Specifically without spending a lot of money.
Writing is the easy part. Sitting down to write is often a challenge, but the writing itself is easy to do once it gets going.
Maybe traditionally published authors have it easier, but I doubt it. While they get some help with marketing and sales from their publisher, they still need to be available to do podcasts, interviews, blogs, and other elements of promoting themselves above and beyond what the publisher provides. Or so I have read.
As an indie-author/authorpreneur, it’s all on me. I’m the writer, publisher, distributor, marketer, and sales department all rolled into one. That’s a lot of hats to wear, and sometimes there are added challenges as to which I’m wearing at any given time.
Some efforts require wearing more than one hat. Admittedly some seriously require outsourcing.
Every author should outsource the editing of their book at the very least (since you really need another set of preferably professional eyes to go over your work with a fine-toothed comb). Unless you’re a skilled graphic artist or have great tools at your disposal, you need to hire a cover artist.
The problem with hiring anyone for anything is spending versus return on investment (ROI). Hence, this week’s question. How do I make my books more visible without spending a lot of money?
Who the hell am I?
Everyone who reads for pleasure can name at least a couple of authors. Many names have managed to be veritably ubiquitous across literary history, like Poe, Twain, Bronte, Austin, and the like.
There are a lot of authors in the world today. Estimates – because there are no accurate counts – put the number around 50,000 in the United States alone. How many are sci-fi authors? A Google search produces no answer. I saw a list of 30 traditionally published authors, but I know of at least that many indie-authors writing and publishing sci-fi. As there are no solid numbers to work from, if, as Google’s AI suggests, 5-10% of all published novels are sci-fi, and we guess that 5% of all authors are sci-fi authors, that puts the number around 2500 in the US alone.
That’s a lot of other sci-fi authors out there. Ergo, who the hell am I? In this deep pool of writers, relatively nobody.
It’s important to note here that no matter how many sci-fi authors are out there, or how many sci-books get published, none of us are in competition. Writers are a community, and while we’re all striving to be more visible, we’re not in competition to make that so.
Hence, to sell my books and make a name for myself as an authorpreneur, I must find ways to make my books more visible.
Making my books more visible – what I do
Here is a non-comprehensive nor exhaustive list of all that I do to make my books more visible.
- Attend a con. This year will be my 4th year at Farpoint Con in Maryland in February. I’ll be on several panels and likely doing a signing at some point.
- Attend a conference. I’m attending an indie-author writer’s conference called the Author Alchemy Summit, also in February.
- Maintain a website. I’ve done this for some time now.
- Maintain social media feeds. I can be found on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok. I spend the least time on the latter two, but I am there.
- Cross-promote, share. I joined Book Funnel to do exactly this. Through Book Funnel I get to do promos and newsletter exchanges with other authors regularly this way.
- Maintain a newsletter. While I initially was incredibly lax about this, now I post updates monthly and sometimes add a new bonus short story for my subscribers.
These are some of the things I do now. Which leads me to the big question.
Making my books more visible – what could I do?
This is the very big question. What more could I do?
Let’s address the true elephant in the room. What more can I do that won’t cost a lot? Yes, I could hire a publicist, seek a book marketing company of some sort, and pay for advertising on Google, social media, Amazon, and other places. These, however, all tend to come with a hefty price tag – at least if you want to get any real traction.
Part of that is because while other authorpreneurs and I aren’t in competition, the world treats it all like competition. Getting eyes on my work is often an almost unfathomable combination of timing, accessibility, and other factors that are mostly impossible to predict.
What it comes down to, I suspect, is researching where to spend some money on advertising, publicity, or something along that line to make my books more visible to the world at large. This is a risk, but knowing that I can start to plan, budget, and work out what I need to do to make this happen, I can go from there.
Research, conversations with other indie-authors, more research, and then trial and error are the answer. This is how I can find ways to make my books more visible so that I can do better earning my living from my writing. More books are on the way, I just need to stay alert for new options and opportunities.
Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey with you, I conclude with this: How are you inspired to be your own creator – whatever form that takes?
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