It's never too early to start marketing

Writers often wait until they have a publication date to start planning their marketing. Maybe that’s because they’ve been too busy writing, editing and re-editing their manuscript. Maybe it’s because they’re a little intimidated and overwhelmed by the conflicting marketing advice out there. Or maybe it’s because they just can’t conceive of any marketing activity that would be productive until they have a concrete product in their hands.

That’s a mistake. Firstly because effective marketing is about building a relationship and that takes TIME. Secondly, because marketing isn’t just about selling a product. It’s about a whole host of other activities, many of which can be done before you have a physical book. I was delighted when an author approached me recently to ask what she could do to prepare for her marketing even though she hasn’t finished her manuscript yet. We’re going to start with auditing her online presence so she can meaningfully and intentionally build a network of interested readers and peers before publication date.

Another great early marketing activity is engaging beta readers. Some see this as part of the craft of writing. I see it as a first step in marketing because you’re practising reaching out to readers.

And sometimes those beta readers come at an unexpected moment. I started writing my first middle grade manuscript over six years ago but gave up querying it a couple of years ago after a few requests for the full manuscript but no offer of representation. I thought the project was dead in the water and moved onto manuscript number two. Then, back in the fall, my 11-year-old announced that her teacher wanted me to read my manuscript to her class.

“Excuse me?” I said

“He wants you to read your book to the class.”

“But he knows it’s not published, doesn’t he?”

“Yes, I told him that. He still wants you to come in. I told him it was about the topic of child labour we’ve been studying.”

Well, I just about fell over. I was unsure about revisiting this project but here was an opportunity to see how this story resonated with a room full of 10 and 11-year-olds. I said yes and went into the school to read to a group of 40 students every morning for a week. I hadn’t intended to read the whole book. The idea was for me to come and read a few chapters, introduce myself, answer questions about publishing, and for the teachers to finish off the book but once I’d started I had to see the project through to the end. I’m so glad I did. It was worth it for the kid who shouted out “just drive the car!” at the end of one chapter, and for the applause on the final day. And there was so much I learnt besides. One of the most gratifying elements was that the teachers got the students to design book covers for my story. Imagine seeing 40 book covers of your as yet unpublished book. Talk about vision setting!

Thank you Mr. Graitson, Mr. Mayhew, the grade five and six students and the staff at St. Gabriel.

Read on and I hope I’ll persuade you to start marketing your book before you hit publish. If nothing else, enjoy the book cover designs.

It’s never too early to start marketing

I blogged about this when I sought beta readers for my second middle grade manuscript. Getting beta readers isn’t just about getting critique for your work. You learn so much about marketing and get to practise many of the skills you need the minute you start putting your words into other people’s hands. How to pitch your story. How to ask someone to read your work. How to ask someone to review your book. How to listen to and connect with readers. And if, like me, you write for children, you can even get to practise doing author presentations in schools.

Think creatively about how to find your readers

Writers often bemoan the fact they don’t know where or how to find their readers. It’s easy for you, they say, you have a middle grade kid and a whole class full of their peers. But if I didn’t, there are plenty of acquaintances with kids I could approach. In fact, many children of friends-of-friends were beta readers for my second manuscript. How about starting with your network of family, friends and co workers? Have you asked them their favourite genre, author or book? Have you asked if any of them are in a book club? You’d be surprised what you learn. And once you’ve found one friend who likes your genre, you can ask them to ask their friends etc. For some reason many of us get shy about asking people we know whether they’d read (and perish the thought, review!) our book. Maybe it’s because the potential rejection would be that much more painful from a friend, but that’s when we have to remind ourselves our books are not for everyone.

Don’t be afraid to approach your readers personally

I think many of us have this view that marketing is an anonymous transaction which takes place between a screen and a consumer. But that consumer is human and we humans, for all the hours we spend staring at a screen, still like one-to-one connection. To market your book successfully, you need to put some of your personality into your marketing. I blogged about this recently: Readers like to see the ins and outs, the highs and lows of your writing life. That doesn’t mean you have to share everything. It just means you need to be human.

Reading your work out loud gives you a new perspective

From long sentences to slow chapters to hard-to-pronounce names to clumsy dialogue, this was one of the most fascinating and awkward parts of reading my manuscript aloud. The whole thing. From start to finish. I’ve heard many people recommend doing this and, yes, it’s a big time investment but it absolutely gives you a fresh eye on what is working and what isn’t.

Seek critique for your work

Whether it’s a freelance editor, a critique group or beta readers, get feedback for your writing before you hit publish. I have three riders on that though. Firstly, make sure you reach out to the right people: Readers who you respect and are ideally part of your target audience (though they don’t all have to be). Secondly, don’t get too many opinions, especially when drafting. It can get confusing and throw you off. Thirdly, ask beta readers specific questions. You want their feedback to be usable and if you just ask them whether they liked the book or not, you may get a handful of generic comments. However, if you ask them to comment on specific elements of the book, you’ll have something concrete to work with. Read Belinda Pollard’s blog post How to brief a beta reader.

Draft, edit, rewrite your jacket copy

I think I may employ this group of kids when it comes to writing my jacket copy. For real. Writing jacket copy, log lines, pitch paragraphs and query letters is HARD work because we have to distill thousands of words into just a few. Often we’re too close to the project to see the wood for the trees. These listeners though, pulled out certain details from the story they heard. That in itself was insightful: Seeing what details had stuck whether I’d intended them to or not. So, get some help honing your query/pitch/jacket copy. I don’t know what this class would charge, but I’m sure I could hook you up!

Have you used beta readers? What were your take aways? Message me and let me know. If you’re struggling to find beta readers or reach out to strangers, a coaching session will help give you the direction and confidence you need.