Great, I finally finish a couple of
children's ebooks and now I have to create an advertising campaign. Anyone may
have the creativity of a master artist, the diction of a wordsmith, the
knowledge of a professor, the innovativity of an inventor, but if they can't
market their wares they're doomed to non-sales. We are rarely made aware of
business failures because to state the obvious they failed to market themselves.
Think of the legends in innovative
marketing and follow their examples:
Bill Gates- he aggressively broadened his
product and defended it just as ominously.
David Ogilvy- the father of advertising-
his fundamental principal was 'know your audience'- research.
Richard Branson- I would take a punt and
attribute some of his achievements to his no fear adventuristic attitude- sheer
ballsiness.
All legends of selling have brilliant ideas, all can sell
that idea in the consumer world they operate in and all have exceptional people
skills.
In the context of marketing my literary
work I can be assured that the process of selling will be just as hard and
probably more difficult than writing the darn thing. After finally producing a
finished product consider my emotional state: relief, anguish, tentative pride,
doubt. The next step is to sell the creation. A tiny amount of research tells
me to ask myself some basic questions. Who am I selling to? What are my
advertising strategies? How do I promote to my audience? When is the best time
to campaign? Answer: the best time to advertise is before I even start the
novel.
I know if I can't market myself then I must
employ somebody that can. If I can't employ a professional then I must study
the art of selling. Many writers spend hours a day towards spruiking their
books. Social media is the largest, cheapest and most effective platform.
Here is my first unashamed sell: The legend
of Dan'Qirk and Olympics Tale. Both children's e-books belong to The Tonight We
Read series. Look out for my upcoming young adult novel Jenna's' Voice.
Now I know I have to practice what I've
just preached and hit Facebook. Yuk. I hate Facebook but I'm going to swallow
my pride and start posting. Grow a web site. Use Twitter, Pinterest...the
platform is endless, the eworld is never-ending.
If you want to make money selling a product
then resource everything into marketing, or, if you can't or simply wont, the
consequences will be your creation of a non-profit hobby. Which is fine as
there are massive benefits in having a hobby. I don't want to feel compelled to
whore myself and sell, sell, sell, at the cost of self-worth. I want to be able to be
proud of my work and its reputation. I know though that one thing to consider
is how low will I go to afford something to eat.