For an independent author the biggest and often most daunting hurdle to sales is a little thing we call marketing. We choose to be writers and somehow, at times, it seems like we have become more marketers than anything else. Welcome to the new reality! So we are marketers and no matter how much we hate marketing, it is very much a core part of being an independent author. Marketing is basically getting your brand (name) out there and using it to generate interest in your product which hopefully will lead to sales.
So what is cross marketing? Your first thought may wonder to the image of selling your books in angry ways. Buy my book or else! Have you met Griff and Muscles, they get upset when you don’t buy my book. That may be amusing to think about, but would never really work in the real world unless your end goal is to reach the prison population with your books.
Cross marketing is actually getting involved with likeminded writers and promoting each other. Think of it this way, if I tell you to buy my book because it is an awesome read (It really is and there are links on the right), it does not necessarily have the impact if someone other than me tells you to buy my book because it was a really terrific read. This is the same reason why reviews work.
So we just scratched the surface of cross marketing. There is a lot more you can do such as exchanging reviews, retweeting other’s posts, and engaging with them via social media. Websites like goodreads.com and triberr.com offer great places to start. Building a twitter following is also essential to make all of those very important connections. I personally greet every single new follower because those connections are that important. First impressions mean everything!
The math of cross marketing also makes it a huge cannot ignore concept. If you have 1000 followers on Twitter then you can get out your marketing to 1000 people. Now if you are involved in a group of say five people with 1000 followers each and you all use cross marketing, you then have access to 5000 people instead of 1000. This kind of math wants me to cross market even more.
In conclusion, you know you will have to market and if you do not include cross marketing then you are going to miss out on sales. Embrace it, meet some authors and promote their books as they promote yours. Maybe find an author with an interesting book and exchange reviews. Join Triberr and Goodreads and put yourself out there. Together we can sell books!
I agree with you there. That’s why I keep my blog available for guest posts and so on, so that my writing friends can get to my readers.
I’m hoping that one day some of them will return the favor when I need to market my book.
Guest blogging is actually a great idea!
I couldn’t agree more. You make so many interesting points and I wish more people thought like you. I love promoting authors, especially if I’ve enjoyed their books.
I’ve only just begun to understand the advantages of blogging but I must confess I do enjoy reading them more than writing them.
Great post.
I try to get out on average 2 posts a week. Honestly, no matter how much someone likes my writing, I do not want to overdose them on it. Of course, that works out in my favor to as I do like to reserve my best writing times for my next novel.
Good post, the promo is an important activity. I admire the way you greet all your new Followers by the way! I think each author should pick the social media avenues they are most comfortable with – I’m a twitter fiend! But I also blog. Facebook is third on my list and I have yet to dip into triberr. Guest blogs are a wonderful way to bring in new-to-you-readers and I agree wholeheartedly about finding, joining or creating groups of authors!
Cross marketing is definitely helpful, especially because not only do you connect with other writers, but you also connect with other writers’ contacts (which, hopefully, include readers). Great suggestions!
Good points. I agree cross promotion works well on Twitter and through blog posts.
It’s about time seomone wrote about this.
This is what makes indie marketing so different from traditional marketing. Authors are working together. I’ve met so many great scribes since I joined the Twitter/Facebook worlds, and I am so thankful for their support and encouragement.
An excellent post, and very true. I’ve seen it work well for authors whose work I had recommended, and likewise had seen it work for me.
Considering that independents have the full onus of book production squarely on their shoulders, cross-marketing is crucial. That and it helps fill the author’s own reading list too! I don’t exaggerate in the least when I say that some of the best fiction I’ve read so far had come from other independent authors.
Great article! I new to all this so. THANK YOU!
Well said. It was already way late for me when I found out that I needed to be working on marketing my book. I’m still not where I want to be, but I’m learning as I go along. The links I’ve made with other writers have been invaluable.
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