What have I learnt?

At the beginning of this blog you may recall that I said I was fully prepared to focus on the final third of this self publishing project just as I had focussed upon the writing and the publishing of my book Exactly 23 days. The final third of the project is the marketing aspect. I received my first copy of the book on the 25/9/2015 and since then I have devoted a part of every day marketing it, however small that may be. 

How have I marketed it and what have I learnt along the way?

I created this blog and have attempted to create new and relevant posts regularly in order to connect with my fans, keep them interested in my work and also to increase awareness of my book.

I have built my social media platforms: Twitter: @jaynelhiggins61, Facebook: Jayne Higgins, Instagram: jaynelhiggins and Pinterest: Jayne Higgins bombarding each of these with any conceivable link to my book in order to increase awareness, connect with other peoples work and hopefully increase my followers and sales.

I have done mail shots of postcards to 100 influential women in the UK.

I have left business cards all over the country whenever I can in cafe's, bars, library shelves, buses, trains including overground, underground and trams and even in ladies loos!

I have chatted to complete strangers and left them with signed postcards.

I have emailed women's magazines, bookstores, newspaper editors, agents, publishing houses, film producers, tv executives and fellow bloggers.

I have researched how to query or pitch my work to agents and publishing houses.

I have emailed libraries, bookstores, supermarkets and online stores to generate an interest in stocking my book.

I have sent signed copies of my book to agents, publishers, newspaper editors, film producers and celebrities.

I have gifted signed copies as prizes for competitions.

I have spent 100's of hours researching how to do all of the above effectively and I discover a new direction of where to send my book on this marketing journey every day! It certainly makes for a very interesting days work.

So what have I learnt?

Always respond to any query or comment from your social media platforms, texts or emails. I feel humbled that complete strangers take the time to comment on a post, or about my book if they have read it and I always thank them for contacting me, buying my book and reviewing it. My fans/readers/followers are the reason I wrote the book. I want to help other people to overcome the emotional and physical pain of betrayal. I want to inspire people to heal. I want to inspire people to move on and I want to encourage women to help each other to heal.  Responding to people who take the time to contact me is showing gratitude and also being respectful of their opinion and their time. 

Respect people's opinions be it a follower who trolls you or an agent who rejects your work. I hear in their words what they have to say and I reply accordingly, be it a polite thank you for their time and their opinion, or as in the case of one of my recent troll comments, I gave her an honest and respectful but also assertive response to her unnecessary and negative comments. It seemed to have the desired effect of silencing her. However, I hasten to add here, that I would NEVER enter into a battle of words with somebody who chooses to want a 'written' argument with me. People are absolutely entitled to dislike my work and comment accordingly, but if I feel justified in giving a balanced counter argument to any misjudgments they make then I will but only if I feel there is a valid reason for doing so and always in a polite and respectful way. 

Be committed to linking each opportunity to your book, after all it could be another sale. Follow book clubs, follow book reviewers, follow agents, editors, readers, fans, and use any connecting links to shout about your own work. Use is as a 'copy and paste' option to your web link, amazon link, blog link, publisher link, any link that will lead them to your own work. Your book is your 'saleable goods', social media is your shop window and your followers are your word of mouth. Don't be afraid to ASK for help, ask them to share the link for you, then ASK them again and then ASK them some more. It will either involve the click of a button or a few minutes of their time to leave an Amazon review. ASK them. What have you got to loose? 

Be committed to the continuance of marketing your book yourself. When I wrote my book I knew when I had come to the end of writing and after edit upon edit, (there are many different types of editing!) I knew I had no more to give that aspect of the job and I know that I will suddenly feel like that about the marketing aspect of the job too but at the moment I am really enjoying getting my words out into the world. 

Be prepared to invest time, effort and undoubtedly money into building a workable website with links to newsletters and to purchase your books and other merchandise. Dedicate the bulk of your website to your work as a writer and possibly hints of your daily life. A great example of such a website for me is, The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond.. An award winning blog and website, she is tv celebrity cook, wife, mother, photographer and writer. It's a great blog/website and I aspire to build one of that quality and interest. My website is however very much a work in progress. 

I've absolutely learnt that every day is a learning curve and that what I am doing is exactly what I have discovered other famous authors doing as they too release new books. I've learnt too, that I get to high five some of my peers, albeit imaginary, in accomplishing both a published piece of work and for going in the right direction along this marketing highway. 

Which direction? Oh yes, straight ahead. For now anyway! 

https://completelynovel.com/books/exactly-23-days