Tag Archive | marketing

Author Confessions: Why Authors Hate Marketing

Jul29
Reading Time: 4 minutes

 Author Confessions: Why Authors Hate Marketing

Maybe it’s an exaggeration to say authors hate marketing. We’re expected to do it. I’m sitting here writing in a blog as part of a larger marketing plan. Gone are the days where an author can squirrel themselves away in a lovely little cabin and pump out book after book. Maybe a book signing here and there to meet their adoring public. Back in the olden days (before I ever started writing for publication), publishing houses did all that work.

The advent of the internet and those who are self-publishing has created a lot more content and choices for readers. Some publishing houses are struggling to stay afloat in a highly competative industry and authors are making less money as a result. It’s only a tiny percentage of published authors who write more than one book  who rise to the top as far as popularity and book sales. Those with big names don’t need to be all over social media to get readers to purchase their next best-seller. If you are already famous and write a book, they might do a few interviews on national television and then that’s it, voila, best-seller.

Now this isn’t about book sales, per se. But the reality is we live in a noisy world. I admit to getting sucked into social media, reels, videos, and posts. Sometimes I think life was better before I ever joined Facebook, and I’m not on there as much as you might think. I hired a virtual assistant for a time to help with some of that and I learned a lot. The goal was not to need him anymore. I still have one helping me for the moment with this blog, but she doesn’t write the posts. She does all the back door stuff and offers a ton of encouragemet (I love you, Bonnie!)

TIME

I don’t hate marketing. What I dislike is the time it takes away from writing. Part of this is as I’ve learned new things I’m dipping into my back catalogue of content to put together my media content. That takes a lot of time as I’m skimming books to get quotes, or looking on line for reviews to use to help people perhaps take interest in a particular title. And I can’t be all about sales either. Who wants that? So I search for cute images with quotes about reading, books, faith, or sometimes something silly to post to encourage my audience. Eventually I won’t have to do all that again, except for new titles, so getting it organized right now is the big investment. If I were to line up interviews or books signings that takes even more time (and money). Thankfully, if I plan well, I can post all of that in advance. Still, it takes time and planning.

INTROVERTS

The majority of authors are introverts. We are not necessarily out for attention. I’m supposed to do videos to promote my books and I’ve done a few, but I hate doing them! They are short, sure, but they take more time than you think and I can be pretty critical of my performance. I can do live videos and be fine with them if they are less scripted but it still is not a comfortable thing to do. I don’t want this to be about me–but about the stories. I write fiction so I have to try to show you, the reader, the value there is in reading my made up tale. That takes time and creativity to put together in something that’s only 30 seconds to a minute long with a moving background. As you can guess, I’m not on TikTok. My life is mostly private. Sure I share some stuff on Facebook, and maybe if I think of it, on Instagram, but that’s about it. I want to live a life away from a computer screen as much as possible.

MONEY

I have paid marketing experts to help me but in reality it wasn’t just paying someone to do the job, it was paying them to teach me how to do it. It’s not cheap and doing the job myself I can see why. It takes time and that is a valuable asset. So is money. My husband spent his life in marketing and sales but it was for a physical product and he would do the sales at a home with an appointment. It’s as different thing to sell content like a book. So I invest money (and time) and it might be years before I see a real return on my investment. It’s a step of faith to do that and many authors do pay others for the help, but even with that assistance they often have to pitch in by providing content to the assistant. Those assistants work hard. Book signings can come with a cost as well for the spot at a craft fair, and maybe goodies for those who come whether it be snacks or give-aways.

The reason why authors hate marketing is because it’s outside of our wheelhouse and takes away from our primary craft of writing. I don’t mind doing images and posting or playing around to creat my own unique images, but it takes time. My publisher does some stuff to help market books but the primary weight of this for most authors, falls on their shoulders. And if you want to be published, you need to have that audience already established, even without having a book to sell. Crazy, right? Unfortunately, that’s the reality most authors face as they try to get a book ready for publication.

Author Confessions: Fun or Hard Work?

Jan29
Reading Time: 3 minutes

When I first wrote a book, it was in 2009 and it was such a rush. I was filled with delight as the story progressed. That high quickly diminished when I began to understand just how much I didn’t know about storytelling–at least not the kind a publisher would want. The Christian market has different standards than much of what I had read in the secular market. Oh, I had so much to learn.

I kept writing. Many of my friends who are writers will exclaim at how fast I can write a story. Most of the time that is true but I have to be really focused to put in that kind of sustained effort. The reality is, as someone who does not plot a novel, writing fast helps me keep track of all my characters and plot points. Sure I make notes as I go but usually I just try to get the story out. The more stories I write you would think the easier it would get. Not true. Sometimes I think I don’t want to get to the end of the story so I will find other things to do. But why? Because then the really hard work comes, the editing, tearing it apart, eventually submitting it and having it either accepted or rejected. If there is a contract then the harder work of editing begins. And marketing. Let’s not forget that.

They tell writers we need to toughen up — but sometimes it is hard to do the edits. It can feel like a personal attack because this story was birthed out of my imagination. I’m not a tough person. When I was in grade school, all someone had to do was look at me with anger and I’d burst into tears. I’m not quite so prone to that now, but in some ways that’s a loss, not a gain.

The more one writes, the better they hopefully get. I had one novel where I tried something different. I wrote two concurrent love stories. One was primary and the other secondary but that meant four,not two points-of-view (the perspective of the one character, what they see, feel, hear, touch, or in anyway experience). It got contracted but I had to remove the points-of-view of the secondary love story. The romance was still there but was only seen through the eyes and ears of my two main characters. Ugh.

It doesn’t matter how you feel about it–the work has to be done. I have some books that I’ve written that due to hassles during the editing process, I almost don’t want to pick up and read when they were done. If I do read them, I’m often amazed at the story and those yucky feelings from the editing disappear as I get lost in a story I should know by heart, but don’t because I write so many. I’ll enjoy it immensly.

So there is fun in the process. There’s an awe and wonder when I read words on a page, enjoy them and marvel because then it hits me. I wrote that. Me? Little ol’ me? Obviously, God was at work. I’m not that great on my own. Many authors refuse to read their books. Of course, the down side is every time I read an older novel I think of ways I could have done it better. I wrote it the best I could at the time, with what I knew. Time gives perspective. If older titles are not longer available someday, I’ll need to consider whether I want to revise them for another run, totally understanding that it would mean another few rounds of edits in the process. Because making changes always seems to mess up something!

Is writing hard work? Yes. The pay is crappy and my employer (me) is an inconsistant taskmaster. Life is full and busy without all that, but as long as God calls me to do this work, I’ll continue on.

Author Confessions: Pride vs Humility

Jan22
Reading Time: 3 minutes

I’ve been working at book marketing. I hired a virtual assistant company a few months ago and learned a lot from the two wonderful people I worked with. I still have some help but due to trying to be fiscally responsible, I have taken on more of the work with all I’ve learned. I’m incredibly indebted to Tyler and Bonnie. I’ve learned so much but more than that I made some friends who also love the Lord. We pray for and encourage each other as well as deal with the tasks. What a blessing on so many levels.

Most authors hate marketing. At least I do. I don’t like promoting ME. It’s a tough world with so many voices everywhere but I need to help people find my books. The best advertising is word-of-mouth but nowdays so many people only read things on their phone. And with all the information coming at all of use all the time when we go online, who has time to think, “Yeah, I’ll give that author a try.” We’d rather spend $5 – $7 on a new drink at Starbucks than spend the money on an ebook, or perhaps a paperback – which might equal the cost two or three drinks but will take much longer for you to enjoy and can be read over and over or shared. And it’s calorie free. Much like caffiene, a good book can keep you up at night as well.

As I sit at my cluttered desk trying to get marketing stuff organized to feel like I’m on top of it all, I was going over some reviews for some of my first few books. I’ve not looked at reviews much in the past few years because I don’t want to think “I’m all that and a bag of chips,” or to be hurt or disappointed that a reader didn’t perhaps “get” the book or appreciate the effort that was put into it. It takes a lot of effort by many people including me, to publish a book.

I found myself working on sorting through this information and weeping. I did this very task last week with some other books, but for some reason, today, tears started to fall.

I don’t believe that Susan M. Baganz is the greatest author ever. Shocker, right? There are so many other better authors out there and I’m still learning with every book I write.

Early on in my writing I had someone criticize me for promoting my writing on Facebook. However, it’s what I am required to do by my publisher. That individual said I was being prideful. Ouch. There was a lot of other painful words in that verbally abusive conversation that I can shove aside, but that one criticism haunts me.

Sure, I love the stories I write. But here’s the weird thing, at least for me. If there is anything good that shows up on the page that impacts someone, that’s all God. I’m a fallible vessel. If there is any failure, that’s all on me.  I write and pray and it is an act  of worship but I’m not perfect by any means. So when I read reviews and a reader tells me how much they loved the story or how it ministered to them in a particular way, I’m humbled that God allowed me to write those words. What an honor to be used by Him doing something that is hard work with little reward–but hopefully has an eternal impact.

Yes, I write fiction, but even Jesus told stories to get a point a cross. There’s a field of psychology that uses metaphor to help get beneath the defenses of people. That’s the power of story. If God wills it, the words that I labored over will reach someone where they need it most and for every reader it might be a completely different reaction.

So today, I’m humbled and honored. To those of you who read my books and write reviews, thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to share your thoughts with me and the world. I hope and pray God will use all my efforts–at writing, editing, and marketing–to expand the reach of those words He so graciously gave.

If per chance you have read and enjoyed one of my novels or novellas, and haven’t written a review, would you please do so? It really helps readers to find the books. And tell someone about a book you enjoyed. Mine or someone else’s. Writer’s rarely make much money, but knowing our work is appreciated and shared goes a long way, maybe not to paying the bills, but at least in letting us know the work we do matters.