Writers in the Storm

by Penny Sansevieri

When someone mentions book author marketing strategies, it sounds complicated and expensive, but it doesn’t have to be! In fact, some of the best things you can do to boost book sales are free! For the new year, work smarter, not harder. Let’s look at 15 Smart Author Marketing Strategies you can use for 2024!

1. Fail Fast

Mentioning failure in a “smart strategies” article doesn’t seem to start off on the right foot, but this is key! Failure is the best learning experience we can give to ourselves! When you launch a book and do “all the right things” and the book is not resonating with readers—you need to ask why? Are you in the right genre? How does your cover look compared to other books in that genre? Can your description be stronger?

“Failing fast” doesn’t mean give up, find out what’s wrong and create improvements! Our failures help repave our journey for the better!

2. Education is Key

Put learning on your monthly to-do list! Attend writer conferences, join virtual sessions (or if an in-person event isn’t your thing) find some books on book marketing! Not everything you hear or read will be helpful, but pick and choose what strategies to implement and get to work on actually using them!

The most successful people in the world read a lot of books—some in fact read up to 60 books a year! Sixty books isn’t the magical number for having all the answers, but reading is a great way to learn!

3. Consider a Book Cover Redo

Good covers are an investment in your future, and nothing says, “I’m not a serious author,” like a cover that’s lacking in all of the elements your genre demands. A good book cover is vital to marketing, but we don’t often address the importance of knowing when your book cover needs a redo, a polish, or a fresh brand alignment.

When was the last time you looked at the bestseller list in your genre? If your cover doesn’t look like it belongs on the shelf beside the other books on the bestseller list, then you have a problem.

It doesn’t matter how much money you throw at marketing, if your cover doesn’t live up to the expectations of the genre, your marketing is never going to pay off.

4. Read More (in your genre)

I’m amazed at how many authors I’ve spoken to over the years who don’t read in their genre and are clueless to their reader’s specific needs. Reading in your genre is another key strategy! Why? Because it helps you to learn about how topics are addressed, what readers want, as well as the current popular tropes (if you’re writing fiction!)

If you aren’t clear on the specific needs and nuances of your reader, you are almost assured failure. Much like your book cover, no amount of marketing dollars can fix a book that wasn’t written with the needs of the reader in mind.

5. Sell an Emotional State and know your Reader’s ID

Successful authors don’t sell a book–they sell what the book can do for the reader.

Authors try to sell their book with a book description that’s about them. They should be making a book description that’s about the reader and pushing that emotional state. What’s an emotional state? As readers, we don’t buy books, we buy what the book can do for us! Whether that’s to help us escape reality for a bit, learn, grow, whatever it is! That should be what you market…sell a feeling, not a book.

Also, understanding what drives your reader to buy is key here—so know their ID! What’s an ID? It’s the thing that drives us to buy anything! For example, Hallmark movie creators know that, at the most basic level, their viewers like HEA (happily ever after,) so all their movies have that component.

To go deeper, the movie creators also know that viewers have particular IDs: royal romances, fake boyfriends, enemies to lovers, etc.

If you’ve written non-fiction, your readers IDs will be different. Do they want to start a business, lose weight, or learn a new skill? That’s an ID. It’s also about being even more specific. If they are a beginner in any of these topics, they want something that’s easy to adopt. That’s an ID! If you’ve written something that’s slanted to the beginner—make mention of that early in your book description, or ideally in your title or subtitle.

Knowing your reader’s ID and pushing an emotional state will drive a reader to buy! These emotional components will also change how you view everything you’re doing, from spending time on social media to releasing your next book.

6. Get Clear on Your Brand

Everything is your brand. But I can appreciate that the term “brand” is confusing to authors.

Brand Identity: this is your “look.” The colors on your website, fonts, logos—all of it is a part of your brand identity. Brand identity is the “visual” piece and it’s the thing that ties everything together. Nothing will deter a reader faster than a messy and unfocused brand!

Whether you like it or not, your brand is talking about you right now. Do you like what it’s saying?

Everything you put out there is your brand and you need to take some time to focus on the needs of your readers and their IDs. You may decide that 2024 is a good time to revamp everything you’re putting out into the world to create a more consistent look, message and feel.

7. Why Lane Jumping is Bad

They say to “write what you love” and to some degree, that’s absolutely true. The issue with “write what you love” is that this might mean writing romance one week and a kids book the next. What I’m speaking of here is true lane-jumping. I’m not trying to discourage you if you want to write across multiple genres, but it’s not a strategic way to grow your author brand.

Each time you cross genres, it’s like starting from scratch. Why? Because readers don’t always crossover. If you love reading crime thrillers, you probably won’t pick up a paranormal romance, even if it’s written by the same author. Sometimes there are crossover elements. For example, if an author who writes thrillers decides to dabble in true crime, readers are more than likely to “crossover” because both are pretty tightly connected.

Grow your base in one genre and then branch off after you feel you’ve exhausted your stories there.

8. Don’t Wait to Market a Book

I can promise you that this never works in your favor. Believe it or not, books age and as they do it becomes harder to get reviews and any kind of momentum for it.

A lot of authors think they should wait to market their first book, especially if they’re writing a series. They say: “Oh, I’ll wait to market book one when book two is out.” I love the idea of authors writing multiple books, but don’t wait to market one book in anticipation of another.

An aged book is hard to recover from…market now!

9. Less is More When it Comes to time spent on Social Media

Social media does not sell books—impressions do! You want to be strategic about how you spend your time on social media. So, running ads on Facebook for the sake of running ads, is not strategic. Tap into the needs of your readers, this will help you to strategize content.

Have you considered that you’re on the wrong social media platform? Where are your readers? Success leaves clues and successful authors know where their market is…go find your readers! A good way to figure out where your readers are is by following authors in your genre and see where they pop up more frequently.

Being somewhere that matters is more important than being everywhere.

10. Get Savvy with Amazon Ads

In 2023, Amazon launched video ads (as of this writing, not everyone has access to this yet!) If you haven’t dug into Amazon ads yet, now is a great time to do so! Ads are also a great way to boost your overall Amazon algorithm without having to spend a lot of money.

11. Network, Contribute, Collaborate!

Start networking with authors in your genre, also consider their “brand” as well, does it line up with yours? Will their readers also follow you? Follow said authors on social media, like their posts, comment on their blog, build relationships! Contribute to their success too! After you’ve spent some time networking, offer up the idea of collaboration!  Collaboration ideas can include: a newsletter swap, a social media takeover, sharing each other’s eBook promotions or other book discounts!

12. Commit to a Newsletter

Newsletters are a great way to speak directly to your readers and keep them in your loop! You can use a newsletter to announce new books, giveaways and push fun reader contests!

Starting a newsletter can be intimidating, but do it anyways, even if you feel like you have nothing interesting to say! We did a podcast on this, too! If you’re interested in learning more, there’s a link in the resources section!

13. Price Your Books Competitively

Do not price your book out of the market. Of course, we want to make lots of money from our books—who doesn’t?! Most books that are priced out of market, may sell one copy, but not more. The idea behind this is that if they price their book high enough, they don’t have to sell that many to recoup their investment. Pricing books competitively doesn’t mean pricing them lower, either. Price your book appropriately!

14.  The Importance of your Amazon Book Page

Amazon ads aren’t converting? Facebook ads sending readers to your page, but no sales? Trying giving your book page a polish! Over the holiday break, spend time cleaning up your book page—you’ll be surprised by the results! Things to focus on include: your bio, keywords, a video, updating your book description. Most of all, make sure your book description is scannable with lots of white space, bolding, bullets (when appropriate) and lead in with a great review or review snippet!

15. The Power of Book Editions

What’s right for your audience: paperback, hardback, eBook, large print, or audiobook? Don’t leave money on the table by neglecting various editions of your book! Various book editions can help to expand your audience and sell more books! You might be missing a readership that needs a large print book edition, and let’s not forget about the enormous audiobook market right now! Always look to the bestseller lists in your genre and see what other authors are doing!

I hope this list has sparked some ideas of things that you could dig into in the new year, or maybe helped to give a lagging book some new energy and direction. Sometimes it just takes a small shift to ignite your success, and sometimes it’s a combination of a few things, done over time.

I wish you much success in 2024 and beyond!

What are some ways you plan to market your books in 2024? Share with us in the comments below.

About Penny

Penny C. Sansevieri, Founder and CEO of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a bestselling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. She is an Adjunct Professor teaching Self-Publishing for NYU. She was named one of the top influencers of 2019 by New York Metropolitan Magazine.

Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most innovative Amazon visibility campaigns as well offering national media pitching, online book marketing, author events, and other strategies designed to build the author/book visibility.

She is the author of 18 books, including How to Sell Your Books by the Truckload on Amazon, Revise and Re-Release Your Book, 5-Minute Book Marketing for Authors, and From Book to Bestseller. She also hosts the top ranking podcast Book Marketing Tips and Author Success.

AME has had dozens of books on top bestseller lists, including those of the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal.

To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, visit www.amarketingexpert.com. 

 By James R. Preston

I’m going to take a break from technical advice about structure or the gaming world and how the Boss Fight relates to fiction, and talk about meeting other writers and what you can get out of that. I’ll throw in some Rules of Encounter and Warnings, Scary Moments, and maybe elicit a smile or even a chuckle. 

For once I know exactly where the idea for this essay came from. I have two thirty-something friends with whom I share movies and books and from whom I learn much. Driving back from a show I said something about Frank Herbert and one of them said, “Wait, stop. You’ve met Frank Herbert?”

Well, yes, as a matter of fact I have and I’d like to take a few minutes of your time to talk about that encounter because I believe it has meaning, a meaning that perhaps will help you in your writing efforts. 

Big-Time Authors

As writers we spend our time at the keyboard, or thinking about what we will say once we return to the keyboard, or studying ways to improve what we produce at the — well, you know where I mean. There can be an underlying, hidden assumption that somehow the big-time authors are different, that they have some secret, that they are not like us. It ain’t so. 

All of us, from The NY Times list down to the newly-published writer share attributes.

We are all in this together. Meeting your writer heroes will help you to understand just how true that is, how strong that bond is, 

A few of my own True Life Adventures will illustrate this point and I’ll add some Rules as well as Words of Warning. 

Writing is not easy. For all of those times when the characters leap off the page and entertain you with their stories there are a lot more — at least if you are like me — times when it’s pulling teeth or worse. One of those True Life Adventures stars was Harlan Ellison and I’ll let him explain what it’s like.

True Life Adventures 

You may say, “But I’ve never met any important writers or agents and don’t have a clue how to.” Part of those meetings is luck, part is persistence. Here’s how I did it, and with each example there’s a Takeaway, something to remember. 

Harlan Ellison

Ellison taught a UCLA class called Ten Tuesdays Down the Rabbit Hole and it was an epic event. Through a friend I was offered a chance to be a Teaching Assistant. I was working full time and taking two classes — six units — but I said yes anyway. I helped a little bit with various things and as a result got to meet Harlan and actually come to know him. I’ll never forget him saying, “Writing is easy. You just cut off part of yourself and put it on the page.”

Takeaway: Say yes. Seize every opportunity, grab it by the ears and figure out how you’ll get it all done later. 

Frank Herbert        

Frank Herbert lectured at Golden West college. After the lecture was over I hung around to say thanks and to tell him how much I loved Dune. I expected that he would be surrounded by a crowd of admirers but that was not the case and to my amazement I found myself sitting and chatting with a man whose work I admired. I got to tell him how I had read Dune when it was serialized in AnalogScience Fiction, and he asked about my work!

           Takeaway: hang around after a class/talk. If nothing else, say thank you.

Paul Bishop

At one convention in San Diego you could sign up and submit a chapter in advance for review by one of the writers at the conference. I did and my reviewer was Paul Bishop, author of Tequila Mockingbird as well as other excellent thrillers, and career LAPD police officer. At one point in the review, I had something wrong in my description of a revolver. Bishop reached down into his boot top, extracted a small weapon, and showed me the right way. Yes, it’s true. I’ve had a reviewer pull a gun on me. 

Takeaway: If you attend a convention and have an opportunity to get your work reviewed, take it! (See Harlan Ellison note.)

Donald Maas

At a convention in Alaska I must have looked like a writer because this guy in the airport wanted to know if I’d share a cab to the hotel. It was the agent Donald Maas and I did not pitch my work In the taxi. We talked pc issues and since my contract work lately had centered around just that I was able to answer some of his questions. Later I was able to use this as the lead when I pitched my work, “We met at . . .”  Ultimately his agency chose not to represent me but I had a chance. 

     Takeaway: take notes, keep a journal. When you submit work, lead with “We met at Bouchercon, and you said . . .” This is not an original thought on my part. It has turned up in my reading several places. One source went so far as to suggest that you say, “We met at and you suggested I send in  . . .” even if you had not, in fact met them, because at a convention with thousands of people they’ll never remember.

My take on this is not to do it. One, they might remember they’d never met you. (Back to Donald Maas — this is a bright guy. He’d remember if he had not, in fact met you like you claimed. Can you spell, “Kiss of Death?”.) In addition to possibly backfiring it’s dishonest. 

The Horror

We all make mistakes. I comfort myself with that thought. At a Bouchercon convention my publisher had equipped me with the usual giveaways, bookmarks, postcards, and cards announcing a talk I was giving that afternoon. So I’m handing out this stuff and here’s a lady sitting in the end seat in an auditorium. I stop and hand her a card, then I realize that it’s Sue Grafton and she was deep in conversation with two other writers in the row in front of her. She was gracious. I was busy slithering away on my belly like a reptile. 

Takeaway: Be observant! Pay attention to name tags. Especially pay attention to whether or not the person you want to talk to is otherwise engaged. Learn from my mistakes. 

Rules

At another convention, this one in San Diego, I had studied the list of agents and identified one I wanted to meet. I found her talking to three or four other ladies. Not wanting to barge in I hung out for a while and then found a moment to step up and introduce myself. (I’d emailed ahead of time to see if she’d be willing to talk.) I said I didn’t want to interrupt when she was talking to her friends She took my elbow and guided me away, whispering, “Thank you so much. I’ve never seen those women before in my life and they would not stop talking.”

• Rule: Don’t interrupt but wait for a good moment. You might be surprised. 

• Rule: Don’t hog the line at a book signing. I’ve seen this — wannabe writers standing in line and then pitching their work to an author who is signing books. It’s rude, and it is a sure way to not get your work read. 

• Rule: Never, under any circumstances, hand a writer or editor a ms at a convention. Whether it’s paper or disk don’t do it. I know, you have invested years of work in this masterpiece, and you are desperate to get it read. Do your homework, make contact ahead of time and then if the person you have selected is open to looking at your work, ask them what they want to see. Corollary: Do reveal the end. Don’t describe the work, pause dramatically and then say, “And to find out how it ends, agree to publish the book.”

Strong Suggestion: thank you notes that do not say buy my book. If you meet somebody at a convention, send them a thank-you email, a “bread-and-butter note.”

A Final Word

I left home at seventeen and moved into the dorm at Cal State Long Beach. All I knew was that I wanted to be a writer. One day I wandered into the CSULB bookstore and saw this little old man (Now I’m older than he was then — yikes! How did that happen?) sitting behind a table buried behind stacks of books, looking lost and alone. Nah, couldn’t be. Books? A writer? I’d never met one. For once I wasn’t broke, so I bought a copy of his book and even a kid like me could tell that he was glad to sign it, glad to talk to me. The book was Jenny by Nature and the writer was Erskine Caldwell. 

Takeaway: It works both ways. He was as happy to have someone to talk with as I was. We really are all in this together. 

Writing is not easy for anybody. Talking to other writers or agents, or people who work in the industry, will make it easier for you to get back to the keyboard.

Now it’s your turn. Who have you met? How? Any tips?

About James

James R. Preston is the author of the multiple-award-winning Surf City Mysteries. He is currently at work on the sixth, called Remains To Be Seen. His most recent works are Crashpad and Buzzkill, two historical novellas set in the 1960’s at Cal State Long Beach. Kirkus Reviews called Buzzkill “A historical thriller enriched by characters who sparkle and refuse to be forgotten.” His books are collected as part of the California Detective Fiction collection at the University of California Berkeley. 

Find out more about James at his website.

by Louise Privette

People read biographies to learn more about people they admire or better understand the motivations of those they despise. A great biographer offers a glimpse into the lives of noteworthy individuals. Readers share the individual’s journey, experience their triumphs and failures, and gain insights into their own lives.

I recently wrote a friend’s biography. The task took longer than the return on my five-year certificate of deposit, and I faced some unique challenges while crafting his life story. Here are some lessons learned and tips for writing a captivating biography.

Choose a Subject Worth Knowing

Make sure their story passes the “so what?” test. Although many people lead honorable lives and are loved by those close to them, they may not have a story that the wider world will want to read. Whether writing about a historical figure, a famous person, or your next-door neighbor, make sure this person has a story worth telling.

Sylvia Nasar offers a relevant quote in A Beautiful Mind, the biography of mathematician and inventor John Nash. Nobel Prize winner Nash said:

“Find a truly original idea. It is the only way I will ever distinguish myself. It is the only way I will ever matter.” 

Find the Hook that will Resonate with Readers

What is it about your subject that will draw readers in and make them want to learn more about this person? Is your subject a:

• cancer survivor?
• modern-day hero like Captain Sullenberger of Hudson River fame?
• villain like Adolf Hitler?
• member of a marginalized group?

After researching the key events in baseball legend Jackie Robinson’s life, author Doreen Rappaport found her hook. She realized that courage and defiance defined the man who opened the gates for athletes of all races. Due to Robinson’s contributions to the sport and society, Major League Baseball retired his number. Ms. Rappaport hit a home run with the title of her book: 42 Is Not Just a Number: The Odyssey of Jackie Robinson. 

Set the Scene

Ground your reader in time and place. What historical events were happening at the time of this person’s life—Woodstock, Desert Storm, the Civil Rights Movement? Capture the mood, music, and culture of your subject’s era.

Jack Weatherford immersed himself in the region and culture to write Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.

“It took an anthropologist—who spent years learning Mongolian, living on the steppes for a part of each year, and listening for the truth of Genghis Khan’s life—to flesh out a biography of a man whose life may actually have been bigger than his myth.” https://www.audible.com/blog/article-best-historical-biographies

Do Your Research

Ask for diaries, personal letters, and photographs. Gain permission to interview family members and people who know the person well to gather anecdotes and gain different perspectives. After interviewing my subject’s girlfriend, she provided dialogue and vivid descriptions of the settings. She also offered insights that made him more vulnerable and relatable.

If your subject is long deceased, review historical records, newspaper articles, speeches, and other books about this person. Genealogy sites like ancestry.com may lead you to surviving family members or descendants.

Walter Isaacson is one of the most famous biographers of our time. His works include Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, Elon Musk, and Einstein: His Life and Universe. Isaacson conducted more than forty interviews with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and conversed with over 100 friends, family members, and business rivals to complete the biography of this entrepreneur.

I wrote the biography of Tristan Peigné, a biracial man. Through my research, I discovered that interracial marriage only became legal in the United States following the Supreme Court decision of 1967, the year of Tristan’s birth.

Create a Timeline

Subjects rarely recount the events of their lives in chronological order. After listening to the most compelling stories of my subject’s life, I organized the chapters into a coherent narrative arc. Like any great story, there should be a well-defined beginning, middle, and end. Although structure is essential, I began my subject’s biography in medias res, in the middle of the action, to focus on a critical moment in his life and capture the reader’s attention. Then, flashbacks clarified the situation, foreshadowed future events, and enhanced the story.

Jeanette Walls, the author of Glass Castles, also began her life story in medias res with one of the most memorable opening lines:

"I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a dumpster."

Take us on an Emotional Rollercoaster

Most writers know the adage, Show, don’t just tell. Use descriptive language to help the reader feel the ups, downs, twists, and turns of this person’s life. Engage the reader’s five senses to evoke sensory experiences and immerse us in the story.

“Like my father, I’ve always been a daydreamer, and sometimes I’d imagine that on the way home, a terrorist might jump out and shoot me on those steps. I wondered what I would do. Maybe I’d take off my shoes and hit him, but then I’d think if I did that, there would be no difference between me and a terrorist. It would be better to plead, “OK, shoot me, but first listen to me. What you are doing is wrong. I’m not against you personally; I just want every girl to go to school.”

 ~ Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban (Prologue, pp. 6-7).

Help Your Subject to Become Vulnerable

Most of us don’t want others to know our deep, dark secrets; however, people unwilling to share their flaws, failures, and challenges will not be relatable to their readers. I’m fortunate to have a doctorate in counseling psychology, and I used this knowledge to guide my interviews. However, biographers don’t need a background in Freud to employ active listening skills. By gently probing, listening without judgment, paraphrasing, and clarifying, I gave my subject the space, respect, and safety to tell his story. Using my iPhone, I recorded my subject’s life story over four years while traveling in a car, dining together, or meeting at his studio.

Identify Overarching Themes

Themes describe the lesson or message that the author wants to convey. The overarching theme is central to the individual’s character. For example, many people associate Abraham Lincoln with honesty, Mother Teresa with compassion, and Walt Disney with imagination.

In Dancing Through Life, the protagonist’s story is one of resilience, perseverance, and passion. Tristan faced the challenges of dyslexia, homelessness, injury, illness, and racism. Use your subject’s themes to provide structure and insight into your character’s motivations.

Exercise Good Judgment

A biographer must balance a need to tell an honest story and protect the privacy and feelings of others. When possible, obtain the necessary permissions to divulge personal information and be mindful of the potential impact of your words. Unless you’re comfortable with a Jersey Boys handshake, consider a contract to outline the terms of your agreement.

Purchase professional liability insurance if you wish to add a layer of protection. Together, my subject and I chose to omit several chapters and various facts that might cause psychological harm to individuals who are still living.

Review, Revise, and Polish

I had no idea how long it would take to complete the biography of my dance instructor. Covid halted the interviews, gave my teacher an unplanned vacation, forced me to pull out my old Jane Fonda exercise tapes, and set the project back for over a year.

Due to my subject’s dyslexia, I had to read each chapter aloud to him. He then provided clarification while I recorded the necessary changes. I revised each chapter at least five times.

Don’t plan on pounding out the biography in six months and scheduling a Caribbean cruise with your royalties. Allow yourself enough time to write your initial draft, edit, revise, and polish your work. I joined several writers’ groups whose members provided invaluable feedback. Once I finished writing the manuscript, I sought the assistance of several beta readers who focused on not only the grammatical errors but also the flow of each chapter.

Final Thoughts

Writing a biography is an opportunity to honor someone’s life and legacy. Hopefully, it will be a labor of love that enables you to present someone’s extraordinary and complex life. Following these tips, you can craft a biography that captivates, informs, and delights your readers.

Have you considered writing a biography? What do you think is the most important aspect of writing a biography? Do you have a favorite biography?

* * * * * *

About Louise

Louise co-authored Dancing Through Life: A Memoir and served as the executive editor of Many Worlds, Many Stories, Inkslingers Anthology Volume 5. She practiced school psychology for over 30 years and taught classes as an adjunct professor at Grand Canyon University. Louise holds a doctorate in counseling psychology from Argosy University.

As the 2015-16 president of the Arizona Association of School Psychologists (AASP), Louise wrote a monthly column for Intervention, the official newsletter of AASP. She is currently working on The School Psychologist’s Survival Guide. Keep up with future projects and events on her website: https://louiseprivette.com.

Louise enjoys ballroom dancing, oil painting, volunteering as a Goodyear arts commissioner, and spending time with family and friends.

Top image from https://pixabay.com/photos/book-store-knowledge-library-books-7643976/