#authorpublicity

In the world of indie publishing we are delighted when a publicist manages to arrange interviews with our author in print and /or broadcast media. The same goes for articles penned by the author appearing in the national press which are enthusiastically pored over by novelist and audience alike. We are thrilled when reviews are published but their effect is determined by which publication the reviewer is writing for - a good review in the Times Literary Supplement or The Guardian is of course gold dust.

However, publicity and profile does not necessarily promise big sales.  And debut novelists might not achieve best-selling status despite good reviews.  If you don’t have a big marketing budget or reputation then ‘foot slogging’ is the way to keep your book in the public eye.

All authors need to continuously work hard to promote themselves and their novel. This can be done by maintaining a strong presence on social media through Facebook and blogging, as well as developing a talk to give to an invited audience in a bookshop or other venue. Authors can then sell copies of their books at these events. One author is regularly invited to give his talk both here and abroad and sees an increase in sales immediately at the event and afterwards via book sellers and Etailers.

Writers often embark on national tours to local groups and bookshops giving talks and thereby gaining an audience, awareness of their work and sales of their book.  Bookshops will sell novels by local authors and even host talks if they believe an author and their book can generate interest.  So, taking a copy of your book to your bookstore and offering to leave it to be read can be very effective.  As a result, one of our authors has seen his novel selling steadily in his local bookshop more than a year after publication to the delight of himself and the bookseller.  But don’t forget the value of asking readers to write a review to appear on Amazon, every authors’ global bookstore.