A Book is Born – Part IV
In a twist on the philosophical question “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around does it make a sound?” is the question if you publish a book and no knows about it have you really produced anything. As is typical, I began with a book launch at my local bookstore. Happily, the room was full and all the books were sold and more ordered. But if I want to sell to the demographic beyond my hometown, I need to do more.
Marketing is always the answer whether it’s simply word of mouth or you hire a high-powered publicist for thousands but who can get you on major TV and radio shows and reviews on major literary sites like the New York Times. Fortunately, there’s a myriad of options in between: book review sites and blogs that either don’t charge or have a modest fee. There are so many, it’s a problem to pick out the most suitable.
The primary question is who is the target audience? Thrillers are often read by men; romance by women. My novel is often categorized as women’s fiction – primarily attracting an audience of women beyond the Young Adult category. Social media is popular because of the ease and low cost; women tend to like Instagram and Threads. Bluesky is becoming popular and of course Facebook has zillions of users. TikTok and You Tube often attract younger people.
After rooting around off and on for several weeks I decided to use a company that will do a review and then series of posts on Threads and Booktok, and another company that arranges blog tours – bloggers with large followings who will send me questions and ask for photos to put on their blogs over a period of weeks. These will appear on Facebook. I hope they will generate some buzz. I’ll have to decide what further action is appropriate after I assess the results. Meanwhile, I post on my Facebook Author Page, Instagram, Threads, and now BlueSky and hope for the best.
