Happy Friday, Loves!

I thought today would be a fantastic day to start a series of blog posts about how to market yourself as a self-published author.  As many of you know, self-publishing ALONE is extremely difficult, and marketing is just a cherry on top of that cake – an expensive cherry.  But I have some great news for you!  MARKETING DOESN’T HAVE TO BE EXPENSIVE.  In fact, it can be free and quite simple.  All you have to do is know where to go for help, and I am here to bring you the ideas and resources that you need.

1) Blog Posts/Starting Your Own Blog

Do you have a blog?  If not, I highly suggest starting one.  It will help you connect to readers and other writers, and it will help you market yourself.  But if you don’t have a blog and you still want blog exposure, then don’t fear!  I am here to help you.

Blog exposure is particularly helpful when it comes to starting excitement for your novel.  One great way to market your novel before it even releases is to create a set of “teasers” that can be shared on blogs, generally one each week before your book releases.  Teasers are generally a picture that features the cover of your novel, or the title and your author name, and a few lines from your novel to grab the reader’s attention.  A good example of this is:

You can generally hire someone to do this for you, but it is not necessary.  One super easy way to make a teaser is to use the basic paint feature on your computer so that you can type of the picture and add your cover or author name and title.  I personally use Gimp which is a free photoshop-esque software that lets you create your own graphics.  Gimp can be downloaded here.

Next is actually finding bloggers who would want to share your teasers and book information for you.  Well, fortunately for you I am a blogger with Brain to Books, a website of authors who help other authors with their writing to help them gain exposure.  Through this website you can request a blog tour and all of our bloggers have the option of choosing to be a part of your tour.  This is extremely helpful, because this gives you the chance to reach out to many bloggers and have your work featured on multiple websites.  What will happen is that if your tour is approved, Angela B. Chrysler, the owner of Brain to Books, will email all bloggers with your information and they can then email you if they are interested in partaking.

2) Using social media to your advantage

Social media, social media, social media!  It is so extremely important.  Right now, the hottest form of social media is Instagram, and the bookish community on Instagram is HUGE!  That being said, you need to create an Instagram account if you want to have a very active presence as an author.  Through Instagram you can post photos that relate to your novel, and you can even post the teasers that you create!  This is also a great avenue for you to gain reviewers through those who are interested in your novel.  The best way to make Instagram successful is to post once a day so your followers don’t lost interest.

3) Make sure your cover is eye catching

This may seem shallow, but let’s be honest.  Readers will, many times, turn away from a novel if they don’t like the cover.  It doesn’t matter how great your story is, the cover is the first impression.  If you plan on posting on Instagram and trying to get bloggers interested in you, then you need an eye catching novel that people won’t just look away from.  The best way to find a great cover is Self Pub Book Covers, but if you can’t afford a cover and are making your own, PLEASE make sure that it is professional looking and that the image resolution is high enough that it won’t come out blurry.  Take a stroll through your own library to get an idea of which covers really catch the eye, and go from there.

I hope that these first three tips will help you to get started on your marketing endeavor and that they don’t overwhelm you too much!  If you are still confused and concerned, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me for help: peachykeenreviews@gmail.com

I will be posting more marketing tips in the coming week, but these are the best tips to get started on.  I want all of you to be successful, and please know that I am always here for you!

Much love,

Ashley

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