas about innovative ways to use the internet to market "content". Scott says, "people want authenticity, not spin . . . people want participation, not propaganda."

This message is a hopeful one for anyone who is worried about maintaining the integrity of what they are marketing. As writers, we should all take this message to heart. Marketing our writing and promoting our work should be considered an extension of the writing itself. It's another way of connecting with the reader. It's a way to inform and entertain. Marketing is no longer a "sales pitch". It's the sharing of information. Your audience wants to find out about new things and they want to be entertained. By sharing content with them (either through excerpts of your writing, information about events or related news topics) you are giving them what they want. And you are also getting your work and your name in front of them. Encourage feedback and find ways to make yourself accessible. Just like the act of writing, communication is what marketing your work is all about.

Today is the start of the Mad Anthony Writer's Conference & Book Festival at the Harry T. Wilks Conference Center in Hamilton, OH. There are a few authors and speakers from Writer's Digest Books who will be attending including mystery writer Hallie Ephron, WD Books Editorial Director Jane Friedman, and myself.

Jane Friedman will be leading a couple of great workshops for writers: "Are You Sabotaging Your Writing Career?" and "Marketing is Not a Dirty Word." Jane's second workshop topic was part of the inspiration for this blog, so I definitely recommend checking this out if you're attending the conference. The whole conference itself is packed with lots of great workshops covering everything from career help for writers to writing workshops for fiction and non-fiction writers alike. Check out the schedule of events here.

The book festival portion of Mad Anthony begins tomorrow at 1:00 and is free to everyone. I'll be signing copies of my book Monster Spotter's Guide to North America.

Please stop by if you're in the area.