Outside-the-Box Promo #amwriting #writingtips

In what feels like another life, I was a Marketing major earning my Master's degree in Business.  I haven't worked in the corporate world in a long time, but my marketing background has been useful in terms of promoting my books.  Most authors don't really like self-promo...it's awkward and difficult.  I think we all wish our books would just go viral and promote themselves...but that only happens for a select few.  The rest of us have to work to make our books visible in a flooded market, even when we have publishers helping us with the process.  And visibility is key, because how could a reader who might enjoy a certain book even find it if they've never heard of it?

No one wants to see a flurry of posts on social media that just say "Buy My Book".  I always try to think outside the box to come up with better ways to connect with readers.  Here are a few of the marketing efforts and ideas I've been involved in or working on the last few months.

-Setting up a table at a Psychic Fair.  Obviously this is not a good fit for every genre, but I write ghost stories mixed with romance, and in one of my books, GULL HARBOR, the heroine actually *is* a psychic medium.  So this event dovetails nicely with the subject of my novels.  A psychic fair generally raises funds for a cause by allowing visitors to make 20 minute appointments with various psychic and readers for a less expensive cost.  So there is traffic all day, and the people coming are interested in the subjects in my novels.  As people wait for their appointments, they shop at the vendor tables, and not only did I sign and sell paperbacks, I handed out dozens of postcards with e-book information.  Throughout the day, I chatted with several new acquaintances and networked with the other vendors there.

These are easy to make at MyCustomCase!

-A new custom phone case.  Most people carry their phones everywhere these days.  My phone case is a fun collage of my four book covers, and it starts a lot of conversations.  If someone asks what the pictures are, I can tell them a little about what I write, and often people are excited to get more information about my novels.

-Teaming up with other authors for group promo.  Last summer, the editor-in-chief of my publishing house spoke at the Cape Cod Writer's Conference, and a casual lunch was scheduled during her visit for authors who write for The Wild Rose Press to get together in person.  Some authors traveled from quite far away, but three of us lived within a half hour of a central location and write in many of the same genres. Between the three of us, we have 14 books in the various genres of romance, suspense, romantic thrillers, paranormal romance, young adult, and women's fiction.  So recently we've been working on setting up events together, since several authors together often draw a bigger audience than one alone.  One event we're going to do is scheduled for the Halloween season, where we'll speak on the spooky elements of our paranormal books.

An author panel on publishing at a local
library a few years ago...a great event attended
by both writers and readers!  Hoping to set more up.

These are a few ideas to help think outside the box when it comes to marketing efforts!  More to come in a future post, and please chime in if you have your own tips.

Ready to Write? Fiction + Publishing Class on #CapeCod #amwriting #Hyannis

New dates being added!

Update: new dates and locations for this class are in the works! Next class begins Jan. 26 in Falmouth, and another Hyannis class will be scheduled for spring 2016. Follow my FB page for details:
https://www.facebook.com/KathrynKnightbooks

My "Fiction Writing and Publication" course is coming to Main Street, Hyannis for the summer!  In this condensed version, we'll meet for three Thursdays in July, from 9:00 a.m. to noon, and we'll cover a multitude of topics related to writing fiction and getting it published.

There's something for writers at every stage in this class.  We'll go over some of the basics, such as identifying genres in commercial fiction (necessary for meeting reader expectations, writing query letters, submitting to small or digital presses, and/or listing your book in Amazon categories), idea inspiration, staying on track and word count goals.  Once we've covered the basics, we'll move on to showing vs. telling, Goal-Motivation-Conflict charts, character development, and the hook. Common pitfalls will be covered, such as info dumps, cliches, Mary Sues, and POV (Point of View) issues/head hopping.

Finally, we'll get to querying agents or presses and writing the dreaded blurbs and synopsis. We'll go over all the different publishing options available as well as promotion and marketing. How will I fit it all into 9 hours?

If you're anywhere near the Cape, check out this link at Cape Cod Community College's WERC site for more info: Fiction Writing and Publication.  Even if you're not exactly local, a little trip to Cape Cod a few times this summer for a class gives you the perfect chance to enjoy some of our lovely beaches and attractions!  Happy summer and happy writing :)

Cape Cod National Seashore - setting for my ghost story +
romance GULL HARBOR

How I Got Shelf Space for Silver Lake - Kathryn Knight

I'm thrilled to have received premium shelf space for the entire year at our local bookstore, despite the fact that Silver Lake is my debut novel, published with a small press with limited distribution of print books.  How did I do it?  My persona with the MBA in Marketing wants to say I used a combination of push and pull strategies.  But what it really came down to was hard work and luck.

My first inquiry at the independent bookstore in our town was received with only mild interest.  Local bookstores like to help local authors, but there are many local authors hoping to sell their work.  And since Silver Lake is a POD (print-on-demand) title, ordering copies requires either a leap of faith (no returns) or a consignment agreement (more paperwork).

Determined, I visited a few more bookstores in neighboring towns, dropping off postcards.  And I got lucky--one store was having a Halloween event, and felt my ghost story would be a perfect fit.  Would I be interested in doing a signing at the event?  You bet!  I immediately dropped off some advance copies of Silver Lake by request, and received my first consignment agreement.

Now I had a signing scheduled and I was in one bookstore.  I saw an opportunity to capitalize on these positive developments.  The local paper had agreed to do a story on my book when I first contacted them, so I followed up with the editor there.  I emphasized the Halloween/ghost story connection and politely asked if the article could make it into the paper in time for my book signing.  Another piece of luck fell into place: they said yes, they could do that.

I raced back to the bookstore in our town with something to offer: I was being featured in our local paper this week, and they would list my book signing events.  We quickly set one up--now I had 2 book signings in one weekend with a corresponding newspaper article on the front page of the Arts section.  It was a banner weekend!

So that was mostly a push strategy--hopefully I wasn't too pushy, but I was persistent.  Signings are a lot more difficult that I imagined, but with the help of the bookstore owner and the news article, I began getting Silver Lake into the hands of local readers.

Thankfully, readers liked it--so much so that several members of the town Women's Club nominated it as a 2013 selection for their Book Club.  A book for each month of the upcoming year is chosen in December, and Silver Lake was selected for January.  I was ecstatic!  Now I had a book club creating demand for my book, a pull strategy.  The bookstore owner requested more copies, which I delivered immediately.

Then she showed me the best part: all the town book club selections for 2013 stay up on the main shelf for the entire year, labeled with their club and month.  Silver Lake is up on a shelf beside titles such as Gone Girl, Body Surfing, Room and The 19th Wife.  My next-door neighbor up there is You Learn by Living, by Eleanor Roosevelt.  Nice company!

I wish I knew of a magic formula in this competitive market for those of us without well-known names and enormous advertising budgets.  For me, leg work and lucky timing were two big factors for getting up on the shelf.  But there is one thing that I think is probably the most important: coming out of your comfort zone.  Most authors, including myself, would prefer to write.  It's what we do.  Selling ourselves is hard.  We'd prefer people to just want to read our books--but they never will if they haven't heard of it! 

In terms of digital promotion, I asked my publisher if we could do a limited time Kindle & Nook sale at 99 cents.  It's currently ongoing, so I can't say for certain if a low sale price will generate a significant bump in sales.  But so far, Silver Lake's Amazon sales rank has improved during the sale, so that's encouraging.

So that's my story.  I'd love to hear yours--what has worked for you in terms of marketing?  Have you had any lucky breaks?  Forced yourself out of your comfort zone?  Has it paid off?