This last week was somewhat frenetic. Yes! I made my deadline. For those of you who read last week’s list of things I had planned and had already put in place, the book published on time, at the moment I’m writing has already got three ratings or reviews, and is ranking into rather large categories nicely. I’m happy.

Want to grab your own copy and enjoy a fun read? Here you go!

Now. Could I have done this better? Absolutely. Taking more time to hype before launch would have meant that the book would probably sell more copies right out of the gate, get higher ranked, and be more visible to new readers outside my core reader base. So in some ways, I self-sabotaged, because I do know this.

On the other hand, I’m looking at a long tail here. This is book six of an established series with fans who are happy I got the novel out and are enthusiastically telling me so. I’m very pleased with this, that kind of feedback is priceless. The release of a new book always gets a wave of new readers who start with book one and work their way up to the latest. That’s fun to watch in sales numbers a couple of weeks after launch (and when I say sales, I’m including the KU page reads, because I do get paid for those too) as those new readers discover the series.

I got the book out, I set up casual promos on the social medias, and I moved on to starting work on the next book. I’d rather be writing than marketing. I have to market, though, because if I don’t, I cannot afford to write!

When I say casual promos, I’m talking about fun graphics that aren’t just ‘buy my book!’ because there’s a place for those, and your core readers will respond to those by going ‘hey, new book! yay!’ but new readers may be put off by them or simply dismiss them mentally in the stream of ads they are assailed with all day every day. I wanted instead to have funny bits that drew attention long enough for the readers to really see them. (Like I talked about in the recent Grocery Aisle article)

You can design these someplace like Canva, which is free. I’m using Affinity Photo, where I also create book covers and a bunch of other graphic design stuff, but you don’t need to learn that to make graphics up. You shouldn’t be spending a huge amount of time on these – some of them will flop. Others will make people laugh and they will share them. Clever, but ultimately, disposable.

Pique the curiosity and readers may stop and take a closer look. At least, I’m banking on that.

Keep your ideal reader in mind while you’re doing this. In my case with this series I’m being playful, because my readers are. If your books are darker, more serious, then you want to lean into that (although I do think humor should have a home in any good book!). Get an idea in your head of what your reader looks like (perhaps more a psychological than a literal portrait) and what they like. Where do they hang out? You need to be there. I can’t quite stomach reddit or tiktok myself, but I can do a bunch of other things. Like making a Pinterest board for Chloe? Maybe. It might be fun because I’ll also learn things about my character. She’s already being sarcastic in my head about that!

The main thing is, always be selling. Just don’t let it look like selling because that’s icky and feels forced. Instead, you’re helping your readers find the book they will enjoy, that they can dive into for a few hours out of their lives. A sanctuary, if you will. They want a book. You have a book. These things might go together.

And you? Well, keep writing. But set aside some time every day, or at least once a week, to do your marketing. Which isn’t always ‘buy this book!’ but sometimes it is.