If you write, do you believe that you have a message? Do you think that YOU have something to say to those around you? If not, why do you write? Seriously, if you have nothing truly to say, then don’t write. On the otherhand, if you do have something to say, be clear about it and write. Once you have written it, don’t be shy about it, say, hey, I’m a writer and this is what I wrote. Otherwise, what’s the point? If no one knows you have written anything, then how will your words be heard?
This is where promotion comes into play. Will you do what it takes to promote your work even if it takes you out of your comfort zone? Do you even know what it takes to promote your work? Today I am reaching out to give some ideas.
Regardless of how you have published your work, or plan to publish, you need to do the leg-work in promoting your work. You need to do this before, during and after the process of publication.
Things you can do:
- Write articles for your local paper
- Speak in local groups
- Write a blog
- Have a website promoting your work
- Be active on social media
- Write articles for your church newsletter
- Participate in Blog tours with other writers
- Submit ideas to magazines
- Guest post on sites that you follow
The thing is, start small, work your way up. Market yourself and what you have written. Help your words to have a broader audience.
Some How-to’s
It’s not an easy thing you know to promote oneself, you need to be careful you don’t cross the line from promoter to seller. People will often get annoyed by people JUST trying to sell their book and therefore those that only flog their book will find themselves ignored or unfollowed (on social media).
When you are on social media, do your best to be original. Have an author bio to help people connect with who you are. Don’t write what everyone else writes. Pull up something original about yourself like “Loves her cats and finds herself inspired by their quirkiness way too often” rather than “writes detective novels with cats as a focus” or “international best seller”. Be original, be you.
If you maintain a blog where you promote your work, write about topics found in your book. Pull up interesting articles, write about anything that relates to what your book is about. This way you aren’t just talking about your book, but the things that would interest your readers and draw them in to learn about your book.
Part of being active on social media can be to use videos, podcasts or live feeds. Again, talk about things of interest to your readers.
I found these sites loaded with information:
Doesn’t this quote just sum up how you feel sometimes? How nice it is to have something written, but the process of writing sometimes isn’t what we want it to be. The drudgery of sitting down to write is hard when there are so many things to claim one’s attention.
