I Have Learned That Marketing Is A Marathon, Not A Sprint!

When I decided to become a children’s book author, I had no idea how much marketing I would have to do when I decided to go the self-published route. Sure, I did all kinds of research (in everything from A-Z) and I knew as a self-publisher that marketing would be something I would need to do myself, but it really didn’t occur to me just exactly how much it would be. I was all caught up in the excitement of writing the book, finding a print-on-demand (POD) company or printing company, working with my illustrator on how I wanted my characters to look, ordering all of the things I knew I would need for an event, getting a website designed and planning the pre-launch party. And, afterall, I had marketing experience so how hard could it be? I wasn’t completely delusional that it wouldn’t take work, but it’s something that wasn’t in the forefront of my brain, until I actually had to do it – after my pre-launch party. In this blog, I want to share with you seven things I have learned since publishing my first book.

1. You can’t be afraid to tell people about your book. You might think that if you tell people you are writing a book, or that you have published a book that you are bragging. You might be, but you are doing it in a good way! How will people know, if you do not tell them? At first, I was a little shy to tell people because I didn’t want them to think  I was trying to show off or that I thought I was some big-time author. I soon realized, however, that there is a big difference between bragging and being proud of something you worked hard to accomplish. Afterall, you put time, energy, money, creativity, and probably a few sleepless nights into creating your book. You should be proud of it! And, you can’t expect readers to magically find you. Sometimes you have to step outside of your comfort zone and say, “Hey, I wrote a book!” And yes, that may feel uncomfortable at first but the more you do it like anything else, the easier it gets. I also learned that talking about my book wasn’t always about making a sale. Sometimes it was simply about sharing my story and letting people know what I was working on. Usually, I found that after telling someone about my book, that person knew someone that might be interested in buying my book, or knew about events that I could do, or knew about a bookstore owner, a parent, a grandparent, or someone else who would love my book. You just never know where that conversation might lead. So, if you’re a little shy about telling people about your book, I understand. I was too. But eventually, I had to remind myself that I didn’t write the book just to keep it a secret. I wrote it because I wanted children to read it, enjoy it, and hopefully take something meaningful away from it. And if I wanted to be a successful author and wanted people to discover my book, I would have to be willing to tell them about it.
2. Book signings aren’t just about signing books. It’s about making connections with your readers. When you have an event, think of it as a social gathering where you can meet and talk to people with the caveat of selling your books and signing them. People enjoy going to book events because they want to see and meet the author (especially the more famous you are… I haven’t gotten there yet – haha). It is important to make the people who came to see you feel like they are important to you, individually. Take the time, either before or after your partial reading (depending on how the event is set up), to talk to as many people as you can. Get to know them! Ask them questions and let them know that you really appreciate them. If there is not an opportunity to walk around before or after the event for a few minutes, make sure that whenever someone comes up to the table where you are sitting to sign the book that they bought, that you smile and say hello. Ask how they are doing. If you like something they are wearing, compliment them. Make each person feel special. They will remember it and will likely tell people about you and about your book. And, if you are a children’s book author, make sure you interact with the children. Ask them a question like, “Do you like the book?” “Who is your favorite character from my book?” Let them know you are glad they are there. This is just as important as interacting with the adults who brought them. After all, they are the real audience.
3. Getting into a bookstore is about relationships too. If you are a self-published author, you begin your relationship with the owner and/or manager the minute you walk through the door, talking to them and showing them your book. Once you get your book on the shelves of the bookstore, make it a point to thank them. Make it a point to stop in and say ‘hello’ when you are in the store. You don’t want to take them away from their work each time you go in, but just even waving to say hello as you walk in will be enough. If they can, they will come over and say ‘hello’ to you. If they can’t, they still know that you are there. Once they know who you are, you can build the relationship from there. Send an email to ask them if there is anything else they need from you. Let them know that if they are interested, you have bookmarks or stickers  that they can buy from you to sell, along with your book. Or see if they are interested in you doing an author night. The owner and/or manager is more apt to say “yes” if they know who you are and a little about you, especially if they are not a chain.
4. One event doesn’t make a marketing plan. One of the biggest mistakes you can do as an author, is plan one event and think your books are going to automatically become popular and that you are going to sell out at your one and only event. This is unrealistic. It is important that you have some sort of a marketing plan that includes several events throughout the year. After your pre-launch party (and after coming off of cloud nine), begin reaching out to different places such as craft fairs where they also accept authors as vendors, businesses or bookstores where they have story time, where you are allowed to sell your book afterwards, and, schools. Then, build out from there. This is in addition to you selling your book on your website. You will want to do both. Once you get comfortable lining up events, then think bigger. Marketing is not just selling your book at events. It is also about getting your name and book out to the public. Reach out to your local TV stations and ask if they would be interested in doing an interview. Once you have done this, you can begin to reach out to other authors asking if they would do a blog on your website, or you do a blog on theirs. This gets you exposure to different audiences of other authors in your genre.Marketing is very important. Other ways are to have a few social media platforms where you can talk about your book, show pictures of your book, invite people to check out your website. Also, take any opportunity you can to hand someone your business card. I also carry cards with me no matter where I go. You never know when a conversation is going to lead you letting people know you are a children’s book author, and where and how they can purchase your book.
5. I learned that visibility takes time. As with your book, becoming a visible author takes time for people to get to know who you are, what type of books you write, and if your book is worth buying. This involves trust and goes hand in hand with visibility. You become visible the more you market yourself and your book, your social media pages and your website. Once people start following you by reading your blogs, seeing what you post on FB or other social media platforms, you will start becoming more and more invisible. They will tell their friends and their friends will tell their friends. But, it is important to remember to be patient. Becoming visible does not happen overnight. It takes a lot of work. It takes persistence with blogging, handing out business cards, talking about your book, keeping up your social media platforms, etc. The more you do, the more visibility you will get.
6. You have to market yourself, along with your book. This goes along with visibility. You have to let people know who you are and what your books are about. The only way people are going to know (because you cannot just rely on friends and family), is to constantly talk to people about your book, its message, that it’s a children’s book, that you have a website and a few social media platforms. You can’t just expect to sell your books and market them and not market yourself too. You can’t have one without the other. Use every opportunity to talk about yourself and your book. With that said, you don’t want to constantly talk about yourself and your book with friends and family, or others that you are around frequently because it can get annoying to them and makes you look like everything is always about you. (Although we would all like to think that, it isn’t true!) You want to find that happy medium. If you’re at a party, and there are people that you don’t know or don’t know well get to know them. I guarantee they will eventually get around to asking you “So, what do you do?” Boom! There’s your opportunity to tell them that you are a children’s book author. Trust me! People find this very fascinating. Not many people know authors personally, and most people find it intriguing. You will find they will start asking you a ton of questions! Don’t downplay it! Market yourself!
7. Sometimes the best promotion happens when you are not trying to sell. One time, I was with a friend and she introduced me to a couple of people she knew. I hadn’t met them before. As we were standing there visiting, one of them asked me what I did. I told them that I was a children’s book author. Their eyes lit up. One asked to see the book (luckily I had driven that day and had some in my car.). She ended up buying two! The other one said she was going to talk to the librarian at the school she taught at, to see if they could have me come and talk to the students! Now, had I downplayed it, or not started talking about myself as an author, or my book, I probably wouldn’t have sold two books that day, or spoke to someone about having an event. Always be on the lookout for an opportunity and when it presents itself, take it!

I had not planned to sell a book that day while my friend and I were out shopping. At best, when she introduced me to her friends, I was thinking that maybe the conversation would present itself in that I could hand them my business card. This type of situation has actually happened to me a few times. It is a nice surprise! It doesn’t happen all of the time, but when it does it is a great feeling. 

All of these seven items intertwine with each other. They are all important when it comes to marketing not only your book, but yourself too. But you cannot write the book, have your pre-launch party, and then take your time with all the marketing you need to get yourself and your book visible. The sooner, the better, and think faster! New authors and their books are being published every day, and they are doing the same things, so it is very important to keep the momentum going after your pre-launch party, before the book loses its momentum. You want to be memorable and successful, and the only way to do that is to run the marketing marathon! But while doing it, make sure you are having fun!