The great thing that trade published authors have going for them is, they don't have to do everything themselves. Sure, they're constantly promoting their books ~ I've seen enough of their appearances on podcasts to vouch for that ~ but at least they have a built-in audience. Nobody's ever asked me to go on a podcast (not that I would). But the larger task of advertising falls to their publisher, with its wide reach and built-in cachet, and its money.
That's great for those authors. I hardly begrudge that. Given the opportunity, I'd certainly grab the chance to be trade published.
So, here's little ol' me, with a few self-published books that garner zero interest from readers. What does someone like me do? Truthfully, there isn't much one can do, at least not much that's productive. There are four basic ways to promote a self-published book:
- Paid advertising
- Newsletters
- ARC readers
- Social media
Which of these four is the best? None of them, in my experience. I've dabbled in all of these things, cringing the whole time I was doing it, and for someone who isn't a social butterfly and possesses little self-confidence, these actions are mortifying.
Advertising is the easiest route, because it's the book that is being highlighted, not the author. I could never afford to go hog wild on advertising, but I've tried most of the cheaper options at least once. If I was to recommend the most beneficial promo site, I would choose...none. I once got a bunch of takers for a book I listed as free, but that resulted in no reviews, so I not only lost money (paying for the ad) but I couldn't even get any free publicity out of the deal. Purchasers? Most sites I used resulted in one or two sales; some of them none. My one stab at Amazon ads didn't even get a single click.
Newsletters are laughable. I would group those into the "might as well" category. "Since I'm not currently working on a project, I might as well send out a newsletter." Regardless of what anyone says, no one likes getting newsletters. People only sign up in the first place in order to grab a free "something" or to have a chance at winning a sweepstakes. They don't actually care about the author or what she has to say. And I rarely had anything to say. I tried dangling a prize in front of them and they didn't even want that. At some point with a newsletter, the author realizes she's only embarrassing herself. While I publish under a pen name, it's still me they're shunning. The good news for both of us is that I've ceased my newsletter operation.
Initially, it's fun to land a bunch of ARC readers. That happened to me when I signed on to Voracious Readers Only. I tallied almost 200. I estimate those resulted in five or six reviews, and not all of them were good (most of them were). I suppose on the plus side I can say that I got my book into 200 readers' hands, but obviously hardly anyone read it. They just grabbed the freebie.
And then there's (sigh) social media, the most worthless avenue of all. I simply don't get it. X sure doesn't work for promotion, Facebook is a fiery pit of hell, Instagram is filled with lots of nothing. I never tried TikTok and won't bother. Number one, I don't do videos. I don't even write under my real name ~ am I really going to put my face out there? All I ever did with Instagram was post some images of my books and perhaps a couple of sayings about writing. Scintillating stuff. As far as my Facebook author page, I really did try engaging with people, but it wasn't reciprocal. And if the only "follows" you get are other authors, you're not exactly reaching the audience that matters. I haven't returned to Facebook in months and probably never will. X was the same. I managed to collect a few followers, but they, too, were authors. Even with my personal X account, I used to have my author website in my bio, but I've since deleted it. Then I added that I was a self-published author and deleted that, too. The danger with X is, if you piss off the wrong people, they'll pick apart every sentence in your bio, and it's just not worth being harassed.
With a new release, the bottom line is, make sure your cover is eye-catching, write an intriguing blurb, maybe stick the image on a couple social media sites just to say you did. Waste a minimal amount of money on a promo or two. Then cross your fingers. That's really all you can do.
I guess that's why I'm not a winner. I stubbornly refuse to play.
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