For many fiction writers, sales is a dirty word.

Promotion, marketing? Same deal.

There is a belief out there that if I’m truly creative and produce a quality work of art, then people should recognise it for what it is. I shouldn’t have to ‘sell’ it. Isn’t fiction subjective anyway? People will either love it or hate it so I should focus on honing my craft and writing the best piece of fiction I can. The rest will take care of itself.

Some of these sentiments are laudable. As a fiction writer, you should absolutely devote time and resources to improving as a writer.  A lot of time and resources. Read, learn, write. Repeat.

As I explain in my blog post Why writers can’t ignore marketing:

Ignoring sales is a pitfall.

If you don’t invest in sales, promotion and marketing, another fiction writer will. And whose books will sell better, regardless of the quality of the writing? I’ll leave you to answer that question.

Marketing tricks

Let’s unpack where this belief originates from. The used car sales man who tries to pull the wool over your eyes and convince you this pile of junk is a sound investment, the political spin which promises change but has no intention of delivering it, the mesmerising adverts which suddenly make you realise you absolutely, definitely cannot live without a melon baller.

Now, there are individuals, politicians and businesses who are disingenuous. There are people who use communications tricks to lie to you or sell you something you don’t need. But they are just that – tricks.

When I talk about marketing, promotion, communications or sales, I’m not talking about manipulating your potential buyers. I’m not talking about mass advertising. That does have its place for some consumer products but your book is unlikely to fall into that category. I think the reason some of us have become disillusioned with advertising is because some big consumer companies have taken a ‘want’ and communicated it as a ‘need’. Melon baller – I rest my case! That feels manipulative. And it is. That’s selling out.

Relationship marketing

Ask a true marketing professional and they will agree: good sales isn’t about pushing any old product to anyone who’ll listen.

The best marketing is based on relationship. Mutual relationship. That’s not selling out.

You’ll hear me talk about this a lot. It’s one of the cornerstones of my marketing practice. In another blog post I will unpack this foundational concept and talk about empathy.

At its simplest, good marketing is about:

• Listening to your audience
• Understanding their needs
• Creating an excellent product which meets that need
• Telling them how your product meets their need

Notice how I use the word ‘product’ not book. One of the barriers we have to overcome if we’re to embrace the potential of marketing is to start seeing our creative output as a product. When I use the word product to describe something as sacred as a book, the true creative in me bristles. But isn’t that what a book is after all? People pay for it, take it home and ‘consume’ it.

Let’s get over ourselves: a book is a product.

Maybe you write for the pure, unadulterated joy of writing. Your work is not a consumer product. No problem. But maybe, like me, you’d like someone other than a family member to read your work, be entertained, encouraged or changed by it?

If you genuinely believe in your ‘product’, aka your book, then surely you believe it does something, offers something, delivers something better, or at least differently, to other books out there. Otherwise why bother writing it?

And if you believe your product holds value, surely you want to find the people who are buying those other products which are inferior or different to yours? And when you’ve found them you’d want to tell them how your product is better or different, how it will meet their desire or need, wouldn’t you? Yes? Well, you’ve just started on this journey called marketing. Welcome!

What’s your biggest question about marketing as a writer? Let me know in the comments or email me.