Hello, dear reader, I hope you’re doing well. I’ve been outlining and planning a novel and I wondered what marketing options I may need to pursue in the future. Researching different publishing outlets made me realize I might be counting chickens before they hatch. Plus, I’m curious about how to make a book successful when there are numerous titles being created each year. I’m hoping my curiosity will be helpful to you. The following paragraph will contain a disclaimer. You can skip it if you want to get to the content of the article.
Please note that I’m not being paid for my opinions or promoting any of the websites that I linked to in this article. Also note that some of these links will take you to sites whose content I cannot control and may be more ‘adult’. Meaning that links on some of the websites I’m linking to may not have family-friendly content. I believe all the links I put in this article will not have any inappropriate material on that immediate page. Please let me know if this is not the case so I can edit this article for future readers. Now, onto the article!
A little bit of research has educated me about the many marketing options and opportunities for writers. So I’m going to focus on only a few. I will briefly mention an article that gives a variety of tips and tricks on self-promotion using your social media accounts, website, and so on. This article can be found at http://www.authormedia.com/89-book-marketing-ideas-that-will-change-your-life/. It contains a lot of ideas that make sense, and lists them by number. I hope it will help you keep track of what you’ve done to promote your book, and give you some new ideas. For a list of websites that can help you market your book you can visit the article at https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/47-top-websites-post-your-book-for-free/ and go through their list. I’m going to focus on Wattpad and Goodreads.
Wattpad is kind of like a StumbleUpon for books. Authors are allowed to post one chapter at a time all the way up to an entire book. Established authors are even publishing onto Wattpad in order to expand their audiences. Younger readers are the main demographic on Wattpad. Don’t expect to make money off of releasing a book on Wattpad. A publisher might pick you up, or an agent may contact you, but it is far more likely Wattpad will end up simply being a learning experience for new writers. It’s also important to be careful because the content on Wattpad is self-moderated. You could accidentally start a story you wouldn’t want your grandma to read over your shoulder. Still, some young authors have benefited from the experience of writing on Wattpad. The second link below contains the story of young writer Ummy Syalshabella Mohd Zamri. You can find more info about Wattpad at the following links: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/wattpad#, http://www.star2.com/culture/books/2016/01/12/wattpad-is-where-writers-and-readers-meet/, and (the next link has some cursing) https://writingbytheseatofmypants.com/2013/11/03/my-review-of-wattpad/. Wattpad also has resources for you to peruse on writing https://www.wattpad.com/writers/how.html and business http://business.wattpad.com/. You can sign up for Wattpad free at https://www.wattpad.com/.
Goodreads is also free to use. The site provides my fellow bookworms with the opportunity to rate the books they’ve read. Your friends can join you in the fun and look at your ratings. It feels like a site which belongs mostly to the readers, yet authors can have some marketing impact using the site. Marketing on Good Reads includes book giveaways (https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/new), advertising space, an author bio page, and more. This link, https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/new, will take you to where Goodreads will explain its Author Program. The main issue with Goodreads, your book must be published before you can promote it via the normal channels on the site.
Honorable mentions for this article include Kboards, booktalk.org and booktalk.com. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions. I’m going to keep doing research on marketing novels, yet I plan to spend more of my time actually writing the story. I hope this blog helps someone's journey to success. Have a good day, dear reader!
Please note that I’m not being paid for my opinions or promoting any of the websites that I linked to in this article. Also note that some of these links will take you to sites whose content I cannot control and may be more ‘adult’. Meaning that links on some of the websites I’m linking to may not have family-friendly content. I believe all the links I put in this article will not have any inappropriate material on that immediate page. Please let me know if this is not the case so I can edit this article for future readers. Now, onto the article!
A little bit of research has educated me about the many marketing options and opportunities for writers. So I’m going to focus on only a few. I will briefly mention an article that gives a variety of tips and tricks on self-promotion using your social media accounts, website, and so on. This article can be found at http://www.authormedia.com/89-book-marketing-ideas-that-will-change-your-life/. It contains a lot of ideas that make sense, and lists them by number. I hope it will help you keep track of what you’ve done to promote your book, and give you some new ideas. For a list of websites that can help you market your book you can visit the article at https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/47-top-websites-post-your-book-for-free/ and go through their list. I’m going to focus on Wattpad and Goodreads.
Wattpad is kind of like a StumbleUpon for books. Authors are allowed to post one chapter at a time all the way up to an entire book. Established authors are even publishing onto Wattpad in order to expand their audiences. Younger readers are the main demographic on Wattpad. Don’t expect to make money off of releasing a book on Wattpad. A publisher might pick you up, or an agent may contact you, but it is far more likely Wattpad will end up simply being a learning experience for new writers. It’s also important to be careful because the content on Wattpad is self-moderated. You could accidentally start a story you wouldn’t want your grandma to read over your shoulder. Still, some young authors have benefited from the experience of writing on Wattpad. The second link below contains the story of young writer Ummy Syalshabella Mohd Zamri. You can find more info about Wattpad at the following links: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/wattpad#, http://www.star2.com/culture/books/2016/01/12/wattpad-is-where-writers-and-readers-meet/, and (the next link has some cursing) https://writingbytheseatofmypants.com/2013/11/03/my-review-of-wattpad/. Wattpad also has resources for you to peruse on writing https://www.wattpad.com/writers/how.html and business http://business.wattpad.com/. You can sign up for Wattpad free at https://www.wattpad.com/.
Goodreads is also free to use. The site provides my fellow bookworms with the opportunity to rate the books they’ve read. Your friends can join you in the fun and look at your ratings. It feels like a site which belongs mostly to the readers, yet authors can have some marketing impact using the site. Marketing on Good Reads includes book giveaways (https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/new), advertising space, an author bio page, and more. This link, https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/new, will take you to where Goodreads will explain its Author Program. The main issue with Goodreads, your book must be published before you can promote it via the normal channels on the site.
Honorable mentions for this article include Kboards, booktalk.org and booktalk.com. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions. I’m going to keep doing research on marketing novels, yet I plan to spend more of my time actually writing the story. I hope this blog helps someone's journey to success. Have a good day, dear reader!