Creative writing - From think to ink - Lindstrom Simeon 2015

Launching your work

Once you’ve actually written the thing, you’re going to need to find people to read it and hopefully, with a bit of luck, love it to death. The topic of how to promote, market and sell your work is massive and beyond the scope of this book, but we’ll consider here briefly the elements you’ll need in place.

Ideally, you’ll start marketing your book before it even exists. If you’re one of the many informal, unpublished authors who want to make a name for themselves on their own steam, you’ll need to have a good idea of how to self publish.

The Internet has made all aspects of publishing — from the writing to the promotion to the actual exchange of money — easier and more accessible than ever before. Truly, someone today can write a book, design the cover, format it for Kindle, promote and sell it on Amazon or other platforms and collect money from sales directly — all without the help of anyone else.

But it’s daunting. The real work of self-publishing is far, far greater than merely putting the book together, but consider the following questions to help guide your consideration for how you’ll actually publish your baby:

Will You Self Publish At All?

First decide if you’ll pitch to agents or publishing houses or go it alone and publish your book on a platform like Amazon. The former may never work out and may take a lot of stress and rejection, but still retains something of a gold standard in terms of the prestige of having a house’s name behind you; the latter is less prestigious but more realistic if you really want the work out there and money in your pocket.

How Will You Cultivate An Online Presence?

This has gone from something that authors could optionally do to something mandatory. Authors these days are expected to be masters of self-promotion, so think of how to get your name and brand out there. A blog? A website with promotions, teasers and special discounts? A Twitter feed? A podcast? You could hire someone specifically to help with the promotion of your book or you could use any of the billions of marketing resources out there to piece together a campaign of your own. But it needs to be done, and it needs to be done continuously.

Who Is Your Audience, and How Can You Connect With Them?

Your audience should already be built into your work, and you should already have a firm idea of your demographic before you begin writing. But also brainstorm ways you’ll form actual relationships with them, rather than just market your book in their general direction. How will you get feedback and requests from them? How will you reward their loyalty? What else does your audience want and how can you give that to them?

What Is Your Brand?

I know some aspiring authors are repulsed by the idea of marketing themselves and their work like a brand, but it needs to be done. Chat to a marketing expert or consult some literature on putting together a coherent image that you can communicate to potential readers. Try to really understand the market you are entering. Work alone or with a graphic designer to put together logos and book covers that are professional and consistent. Cultivate yourself as the creator of all this. What image do you wish to convey? What do you offer readers that they can’t get anywhere else?

How Will You Price Your Work?

Will you write millions of short, serialized pieces that sell for nothing on Amazon and hope that in bulk, they’ll amount to good exposure and a tidy profit? Or are you going to write longer, more quality pieces less frequently and charge more for them? Both strategies are valid. Do research on optimal lengths and prices for things, factoring into it the effort you’ve put in. One book will not be enough. Will you need multiple personas? A pseudonym? Will you launch on multiple platforms or just one? Will you offer initial discounts or a free run to get people interested?

What Can You Do Consistently To Maintain Your Marketing Campaign?

You’ll be working your butt off to promote a new book, but it doesn’t stop there. Decide upfront what level of engagement you’re comfortable with for the long term. Can you maintain a blog for the next three years? A Twitter account? Will you hire someone to do it for you?

Ultimately, the best way to start with publishing yourself is to just do it. Just start. It will be inelegant at first, and your first attempt may very well bomb, but it’s good to just start, and begin sooner rather than later to learn the hands-on lessons.

Through trial and error you can gradually build something effective and all your own. Self-publishing is a lot like being an entrepreneur: you learn by doing. Fail early and fail small, and you’ll arrive more quickly at the place you want to be eventually.