Strategize.
Streamline.
Succeed.

Thoughts on Marketing

by | Jan 9, 2018

I had an interesting conversation this morning.

I work as the secretary in a school. The school’s accountant came into my office this morning and asked about where to find new books, since she has run out of everything. The VP of elementary, VP of high school, and school nurse all jumped into the discussion. And I discovered something very interesting as I listened.

 

I know all of these women read upwards of ten books a month. I know they all have a very diverse taste in books, preferring not to limit their reading to a single genre. I know they all have restricted budgets, and the discussions of libraries online was prominent.

 

But here are the suggestions they gave her for finding new authors:

1. Look up interviews with your favorite authors and see what authors they love or who inspired them.
2. If you hear a quote you like, look it up on Goodreads to see which book it’s from.
3. Look at the also-boughts on Amazon of your favorite books.
4. Ask the librarian for recommended reads, based on the book you just finished and liked.

 

Since I’m in the middle of two huge promotional pushes (for two different authors), I find this very interesting. Because not once did someone say “follow these book blogs for reviews” or “subscribe to all of these newsletters that announce free books” or “look at Facebook groups and events for authors” or “listen to book podcasts.” Sure, this is a very limited selection of readers and the ideas they personally use; they may not be indicative of your ideal reader. But they are readers looking for books, and this is how they do it.

 

It’s not that the things we do don’t work. Because they obviously do. The question is how well are they working? I know all of these women binge-read through an author’s entire library, they’re just looking for more authors to do that with. And how did they suggest one go about that? Not in any way that I would have suspected. Except for one: also-boughts.

 

There’s a reason why I love also-boughts. With a little careful planning, an author can take advantage of a way that random readers actually look for books. We cannot control who mentions us in an interview. We cannot control who likes a particular quote from one of our books. We cannot get our name on the lips of every librarian everywhere. But we CAN get our book covers at the bottom of many book pages. Yes, it takes planning and organization. Yes, it takes work. Yes, I takes knowing your genre well. Yes, it takes some investment. But it can be done.

 

So are you working on your also-boughts? Are they working for you?

Adriel Wiggins

Adriel Wiggins

Owner, Adriel Wiggins Author Services and Consulting

Hello! I’m Adriel Wiggins, wife, mother of three, bibliophile, art geek, and all around student. I’ve been on a quest all of my life to learn as much as I possibly can about everything I possibly can. This has helped me tremendously in what eventually became my life’s purpose: to help other people become the best version of themselves. It is in that line that I became an assistant.

Strategize for Success. Streamline your Business. Succeed with your Goals.

WP to LinkedIn Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This