32. Thirty Ways to Promote Your Book

Depending on where you are on your writing journey, you may be finding out that writing your book is just the beginning of your journey as a writer. Finishing a book is a huge accomplishment, requiring significant time, energy, focus, and love. Job number one in a writer’s life is getting that darned book finished, polished, and then out into the world. But the reality in today’s market, whether you publish traditionally, use a hybrid publisher, or publish independently (Self Publish), you as the writer will have to get involved in spreading the word so that readers can find your book.

In this episode, Suzy outlines 30 different ways to promote your book, that don't (all!) involve dancing on TikTok.

Mentioned in the Podcast: 

Writers Helping Writers

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Transcript

0:49

Welcome to Show Don't Tell Writing with me, Susie Vidore, where I teach you the tried and true secrets to writing fiction, nonfiction, that are going to wow your readers broken down step by step. We're going to explore writing techniques. I'm going to show you a glimpse behind the scenes of successful writers careers that you wouldn't have access to otherwise, and I'm also going to coach writers live on their pages so that you can learn and transform your own storytelling. Whether you're just starting out, you're drafting your first book, you're editing, or you're currently rewriting that book, or maybe even your tenth book, this show's gonna help you unlock the writing skills that you didn't even know you needed, but you definitely do. So looking forward to helping you get your amazing ideas from your mind onto your pages in an exciting way for both you and your readers so that you can achieve your wildest writing dreams and you're going to also have some fun doing it. Let's dive in. Today we're diving into a topic that so many writers struggle with book promotion and marketing. Now, if you've finished writing your book already, first of all, congratulations. That is huge. Writing a book takes time, it takes energy and focus, and let's be honest, it takes a whole lot of love. You've got to really love doing it to get through that. So if you're done, congrats. But whether you're done or you're still muddling through, here's the reality check. Finishing your book is just the beginning of the process. It is just one part of being a writer and I think it's something that a lot of writers miss when they're first starting out. We're so focused on getting that book finished and then you get it finished and you're like, okay, now what? That's right. Once you type the end, all of a sudden, even if you're gonna write another book, you have a really full plate because you're gonna be doing all kinds of other things. No matter how you publish, whether you publish traditionally or hybrid or self published, they're all completely valid. Self published is independently published, they're the same thing. You're going to get involved in getting your book into reader's hands. Yes, totally true story. Even if you publish traditionally with a big house and you think that there's going to be a ton of marketing support behind it. In most cases, and even if there is marketing support behind it, publishing houses nowadays only support a few titles with a lot of sort of rigmarole and dollars behind it. For the most part, even if you are publishing big, the marketing pieces are going to be on you. And so you've got to figure something out. Which can be scary, but don't worry, we're going to break it down in this podcast today. Before you panic, no, it doesn't mean that you have to dance on TikTok. Unless of course you want to, in which case, go for it. I'll be the first one to cheer you on. Here's what I hear from so many writers when I bring up book marketing and I say to them, how do you plan to promote your book and how can I support you or, you know, what's your plan? Cause I just want to talk about it. I come from the world of business where marketing was kind of a jam. In fact, my business degree had a concentration in marketing. I never really worked in marketing per se, but it's helped me a lot over the years and it's helped me be able to approach it differently. And people say, but Susie, I hate public speaking and I see all the stuff that you're doing with your podcast and teaching and being out there in the public and it's just not for me. You know what, that is totally fine and I want you to take a deep breath right now because if that is for you, cool, but honestly, it's not typical, right? Many, many writers do not enjoy being out there speaking to the public. Hear this, you do not have to do what I do. I am not going to come here and say, this is what I did. And it's going to work for you. And, you know, you got to do the same thing. In fact, I'm going to tell you the opposite. Because the best marketing strategies are the ones that feel natural to you, the ones that you can sustain over time, the ones that feel as natural as writing, as natural as breathing. Okay? So, so don't panic. We're going to talk about all of those. I'm going to give you a ton of ideas. In this podcast today, because over the years, I'm a bit of an overachiever, if you don't know that by now, just know I, you know, love to try new things and that is not for everybody, but the good news is I've tried a lot of things, right? And over the years, I've tried dozens of ways to reach readers and some worked and I'll share with you what worked and some flopped for me, even though they worked for other people, or I just really, really hated doing them. I've also worked with hundreds of writers supporting their book promotion and getting their message out into the world, and them sort of stepping into their personalities and their personas as writers, and the most successful writers that I know, and I know thousands and thousands of writers. The most successful ones that I know and that I speak to, they all have a few things in common. I could geek out. If you've ever met me at a conference or something, you'll find I'm about the one on one conversation and picking everybody's brains and then understanding what it is that's working and what isn't. And sort of distilling that down and understanding it. I'm just absolutely fascinated by it. So I have a lot of information, but the most successful ones have a few things in common when it comes to marketing their books. So in this podcast episode, I'm going to break it down and I'm going to start right now because here's what successful authors do differently. Number one, they play to their strengths. If speaking to crowds makes you break out in a cold sweat, don't do it. There are plenty of ways to promote your book without ever stepping on a stage or in front of a microphone. You can blog, you can write articles, you can share your writing in creative places. Lean into what you already enjoy doing. If what you love is writing, there is no reason why you need to become a speaker. I'll say that again. If you love to write, I'm going to share with you some ideas that you can do with that writing. That might be the only thing that you do to get the word out. And it's totally valid. It can absolutely work. And you can sort of stay behind the scenes and do that. Okay, number two, that successful authors do differently. They don't try to do it all. Listen, trying to master social media and blogging and speaking and ads and newsletters all at once. That is your one way ticket to burnout. Instead, pick one or two areas. One to start. I'd say two when you get going that interest you and go deep. If you're into social media, focus on one platform. If you're drawn to podcasting, start there. Start here. Start a podcast. Or be on other people's podcasts. The key is to pick something sustainable, so that you don't overextend yourself. Number three, that successful authors do differently than all the other authors. They show up consistently. This one is probably You know, maybe it should have been number one, although you got to pick first. So that's why I ordered it this way. But showing up consistently is the best thing that you can do for yourself. When that doesn't mean trying something for one week and then giving up, it means trying something consistently for a few months, seeing what the engagement is, seeing if you like it, seeing if you can tweak it, seeing how people react to what you're putting out into the world. Because once you find a marketing method that you can stick with, Make it into your habit. Personally, these days, I focus on just two things. I mean, if you Google me, you're going to find a lot of different things that I've tried over the years. But right now, the only two things that I actually do consistently don't tell anybody. This is our secret between me and you, the listeners. I focus on my newsletter. It goes out weekly. It's my inspired writing newsletter. If you're not on it, get on it. You can find a link to that in the show notes. And the second thing that I do is the podcast. And for the first five years, four or five years, I've been doing the newsletter consistently weekly. I've had a newsletter longer than that, but consistently weekly has been about four and a half years. I only added the podcast this year and I resisted hard being able to add something else that I had to do consistently because I know. That's showing up for you each and every week in your inbox and on this podcast means that you start to get to know me. It takes a lot of consistency, right? And it takes a lot of information out there to get all that good stuff that I'm trying to share with you out into the hands and to attract the type of readers that I'm looking for. That's it. Consistency. And because I've been consistent. This community, this inspired writing community, has grown to over 12, 000 amazing writers. You don't have to post daily or weekly, just find a rhythm that works for you and stick to it. Maybe it's monthly to start, but whatever it is, don't make excuses why you can't do it. I really You know, I understand that life happens. I get this in my inbox every single week, is somebody that shows up and I have no idea who they are anymore, because it might have been years since they've written to me. And they say, I'm so sorry, I, I'm, I'm back now. Don't even apologize. If you skip a beat, just start emailing me again and remind me what you're about. Don't even mention that you've been gone for a while. You don't need to make excuses. You're either there or you're not. We don't need to know, right? So, so try your best. I get it. Life happens. But when you do something consistently that you really enjoy and that puts value out into the world, it will absolutely pay back. Number four, what successful authors do differently. They let their personality shine. So we're not just trying to be professional. Your readers want to get to know the real you, so don't be afraid to infuse your personality into everything that you do. And if you find that, you know, if you decide to start a newsletter, for example, I've got lots of other ideas, by the way, if this isn't your jam, but if you decide to start a newsletter and you're like paralyzed every time you go to put it out because you think it needs to be the best thing ever, Honestly, committing to do it consistently can be a godsend. It can be freedom because it doesn't have to be perfect. It really doesn't. You can spend less time because you know that if it's not like a hundred percent perfect, who cares? Next week, you're going to try again and you're going to tweak it. Readers would rather hear from you consistently than have everything be shiny and perfect each and every time. So, infuse your personality into everything that you communicate with your readers. Whether that's your love for coffee, your obsession with cats, or your deep rooted belief that the Oxford Commas should be mandatory, which I actually do believe. Please, haters, tell me in the comments why you disagree. Being yourself is so much easier than trying to be who you think people expect you to be. We're not going after trying to make things sound a hundred percent professional and dumbing it down or like leveling it out So that everything is bland. Talk about things that you care about. Just be yourself. Number five, the thing that most successful writers do, they actually promote year round. So book promotion doesn't just happen the month your book launches. So if you finished your book or you're thinking about finishing your book, the time to start Promoting your book is right now. I don't care if you're finished or not. I don't care if you're finished. You're gonna say, but Susie, I don't have anything to say. You do. You are writing. You are sharing your journey. Start now. Because the more stuff you get out there, the more people will be waiting for your book when it arrives. Successful authors build their audience before that book is even out because even if you have zero books published right now and you start connecting with potential readers, when your book does come out, you won't be starting from scratch. It's better to have 12 readers waiting for you than zero. So let's dive in. Those are the things that you need to keep in mind when you're selecting this. Okay, so once again, Play to your strengths. Pick something you love. Number two, don't try to do it all. Number three, probably the most important one, show inconsistently. Do it over and over and over again. Keep putting it out there. Every blog post, every social media post, every podcast isn't going to be a winner. But I guarantee if you're doing this consistently, some of them will be, okay? So the more you put out there, the better you're going to get at it, the more comfortable you're going to be. The more readers and listeners, whatever it is that you're doing, you're going to attract. Let your personality shine as number four, and promote year round, not just when you are launching a book. Okay, so let's dive in. This 30 ways to promote your book has been a super popular download. This originally started as an idea as a blog post that was posted on Writers Helping Writers. In the show notes, you'll be able to get a link to the original blog post. As well, we're going to drop a link here to download the PDF with the 30 ways to promote your book. So you don't have to write them all down if you're driving in your car or whatever else, you can grab that PDF. I'm going to go through them now and share a lot more color than what's in that PDF. But as a reminder, if you, you know, like, Oh my gosh, Susie, I can't like write all these down right now. Don't worry. I know it's a lot and we've got you. You can grab the download. Okay. So this is a comprehensive list of 30 strategies to market your book. And I've actually tried most of them or have worked with writers that have tried them, right? So not all of them have worked for me. I'm going to share some things, but they might really work for you. Number one is actually mandatory for everybody. Tell everyone who will listen about your book because If you get flustered when you're explaining what your book is about, start practicing. This is something that I love to do when I teach at conferences, is just tell people, Hey, by the way, if you see me this weekend or this week or wherever I'm at, come up and introduce yourself and I'm going to say to you, What's your book about? And you can practice on me. And I'm not going to make fun of you. I'm not going to, you know, if you stumble or if it's long or whatever else. I'm going to listen because the more you do it, the better you get at it. When you first start telling about your book, you're going to end up telling the entire plot. It's probably going to be a 30 minute conversation. That's not what I'm talking about. Get used to being succinct. Get used to how it feels in your mouth, how it feels in your brain, how it feels in your heart when you talk about different things. Pay attention when you mention different things. What do you, when do people's eyes glaze over? When do they gasp for the pitch in my first book, The Fountain? I could tell you, I could tell it a hundred times now. I've done it so many times. I used to visit, I used to give away lollipops when I was, and I still do when I do events, but I don't do as many as I used to. And because I have all of these other things that I do and the strategy, remember, I'm only focusing on two things, my newsletter and the podcast. And so I don't do as many in person events, but I used to give away 30, 000 lollipops a year in my lollipop fountain. And that means that I visited with at least 30, 000 people between school visits and events and presenting at conferences and comic cons and bigger events to sell books. I have told that pitch that many times. I have explained to people what my books are about that many times. And I know when you're going to gasp. I know when you're going to laugh. I know all those things. Because I've been practicing it, and you can practice it too. So tell everybody who will listen, the more you share, the better you're going to get at talking about your book. Because you never know what readers might be lurking in the shadows of your next cocktail party that you're at, your workplace, or your extended family at Thanksgiving, okay? Starting small can yield big results and this one is mandatory because you're going to get so good at it that no matter what other marketing strategies or promotional strategies you choose, you're going to get this doubt. What is your book about? You're going to understand it cold. Number two, good idea. Join an in person community group. So, these are things that you can do that don't really change a lot about your life or your strategy and when you're just starting out. So, consider joining business group, a community group, a sports group, a religious group, a social group. Anything that aligns with your interests and the topic or the topic of your book. You're going to have fun. You're going to make connections. You're going to get yourself out there. You can also practice number one, still tell everyone who will listen. I don't go around, you know, in those groups. I'm part of a lot of different communities. I don't go around asking people I meet to buy my books. That's just rude and annoying. So don't do that. But I'm shocked at how many people are interested in my writing and seek it out. I've also recently found, because I've been around for, you know, a decade or whatever, even within my community, sometimes I've known people for several months before it comes up, and they'll be like, what do you do? And I'm like, I'm a writer. And then they ask me what my books are and they stare and they say, oh my gosh, I heard you on the radio or I saw you on the news or Or, I actually spoke to you in an event. Recently, I met somebody who said, and I hope you're listening, and, and she's writing a book now, and she said, I can't believe that I've known you for months now, and I've stood next to you and talked with you, and I didn't realize you were the person who inspired me to write books. Yeah, that really happened. So you don't know it's a slow build strategy, but just start, you know, start small and meet people and see what happens Okay, the bigger your community the more likely you are to make those connections Doesn't feel like marketing right? It's not it's just being a human being and making connections And that is what promoting your book and marketing is all about is making connections and we're starting small Start in your community, then you can expand number 3 to participate on online groups, or maybe you do this. 1st of all, mine is your job, right? The best way to do this is to find online groups that are actually related to your book's topic. So you can actually go to those groups and participate, right? You can find them on Facebook or Goodreads or something like that, right? Forums. And learn about your potential readers. Just listen. Participate. Contribute. Be generous and supportive in these groups. Again, it's not buy my book, buy my book. Respect any rules barring you from promoting your books directly to the group members. You can't go in there and say, Hey, I have a book. Somebody buy it. That's not the way that this works. There are groups that allow that, but they're few and far between, and you're going to burn some bridges. So being there and learning is going to help you build a following and make those connections. Number four, idea number four, have a web presence. What do I mean by that? Well, What are potential readers actually going to find when they type your name into a search engine? If you type Suzy Vidory into a search engine, I like to say that I'm the only Suzy Vidory out there. I especially say this to teens who, who seem overwhelmed. I'm like, hey, just Google me or whatever. I do have an aunt, Suzy Vidory. She is wonderful and she knows I say this, but she is not on the interwebs, so you won't find her. So she says it's fine that I say that. But I'm the only one that you're gonna find. So what's gonna happen when they type your name or your pen name into the search engine bar? Hopefully they're gonna find your smiling face. Or if smiling just isn't your thing, they're gonna find a picture that exudes your essence and style. That'll do the trick, right? So if, if you're, if you're a smiley person, great, and if you wanna be edgy and dark, do that. But something that they're gonna find, something that they connect to. And a brief bio. So I don't care where that is, as long as they find something. A website might seem like a must have, and a lot of times I meet writers, especially starting out, who think that, you know, they have to create a website and that feels really overwhelming. But you don't necessarily have to create a website, because websites aren't actually the best place to interact with readers. They're static, right? You can't, you can't have people going back and forth. There's no interaction on a website. They're not even a great place to sell your books. Sell them somewhere else where you can get reviews. And, you know, have better search capabilities and where the, you know, online marketplaces, whether that's an independent bookstore or some of the bigger ones, they will actually recommend your books to other people. So you don't want to be trying to create all that on your own and your own static website. Don't do that, but keep it simple. So what are the alternatives? Like, even a social media presence of one platform is helpful when you're first getting started. Put something out there that says that you're a writer and that you write books, okay? Pick one place to be, do it well, and show up there to interact with people consistently. That's my best advice. Number five, how about Facebook, right? And I say this because there are a number of different places. So if you're not going to, like, have a web presence, yes, and then here's some ideas on social media. So numbers five through nine are all going to be different places that I recommend that you try on social media. Again, pick one, pick two, don't do them all. So on Facebook, you have the option to do an account, a page, or a group. Honestly, the interaction on Facebook has gone downhill significantly in recent months. My feed has filled up with memes and ads, and it wants me to watch TV shows, and I don't know where the writers are that I actually follow. So it's not as good as it used to be, but it's still a giant. If your ideal reader is 40 they're likely going to interact on Facebook. On a weekly basis. They're there. So you need to be there, too, or you can be there, too. If that's what you choose to do, if your readers are younger than that, they probably aren't there. Number six, make reels on Instagram. So Instagram is not just a platform for pictures, but it's definitely visual and video does really well there. So the short video clips do really well on this platform. If that's your thing and you can figure it out, they could be of your face or not, right? They could be just. Graphics or snippets or quotes from your book. They could be anything. So don't feel like you have to be on there smiling and making things. You can still make a reel or a video. Out of graphics as well, some music, a little bit of music, all that stuff, and which brings us to number 7, which is tick tock author talk and book talk our channels on on tick tock. And they're super popular. And that's where readers can hang out to meet new books and authors. So the neat thing about tick tock. Is you don't really have to go out there and get people to follow it. And Reels is kind of like that on Instagram as well. But TikTok is the one that started this. And, and so it will recommend your content to people that don't follow you. So the neat thing about it is the discoverability. And if you spend time on the platform, you're gonna get to know the trends that you can use to use potential readers. One cool thing about TikTok, I'm going to get a little bit technical here, this is for the advanced folks, if you are just starting out, don't get overwhelmed by this, but TikTok is particularly strong or helpful for writers who are participating in Kindle Unlimited, and that's a platform That is on Amazon where readers have a subscription, monthly subscription, and authors get paid based on how, so they read for free with their subscription, but then authors get paid based on how many pages they read of your book. And the neat thing is the TikTok followers have a very strong relationship with Kindle Unlimited. And so if you are on TikTok and they've never heard of you before. And they have a subscription on Kindle Unlimited and you are there that is sort of the direct funnel or the one that's working the best right now because they can go and read your pages without any commitment. So they find you on TikTok. They see this cute little clip that you do. And then they, or they hear something about your book and they get interested, they go and find out if they can read your book for free, maybe they'll get hooked. Right? So there's, there's a strong correlation there, but that's kind of beyond what we need to be doing in this, in this one today. We're just getting some ideas. Okay. Number 8. I invite you to try Blue Sky. I am there, but I haven't really interacted much yet. Maybe what I need is for all of you to go there and follow me and to tag me and things. I haven't really got into it yet, but this emerging platform is becoming a really popular place for writers to network. So traditionally, and you know, in years past, Twitter was a really strong platform for writers. It's where agents and publishers and writers All were, like, it was just the platform. And since it's become X, people are leaving in droves for whatever reason. It's gotten very quiet. It's gotten very quiet. One of the places, we haven't found a new community that's really taken off. So Blue Sky isn't where everyone is yet, but I'm really hopeful that it's going to be the place where people congregate. So get in there early. I really think that there's an opportunity. For writers who are in there now interacting to get in on the sort of ground floor, because I think that's where it's going to end up. Hopefully when you listen to this podcast, you're not like, Oh my goodness, it's two years old and Blue Sky's out of business. So I think it's really going to take off for writers or maybe there will be something new. Number nine, be active on LinkedIn. Okay, so LinkedIn is a funny one because I haven't actually had a ton of success. On LinkedIn, because I mostly connect with writers. Yes, for readers, but also for writers. And writers are funny. If you're listening to this podcast, think about your own LinkedIn profile. If you are a professional in a different career, which many of you are, you probably don't even have on there that you write books, so I don't know how to find you. So one thing you could do is say that you write books on there, but also it's a really neat place to start sharing content if your book's topic is really like a timely issue. Or something that you could write about the topic. So if you have, like, if you're writing about something in particular, if you're writing about climate change, if you're writing about women's issues, if you're writing about trauma, if you're writing, whatever it is that you're writing about, that sort of underlying issue, or underlying theme that you really want to start a conversation with the world about, LinkedIn is a neat place for that because you can post a lot of content on there and people will go there and find it. Okay, and then they'll find you, and they'll find your books. And all the good stuff. Number 10, start a newsletter. Okay, no matter how awesome your social media presence is, the reason I put this right after all these social media ideas is because no matter how awesome you are, you know, I have 30, 000 followers or something on X. Well, what good is that? What good is that now that it's gotten really quiet on there and I'm not even sure if those people are still there? Because I don't own the content or my following on that platform or any social media platform. I'll say that again. You don't own your content or your following. So you have no control over, you know, when people migrate someplace else. You have no control over that. You just lose your following, right? So when readers opt into your regular email newsletter, you own the list. You have their email addresses and you are no longer beholden to To any one platform. It's a huge advantage. It's a huge advantage. It means that you can keep communication with your readers for a very long time. And even though social media trends are changing. So I recommend this. I recommend this. I do this. I recommend it. You may not be ready to do it yet. When you do it, be consistent. Number 11, Substack. I haven't migrated over there and I have my own reasons. But I'm also doing, remember I said, I'm only doing two things. So I try not to find like the shiny new platform and do it all. But I have a lot of colleagues that are finding success on Slipstock. It's a platform where you can, it's kind of like a social media platform. But it's like, kind of like a newsletter. It's like this hybrid thing where you can share regular writing, like a blog or a newsletter, and people can find you organically as well. Right? So kind of like I was saying with TikTok, they can discover you on Substack. All right. Number 12, back to old school, back to in person, plan a bookstore or a library event. We all think of the book signing or the event, right? We see them on TV. We all want to do them. So. Do them. Contact local bookstores or libraries, anywhere that you travel or in your local district, to see if they'll host an event. Here's the thing about bookstore and library events. Do not assume that they will bring the people. Much like being with traditional publishers, you're going to be the one who's going to drum this up. So, you may go to a bookstore and see who is, you know, on a Saturday. And you may find that not a lot of extra people have come to see you, that it's just whoever is in their bookstore on a regular Saturday. So make sure you're picking busy events, or just promote the crap out of it, right? So, so invite everybody that you know and, and invite people and make some noise. And just know that you need to do that promotion because the bookstore or the library likely will not be able to just attract people for you. So it's a partnership. They'll try. And people may come, but it won't be like lines around the block, right? So just know that before you start it so that you're not disappointed. Remember, a conversation with a few writers is better than nothing at all. I loved going to bookstores. I've done less of that since the pandemic. But I loved going to bookstores and I found if you were at a busy large bookstore, I sold, you know, upwards of five to 10 books an hour, right? Not everybody does that, but even if you're selling one or two an hour, and that's how I would gauge it. And that's how I would decide if I was ready to go to a bigger event was to try to figure out by hour, how many books am I selling? Is it worth my time? And especially when you start looking at paying for a table. Or paying for a presence at a, uh, at an event and deciding whether or not you want to go there and, and buy or sell books, which brings me to 13, which is sell books at markets or other places where your ideal readers gather. I do a ton of this and this was a huge part of my marketing strategy when my books were first released. And as I said, some of those events got quieter during the pandemic, and then I went online for a lot of things and now I have other strategies, but at the time, I loved it because it was interaction and it was connection. And when you speak with people, they meet you. Remember the story earlier where I met somebody and then later on, she became a writer and was like, oh, my gosh, you inspired me. And then I've met lots of people. Call me to present at an event or at a school or something and I find out that I met them at one of these events. These connections are super valuable. If you're open to doing it, I highly recommend figuring it out, but make sure that you understand what the potential is at these events. Because you do need to bring your own inventory of books, and so you don't want to be, you know, ordering thousands of books and then find out that you can't sell them. So start at a bookstore, start someplace that stocks your books, or where you can bring in some, get your feet wet, decide if you like it, and then move on to other events. All right, number 14. I highly recommend this. I don't care what stage you're at, attend some writers conferences, okay? Take a look. There's got to be something that's nearby that you can either in your local community or that you can drive to make the effort. They are a great way, writers conferences are a terrific way to meet amazing writers, to hone your craft, to swap ideas, to add to this list, right, to find out what other people are doing. And also to reach potential new readers. So even if you're not ready yet and your book isn't out, I mean, maybe you'll meet your agent there. Maybe you'll meet your publisher there. That's where I met my agent. That's where I met my publisher. That's where I met my publicist. That's where I've met many of you. Writers conferences. Highly recommend. Okay. Number 15. Visit schools. Assuming that your book is suitable for school age kids, many schools actually have budgets to bring in visiting artists, okay? Even if you're tempted, I want to say this. Even if you're tempted, or your school, local school says, sure, if you'll do it for free, if you're tempted to do it for exposure, please give your head a shake. Don't just do it without thinking about it, because there are artists and writers, myself included, that make a living going to schools and doing this as a professional. And if many writers start providing those services for free, it's really hard for writers. Who make a living doing that to then, you know, justify making a living wage doing something. That's a really important service out there. So don't visit schools for free. Make sure. In fact, I think I'd be disowned if I did from some of the organizations that I do, but there are tours available. Check in your local district. I work with both a provincial or local body that books these for people. So there's some grant money available. They book these for schools. So there's some grant money available that covers some of our travel. As long as the school pays for our fees, it's a really cool organization. And so you might have something like that in your neighborhood. I also have applied for corporately sponsored tours, so those happen a couple of times a year and I've gone on tours where they, they book those for you. So there's tons of different opportunities to find out what's available to you. And if you want to be in schools and you love working with kids, it is a highly, highly rewarding use of your time. You can also inspire beyond schools. Number 16, inspire people by speaking. Many organizations hire authors as speakers to give talks and you can talk about why you wrote your book, you talk about the topic that you wrote about. So if you love speaking and you're cool with that, go find places. Many writers make really tidy living speaking about the topic of their book. This is especially true if you're super passionate. about what you wrote about, and you're writing about a topic that you want to be that spokesperson for. So don't be afraid to let people know I speak on these topics. You'll have to plan, you'll have to practice, but you'll, you know, get your feet wet, do it a couple of times, and then do it in a bigger venue, and enjoy it. You can get inspired by speaking. This is what most people think about when they think about promoting books, that they're going to be doing these big talks. You absolutely can. But you don't have to. Okay, number 17, host a launch party for your book. Alright, when your book comes out, and even if it's already out but you didn't do this, don't skip this step. Don't miss the chance to celebrate your book's birthday with your family, friends, and community. When you do it, invite a local indie bookstore to sell the books at the event if you can. The reason I say that is because those independent bookstores are the only ones that can report sales toward a bestseller list for one of the major papers like USA Today or the New York Times. So when you sell books, even through your own websites, your Barnes and Noble, through Amazon, none of those sales count toward those bestseller lists. They only count indie bookstores. So pay attention if that's a goal for you and you want to do a tour, it's like all the books that are sold in one week. And so set it up, go on a tour, go to all these indie bookstores and see how many you can sell and see what you can do. Number 18, ask book clubs to feature your book. So book clubs are awesome. They buy multiple copies, they share their thoughts on your book, and they will often post reviews. So if your book is something that you think would be awesome for people to sit around and talk about with a glass of wine, Then go ahead and make a list of questions for them and make it available for free on your website, okay? And make it really clear that it's available for book clubs and this might be a great strategy for you. Okay, number 19. Start a blog. Blog on a topic relating to your book. This can actually attract readers, okay? So you're not sending out a newsletter, but you're posting somewhere else and people can subscribe to that. It's kind of like a combination of Substack and a newsletter. There's lots of different ways to do this, and you're using writing, something you already like doing, to get your word out there. You can also write articles, similar to blogging, writing articles for magazines and newspapers, online communities, that distribute content to your audio reader. These are all great ways to get the word out, and many of them will take submissions or guest posts. Some of them pay, some of them don't. But just figure out where your readers are and start writing to them. Write some things that are going to make them attracted and might send them to your writing or send them to your books. Number 21. You could start a podcast or a video channel. And if you could talk all day about your book and related topics, starting a podcast or a YouTube channel can be a great way to attract readers. Number 22, be a podcast guest. You don't have to start your own podcast. Identify podcasts that your ideal readers are already listening to and pitch the host. Give them an idea, why would you be a good guest and what would you like to come on the show to talk about? But be careful and don't be offended if the answer is no. Podcast hosts, myself included, I get pitches every single day from people and I really have a really specific narrow niche that I want to do on this show. and bring you specific things, particularly from writers that I know really well, that I can sort of riff and have a connection with. So that's what I bring on this podcast. So don't be insulted if they say no, but you might as well ask, right? How about number 23? You could just release more writing. Remember, we were talking about you're a writer. You don't want to do these other things. Just be a writer. So you can actually share a short sample of your published book, like, like is already on online marketplaces for an ebook where people can read the first part, share it places, share the first chapter, you could release deleted scenes from that book for fun, right? Let the people see what didn't end up in the book. You could write companion short stories or a novella. You could write a sequel, all of that stuff. I can tell you there's a saying and that is nothing sells backlist like frontlist. So what that means is keep publishing, keep giving stuff. And then when people love that and you find new readers, they're going to go back and read everything else that you've done. Okay. So you can actually attract readers by writing even more stuff. So, you're a writer, be a writer, that is a totally valid strategy. If you lean into that and you release a bunch of stuff, you're going to attract people. You're going to sell more books. Number 24. This is something we don't think about. It's not exactly a social media channel, but Goodreads, leverage it, okay? It's a powerful platform where readers congregate to research books and share their opinions. So, once your book is released, go in there. And make sure that you have an author profile, make sure that people can do stuff and, and contact you and talk with you. You can run contests, you can be in forums and offer, you know, copies of your book for review or things. There's whole, there's tons of different groups there that will support you. Go and find the groups that are talking about books in your topic, your genre, all that stuff. Goodreads is amazing. That's where readers gather. Those are like the hardcore readers. You want them on your side. Number 25. This we always think about when we say promote. When it's really not that big a deal, right, but engage with traditional media. So I've appeared on local TV and radio and newspapers talking about my books and my journey as a writer. Just know if this is something that you want to do, pitch some channels, right? Pitch where you want to be. Tell them again, why would you be a good guest? What is your angle? All of those things. But know that. You're not just going to sell books from that, right? It doesn't automatically mean that you're going to sell thousands of books just because you had an article written in your little paper. What it does do is it gives you more experience. It helps you with connections, right? Because people sometimes need to see things five to seven times. before they'll act. So the seventh time or the fifth time that they hear about your books, they'll be like, Oh, I guess maybe they're a big deal. Maybe I should go out and find them, right? But the first time they may not. And the other thing is it gives you credibility. So you can put on your website as I have on mine as seen in blah blah blah and blah blah blah, right? It's great. If this is a really important thing to you and this is something that you really want to do, See if you can engage a PR specialist or a publicist to help you get these because sometimes it's easier to get in if somebody else is pitching and they already have those relationships than it is to get in by yourself. Number 26 is Affiliate with like minded communities or causes. Oh, I love this. So whether you align yourself with a charity that you're passionate about or you share information about these groups during work related to your topic, creating partnerships creates chances for readers to find your work. There was a time when I was doing, remember I talked about giving away 30, 000 lollipops a year, and I was actually traveling to a lot of schools and events for kids and teens with my books that were in remote communities that were difficult for other organizations to access. And I partnered with Kids Help Phone, which is a national crisis line. And they loved it because I was getting into, in front of students that they couldn't access, they gave me swag, I got to spread the word about this really important service, and they also brought me, so they gave me things to give away as prizes, knowing that I was going to be in front of that many students each and every year that they wouldn't otherwise be able to access, right? And then also they brought me to events because I was super fun. I would talk with the kids. They brought me to other events that they were attending as well, that I wouldn't otherwise be able to access. And they did that so that people would come to their booth and talk with me about the books. And I would talk with them about Kids Help Phone. And then they would talk to Kids Help Phone. It was just such an amazing partnership. And so there's lots of different opportunities, but get creative about how you do it. Yes, you can support a charity, but they may also end up supporting you in different ways, not monetarily, obviously. Yeah, they may end up really needing you as much as you need them. It's super good. I hope that one day I can do that again if I start doing events like that. Or find a different partner that, that needs sort of my online presence, always looking for ways to engage with community. Number 27 is Advertise with Amazon. These are kind of the more advanced ones, but I will say that if none of the strategies that I've listed here so far are appealing to you, but you love data and technology, Amazon ads might be a good place to invest your time and your energy. You can lose your shirt if you're not careful, so start really small and see what works. But if you get really good at this and learn the systems, they're difficult, right? And they take a lot of time. There's lots of writers who make a ton of money just by doing this and tweaking this, okay? But it's not a get rich quick scheme. It's where you're going to spend your time and your energy. So remember I say one or two things. If this is the only thing you do and you really are interested in it and you do it well, It might work for you. Meta ads as well. So Meta owns Facebook and Instagram, and you can place ads across both of these social media engines by learning one piece of software. And so you can try that as well, especially if your readers are older and not of the younger persuasion, because those people aren't on Facebook. But you can, they are on Instagram for the most part. So you can find those ads as well, but again, it's a totally different platform. It requires as much or more energy as it does to advertise in Amazon. So pick one and start small and see what happens. Google Ads 29. If you use Google to find information on a daily basis, then you understand the power of directing traffic to your website. And your books when potential readers search on your topic. This one is particularly helpful if you have a really obscure topic or genre that you're writing in. If you're trying to compete against some of the biggest bestsellers and they're already spending lots of dollars, it might be really hard for you to get traction in this space. Number 30, run ads in newsletters. This one is kind of a little known strategy. I've just started to dabble with it, but it's a lot of fun. It's a much cheaper option than running Google ads, meta ads, or Amazon ads. And if you're just getting started with paid advertising, you can run ads in an established newsletter that serves your ideal readers. Typically, you know, it's it's anywhere from like 30 bucks to a few hundred bucks depending on what their distribution is But it could be a great way to get new readers onto your newsletter or to get new readers into your books So that's the 30 whoo. That was a lot. Hey, so start small whatever you do, but here's the thing You don't have to do all of them. Try one to two ideas at a time See where your efforts lead, and start that tiny bit, right? Pick one or two that sound fun to start, give them a try. Experiment, see what sticks, and which ones you like. Kick out the ones that make you want to claw your eyes out and don't seem to be getting traction. And most of all, have a ton of fun doing it. Love, love, love to hear which of these strategies you decide to try. And if I can support you in any way, don't hesitate to ask. Because book promotion is a creative process and you get to be creative, right? You're now in this creative space. The best part about being a creative person, you get to be creative in designing your writing life. So just like writing, you can be creative with this as well. And the key is to find out what works for you, and then just go and do it. Thanks for tuning in to Show Don't Tell Writing with me, Suzy Vidori. I'll be continuing to bring you the straight goods for that book you're writing or planning to write. Please consider subscribing to this podcast and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you're listening. Also, visit suzybedore. com forward slash newsletter to hop on my weekly inspired writing newsletter list where you'll stay inspired and be the first to know about upcoming training events and writing courses that happen in my community. If you're feeling brave, check the show notes and send us a page of your writing that isn't quite where you want it to be yet for our show don't tell page review episodes. Remember that book and your writing is going to open doors that you haven't even thought about. And I can't wait to help make it the absolute best. If you're feeling called to write that book, keep going. And I'm going to be right here cheering you on. See you again next week.