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M is for Marketing Tips

As the author of almost 50 books, Bob Mayer rakes in quite the healthy salary. He shared some sound marketing strategies at the Romantic Times Convention, which I in turn want to share with you. I'll also include some of my favorite quotes from Bob.

Bob talked about the Three P's to selling books:
1. Platform
2. Product
3. Promotion

"The best platform and promotion is a great product. The second best is more product." (With that many books out, Bob has definitely embraced "more".)

1. Platform. Find your niche as an author. My tagline is "Romantic Suspense Featuring Healing and Redemption." What's yours?

"You can't do everything, but be consistent." Bob focuses most on his blog and Twitter instead of spreading himself too thin across multiple social media sites. He keeps an extensive spreadsheet with all the dates for guest posts, tweeting, and bumping his Kindleboards threads as often as allowed (every 7 days). (I admit I've never even visited Kindleboards so I need to get on it IF that's something I can do consistently).

2. Product. Write what you're passionate about. Write what you like to read. The best thing you can do is keep writing and learning.

"What's the difference between aggressive and obnoxious? Aggressive is when you have a good product, and obnoxious is when you have a bad product."

3. Promotion

Bob's keys to promotion:

1. Have good content

2. Link to something recognizable (Bob discussed how the TV show Lost seemed eerily similar to the plot of one of his published novels, so he tied into Lost when marketing that novel).

3. Balance promotion with networking and supporting others. (I find this so important. I don't want to engage in authors who furiously promote without building some sort of relationship with me.)

* MBTI Are you familiar with the Myers Briggs Type indicator? I'm either an ENFJ or an INFJ depending on the day, and Bob said that the INFJ type is most descriptive of writers. We're introverted and want to take care of others' feelings. The problem that causes when it comes to marketing? The code for a promoter or marketer is the exact opposite: ESTP.

We need to step out of our comfort zone to network and communicate our passion.

"Thinking your publisher will market your book is like thinking your OB-GYN will raise your kid".

Comments

Thanks, Jennifer. I was looking forward to this post. John Locke said similar things, but Bob didn't charge $10 like John did!

I have been positioning myself with a roster of linked books that can be enjoyed as a single read, but are linked in the same world with a supernatural World War II of sorts. Same war. Different theaters of action. Different heroes.

I have so little free time that I cannot even research Kindleboards. Like you, I think I should now, Roland
Marketing is something I still struggle with. I know when people are doing it very badly so I know what NOT to do. But the people doing it very well seem to be lightyears away from me. Huge learning curve going on for me at the moment.
Jennifer Lane said…
Roland, a supernatural WWII sounds really cool! It is hard to decide how to best spend our precious writing time on marketing.

Kyra, I thought so too. I had a laugh about the OBGYN comment.

Annalisa, I hear you. My sales aren't exactly incredible but I'm plugging away. One thing Bob said was that you need at least three books before you can even think of making significant sales.
Julie Flanders said…
Thanks for sharing this advice! I'd never even heard of Kindleboards. The introvert issue is my problem, I'm a total introvert so marketing is very difficult for me. Something we all need to overcome and master, obviously!
Jennifer Lane said…
Julie, the readers I've met are so kind the encouraging that it helps us come out of our author shells a bit!
Great information! Thanks for sharing what you learned with us.
Heather
Sue said…
Interesting things for authors to have to manage along with the challenge of writing the book in the first place!
Sue: An A-Z of Climate Matters
Jennifer Lane said…
Heather, you are welcome. :)

Sue, no joke. There's a reason I'm not getting any writing done these days, and that's because I'm blogging and marketing!
These are great tips! I am still chuckling about the ob quote:)
He does have some great ideas and advice.
Wagging Tales
Very informative post!

I'm an introvert and I struggle with social media and especially marketing myself. It's hard to step out of my comfort zone but it's necessary!


Eat Live Move: Intuitive Eating from A to Z
Yes, the promoting must be balanced with supporting others!
I focus on blogging, with Twitter next, then Goodreads, and Google+ when I remember it. No Facebook or Kindleboards, as I'm stretched thin enough right now.
Jennifer Lane said…
Doreen, that was a clever quote. Too bad we can't count on OB's to raise our kids. ;)

Charmaine, thanks for stopping by. I'm a follower of your blog too now.

Ro, I'm wondering if we can help our fellow introvert writers by promoting each other!

Alex, you do a great job of supporting fellow writers. I got to meet Nicki Elson in person last night (she's as wonderful as I imagined she'd be) and I'm glad I cyber-met you through her blog!
Reve @ YA Books said…
Great post, Jennifer! I'm not an author (yet), but even as a plain ol' book blogger, I found your post very insightful and informative. I think every blogger, no matter what their niche is, should keep balancing promotion with networking and supporting others to heart most especially.

Thanks for sharing!
Jennifer Lane said…
Hi Reve, I've been to your blog and thank you for visiting mine! Successful blogging definitely necessitates some savvy marketing. It's definitely important we support each other, and bloggers do a great job of that.