Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Book Flyer

One of the hardest things about indie publishing is advertising and promotion. I like to write. I don't like marketing. (It's a good thing that I was never a salesgirl; I would've said to a customer, "Are you sure that you can afford to buy the shoes that match the outfit?") But if you're indie published, you are your own marketing department.

The question I keep asking myself is how do I reach readers. I've done interviews, social media, GoodReads, book blogs, etc. But those appear to be reaching other writers (which isn't bad because they're great readers). How do I reach people who don't write?

Amazon used to do more to promote new indie books (three months of promotion), but they've changed their policy to one month. Plus, there are so many indie books now that it's tough to not be relegated to a dark nook in the virtual bookstore.

So I'm trying to think of other ways to market my book. My latest attempt is a flyer. Here's what my Art Department (the amazing graphic artist Tara Rimondi at tararimondi.com) put together.


So now I'm busy trying to find places that will let me put up my flyers. It's harder than I thought. Most community bulletin boards only allow you to put up flyers that advertise things that are free. (I think 99 cents is close, but apparently not close enough.) So far, WalMart said "no." The public library said "maybe." Starbucks said "yes," but I think that's only because the manager wasn't there. My son Luke is putting some up at the university where he's a student. Anyway, I'll let you know if the flyers are successful in reaching non-writing readers. And if you have any suggestions about where I can put up the flyers, I'd love to hear them.

BTW, many thanks to Matthew who transformed the flyer file into something blogger would read.

7 comments:

  1. I used to be a drug rep, and I still don't like sales and marketing. But, it has to be done if you want to be a successful writer.

    Great poster!

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  2. Love the look of the flyer. It's gorgeous.

    Good luck with your endeavour. I hope you get heaps of responses!

    Local high schools might be another place to try. Teachers and school librarians can be quite open to this kind of thing. Anything to get kids reading :)

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  3. Cool flyer!

    I know my mom once put up flyers for a public event in the laundromat and the senior center, along with locations like the library, but that's probably not the audience you're looking for . . .

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  4. I can't even begin to imagine how to do my own marketing. Better learn if I ever decide to go the indie route.

    That is quite a catching flyer, btw. :)

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  5. Flyers are a great idea. Have you thought about posting up virtual flyers in various forums and things like that?

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  6. Your "Art Department" sure does great work!

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