CHECK THAT OUT! LOOKIT! Skeins Unfurled, my lovely book that I'm so very friggin' proud of, is now live on Amazon and CreateSpace (and for those that subscribe, free on KindleUnlimited). Yeah...obligatory plug. Whatever. I'M PROUD, DAMN IT! Have I mentioned I'm proud? I did? Oh...well...yeah, I am...
But just writing a book, making it pretty, and pushing the publish button doesn't really mean shit in this day and age when everybody and their dog can do (and are doing) the same thing, right? You're just a drop in a bucket in a sea of fuck its. Sad, but true.
That's where marketing comes in. Now...I'm no guru when it comes to this end of the field. I have this...flail about until I fall into the "right" way mentality. Sort of...trial and error, I guess? Only I kind of tend to ignore it like a big ugly stain on a tie ("Don't look. Don't look, K. DAMN IT. I looked.").This is yet another thing I've read about a million blogs about and they don't help one damn bit. You wanna know why? Because the advice is ridiculous.
You've got some people saying their life is consumed by a 9 to 1 ratio of marketing to writing. Who has time for that shit? Who WANTS to spend that much time at their pc shoving their book under other peoples' noses? I mean...I don't. I feel weird enough just plugging my book occasionally (like...once a week) in circles with other writers. Forget doing so in EVERY conversation I have with people I don't even know. Ew.
Then you have people that just DON'T market. Kind of...sit there...obsessively clicking buttons to check stats and such. But the stats never move. Because they don't say anything to anybody. Ever. Even when there's an appropriate conversational piece to slip it in. Just...clicking away, staring at that never-changing stat...
But let's get real. Neither of these approaches is ideal when you're an indie. Push too much, people ignore you and roll their eyes when they see you coming: "Oh. It's fucking Karen again. She's going to talk about her stupid book. Don'tmakeeyecontact! Lookawaylookawaylookaway!" Don't push at all and people don't know you exist: "There comes that weird guy that always brings his laptop to the coffee shop and stares at the same screen for an hour while he sips chai latte. I think maybe he's a serial killer."
So what DOES work? Simply put, I dunno. One thing I do know, however, is that it helps immensely to have people in your corner. Meet, greet, connect, uplift within the indie circles. If you like something by another author, share that.
Your job as an indie is to find the middle ground in marketing, wherever it may rest, but indies depend on word of mouth. Without a team of other people to help you, your career is probably never gonna get off the ground. Give and take, guys. Give and take. Support others within the community and you'll receive the same in return.
This blog is not really a nugget o' wisdom...but...maybe more of a reality check? I can't really give a real marketing strategy because I don't have one yet. Kind of. Whatever. There will be more on this particular devil when I have some actual nuggets for ya.
Until then, write on, wordsmiths.
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