Marketing for authors - ick or yay? We asked our mentors and here's what they said
Here is what they said.
In excitement for my upcoming class on Marketing; “Unlocking the Secrets to Connecting with your Audience” I asked a few of our mentors what Marketing means to them. Here is what they said.
How do you approach marketing?
Dominic: Two words. Creative collaboration. Like most of our self-published authors and writing friends, we don't have big budgets or marketing teams. So we need to think about fun, fascinating, and cool ideas that people will want to talk about. And then I look around for friends who might also like the idea, and ask them to join me. That's the key; marketing is really about sharing something you love and believe makes lives better.
Amelia: I approach marking like a fan. What are the communities talking about within that genre? What books are popular right now within those genres? What about tropes? What fun things do these communities have? What kinds of memes, what fanfics, and even what aesthetics?
Katelin: Recently, for my business, I've been focusing on networking. I try to meet many people, make connections, make friends. I learn about them, they learn about me. As a book coach, people will be interested in my services when they know me and trust me, so I focus on getting to know people, being interested in who they are and what they want, and staying in touch in some way.
What do you hate most about marketing?
Dominic: Spammy ickfests. We all swipe past ads and posts just trying to get our money, wasting our time. That's a big reason why we don't do much marketing because that's the kind of stuff we see happening to us. So many bad marketers have ruined it for the rest of us. Marketing is not about annoying someone into buying from you. If it starts to feel that way, then it might be a sign that you're doing it wrong.
Amelia: I HATE more than anything is talking about myself. When it comes to myself and my work I always feel like it’s less than (yay self-doubt) I get way more excited to talk about OTHER people and their work.
Katelin: It takes so much time and energy! Also, I don't really want to be the center of attention
What marketing campaign or person have you seen that you love?
Dominic: I thoroughly appreciate Seth Godin and his approach to marketing. He's written several books like 'Purple Cow,' and his approach is that marketing is leadership. If you deeply believe you're doing a good thing, you're happy to show up and serve all day long. But since we live in an attention economy, standing out is hard. One of the fastest ways to get attention is to do crazy and fun things like having a purple cow in a field of normies, or being Mr Beast - who started as a dorky nobody. Thinking big, having fun, and inviting people to be a part of a mission is a much more exciting, practical, and doable kind of marketing. The key is to now connect that idea to selling books - and that's where the real fun begins.
Amelia: Love or hate her, I find Taylor Swift’s approach to her fans fascinating. How she spends time on the sites they do and looks at all the memes and content around her “fandom.” I have also had a wonderful time following the Author Sofie Lark who has a similar approach where she will fangirl with her fans.
Katelin: What marketing campaign or person have you seen that you love? I haven't picked a role model in this area, but I do appreciate when commercials are funny. I've liked a lot of the Geico ads.
What about you? What do you love? What do you hate? What approaches or people have you seen that you enjoy? And join my class on May 27th to really go into a deep dive on how to speak to your soon to be fans.