How is a Cat Like a Refrigerator?

That was the question posed to readers this week in a monthly newsletter I receive from a marketing and sales organization.

Of course, I had no idea, so I read on. 

The answer was that they both can hold fish, they both have tails, and they both come in various colors.

Both have tails?

I read this to Rebekah, and she said, "Yes. The refrigerator has a cord."

Ah! Light bulb moment!

The whole point of the riddle was to nudge authors like me to look at the familiar (in this case, our books) and see what it has in common with something that, at first glance, no commonality exists, so we can gain fresh persectives on our marketing and, with those perspectives, new opportunities for sales.

But really, we can apply that type of thinking anywhere, including the situations we encounter in our daily life.

Think about it.

Artists: It's Normal Not to Sell A Lot (and a plug for a great cafe)

I found this gem of a post a few weeks ago. I'm including the link so you can read it for yourself.

Despite the flood of posts online about people who used this or that method and made millions, the truth is that most people don't, which is why people flock to them. If it was commonplace to make millions (or any other amount of money that is significant), the topic would be commonplace and no one would care.

OK. So we know that.

Yet what was lovely about this post, for me, was its comparison to an indie coffee shop. And that's why I reserved this post. I waited until the Book and Bean Cafe inside the Joliet Public Library reopened - which it did yesterday.

Because that cafe instantly came to mind when I read the post.

A few key points for you to consider today, whether you are a seller or a consumer.

1) Selling a lot of anything doesn't equal customer satisfaction.

2) Some people will be super stoked to take your artwork or book home with them. 

3) The Book and Bean Cafe serves up friendly community spirit as it tenaciously survives during these tough times and showcases local art. The photo below is from 2018, when four of my BryonySeries artists set up for a two-month long exhibit in that cafe. That is connection is exactly the cafe's owner strives to create in her space.

Obviously some of you reading this today don't live in Joliet.

But most of you will know a place like the cafe.

And you will understand.

Here's the post: Read the first two blocks.

Be encouraged. Be supportive.

https://www.kboards.com/threads/its-normal-not-to-sell-a-lot.177159/

Photo by Timothy Baran

Do Three Good Things At Once

Anyone who has accompanied me on any part of my writing journey knows that, when it comes to book marketing and sales, I'm rather soft in my approach.

That's going to change a bit over the next few weeks. And then I'll return to soft.

I'm running a special BryonySeries holiday book sale in conjunction with The Book Market in Crest Hill. I wrote why I created this special sale yesterday.

But by participating, you will do three good things at once.

1) You will have an opportunity to try out a piece of my fiction by purchasing a book.

2) You will help out an independently owned and operated bookstore during this COVID pandemic.

3) If you give away my book, or if you give away the store credit you earn with the purchase, you will also promote the cause of literacy.

Details are here.

Thank you for considering a purchase and for reading this blog.

Photo by Timothy Baran

Thank You, Aaron D. Brinker

On Twitter recently, Aaron D. Brinker, who writes in multipe genres (including horror and thriller), asked if any author wanted to be featured on his blog.

So I messaged him.

Brinker's blog is mostly interviews with other authors with a standard questions and answer format.

However, many of the questions are not standard and made me think.

And the post itself was retweeted more times than I could count by other authors (including authors that people I personally know follow, a very pleasant surprise).

However, between working for the media during a pandemic and a smattering of family emergencies, I was not one of the people sharing that post (multiple head thumps for me).

So here it is, for your enjoyment today. 

https://aaronbrinker.com/denise-unland/

And please poke around his website a bit. You might discover a new author.

Thank you again, Aaron D. Brinker, for the opportunity.

Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."

A Year of Studying Marketing: What Have You Learned, Dorothy?

I spent part of last Thanksgiving weekend (2016), writing a comprehensive marketing plan for the BryonySeries, to which I've added (and even subtracted) a few ideas.

I have also spent a good portion of this past year studying this elusive thing called marketing, especially marketing for authors and their books.

I wasn't completely clueless. I'd written some marketing plans for the series in the past and had some experiential ideas on what did and did not work and where I did and did not want to go as I fielded my options.

Let's face it. Marketing books today is hard. Reading is down, titles are up, people are spam-suspicious, fake news and slush abounds, and the hot-new marketing trend of today quickly becomes the tired glutted gimmick of yesterday.

How does a guppy author make a noise in a deep ocean of big fish?

I'm still working on that answer.

But I've learned a few things along the way: some basic SEO. Branding. Ways to expand the reach without acting pushy. How marketing is different from sales and different from advertising (while being part of the same pie). Why free is too cheap. What does, does not (and what might) work in collaboration. How to write a better and more effective marketing plan.

I'll expand on these thoughts in the coming weeks.

I already knew writing comes with no guarantees,and I already knew I picked the most difficult type of books to write and self-publish: literary fiction.

However...

Quitting ensures you don't reach the finish line.

Writing, whether the writer publishes in a traditional arena or a self-published one, is an extremely long-tailed business. Perfecting the craft and persistence helps to win the race.

Website Woes

So after nine months of going back and forth with GoDaddy over the extremely poor mobile view of the BryonySeries website, we've been told to upgrade, which means rebuilding the website.

This explains why, when Rebekah tried upgrading last summer, the website disappeared, throwing her into a panic.

We're feeling a little discouraged.

In 2010, Sarah Stegall spent many months creating an entire realm of a website, to reflect the rich storytelling that unfolds in the BryonySeries. The thought of beginning anew is disheartening to all of us.

Another GoDaddy customer said it should be possible to download the files so we can rebuild with them. Rebekah said she could play with the new template someday when she has time.

I can hear the chorus of why we should turn to another company and do our own web hosting etc. People have told us we won't make any money this way and so forth.

But we chose this company for its 24/7 customer service. Except for this one point, we have been extremely happy. Plus, we aren't trying to make money on our site with ads, etc. We see the website as a portal into the world of my books. It's to present information and imagination, and we're trying to do so within the limit of our website-building capabilities (and those are pretty limited).

So we are in the process of trying to sort this out and soon as the situation is seriously curtailing marketing efforts since we want to feed everything back into the website.

Stay tuned.

Keeping Social Media Social

How to make money using (insert any social media site here).

Yes, we've all seen them.

To me, the fun of social media dissipates once sales banners enter the arena.

Yes, I write books. Yes, those books are for sale. But pushing for those sales isn't the point of social media.

Social media, the way I see it, is the opportunity to connect with like-minded people. To me, social media is a virtual water cooler, cocktail party, or coffee shop. It's chatting about interesting, inspiring, or informative topics.

And the person introducing or commenting on the topics just so happens to write and sell books.

That doesn't mean social media can't be used for updating readers about current projects or items for sale as long as it's part of the conversation. I think it's okay to ask readers to review a book or serve as a beta reader, since it can start a conversation.

With this perspective, social media is a useful part of marketing.

Because "marketing" simply means letting the universe know you do this stuff and are selling this stuff. It's not a hard push for sales, which I find obnoxious.

I think good books are meant to be discovered. I think good marketing allows that discovery to happen.

It's definitely a slower, softer approach with no guarantee of sales. But being annoyingly in-your-face doesn't guarantee sales either. Even if it did, such an approach doesn't guarantee readers loyal to one's brand.

For me, this is the goal of marketing: finding those readers who love to read what I write. I'm really not interested in sales for the sake of sales.

And thus my the marketing journey continues...