You’ve done it! You’ve written an amazing novel! …Now what?
Well, in a nutshell, you need to get people to read it.
When I started doing research on how to get published–and from my experience in marketing–I kept finding the same thing: build an audience. If I build an audience, I’m creating potential readers. Obviously, that’s attractive to a publisher.
So, how do you build an audience? First off, you want to get their attention, and what better way to get someones attention than to put an adorable puppy as the thumbnail?
The second thing…
CONTENT!
I’m creating content a few different ways:
- Writing short stories (which is also great practice!).
- Blogging my publishing venture (which you’re reading now).
Once I create content, I put it places people will see it and (hopefully) want to read it. I post everything to my website, and from there, I put it on to social media—specifically, Facebook and Instagram. Then, I deviate from writing and I produce videos. Because of that, I’m tapping into YouTube viewers.
Videos also get my face out there and proves that I’m a real person. And real people are relatable.
My blog posts also show I’m serious about being published. I also want to show I have what it takes to be a professional author. It displays that I’m willing to put myself into the world. Because, in today’s day and age, the Internet and social media rule the world. I could have the next best seller, but if no one knows it’s out there, it will never sell. People need to care about the book, and the best way to get people to care, is to get a reader to care about a person. In this case, that person is the author.
Third, and you may already be doing this, is to be active on social media. Put yourself in the writing community and in front of other people’s faces (even if it’s their virtual faces). I use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to promote myself and my book. So far, I learned the writing community on Twitter is incredibly active and helpful. You have nothing to lose, so get involved!
I’m breaking the fourth wall while writing this post, because I’m talking about the audience that’s reading it. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to point that out, but here we are.
So, am I tricking you? I mean, kinda? I’ll leave that up to interpretation.
