Marketing: The Never-Ending Hurdles
Indie book marketing is a topic I have talked about in previous blogs, but as I am learning, it is a never-ending process. Hello dear readers! Let’s talk marketing. I mentioned last week that I was having issues with my European distribution beyond Amazon, but I’m pleased to say that is now resolved. Bookmundo has been set up, and the book is now available across Europe (mostly, sorry Denmark).
That led me naturally to re-checking my sales figures. They are what you would expect: low. My conclusion once again is that indie book marketing is a difficult beast to tame. I tried a Kindle Countdown Deal promotion which resulted in a grand total of zero sales. I also sank some money into paid advertising to explore that as a hopeful “cheat code” for success. While it generated views and clicks, it didn’t translate into sales, at least not in a way that makes it cost-effective.
The Social Media Content Vacuum
Reflecting on my wider approach, it’s easy to look around the room at other authors and the amazing lengths they go to. Some have successful YouTube channels, Instagram, or Threads accounts or all three! They put out daily, high-quality content that generates real engagement. It is honestly impressive how they think up so much content; I found myself running out of ideas after about a week!
My position from the start was a low-key social media approach. I’ve never been particularly fond of what social media has become. It isn’t a “high horse” situation; it simply doesn’t resonate with who I am. I would much rather be tucked away in a corner doing my own thing in real life than standing at the centre of a buzzing conversation. I know many authors who engage brilliantly are likely introverts too, but they bite the bullet and get on with it. I don’t think I’m there yet, so hats off to those who manage it so well.
Finding a Sustainable Balance
I did have an indie book marketing strategy at the start: this blog and an Instagram account with a three-month content plan. However, the social media “content hoover” ate that up in no time. Struggling to balance full-time work, life, writing, and becoming an influencer resulted in making little progress on anything.
I eventually decided to focus on the writing and paying the bills. It was an easy call, as I was never super hyped about the social media side of things anyway. But I do want to maintain some level of momentum. My current target is a consistent writing pace of one chapter a week, plus one blog and one social media post. So far, the chapters are happening!
New Creative Marketing Concepts
I have reinvested some time into a new indie book marketing concept for Instagram. I previously wrote a detailed historical timeline for Whispers from the Machine leading up to the events of the book. With the audiobook now finished, I have that timeline narrated by Hetty. I’ll be releasing this as spoiler-free content over the next four weeks to build up the lore in an engaging way. If you are a regular reader of this blog, however, I’ve pinned them all here so you don’t have to wait!
The other idea is to run a series on the secret code hidden within the book. In book one, I hid the cypher throughout the chapters, leading to a final chapter that requires the code to be read. I might unpack this in a few posts, not giving the cypher away, but offering hints to the hidden log. What do you think?
Book two will have a similar concept, but I want to step it up a gear. I’m even looking into hiring a professional conlanger to help with the linguistics. But that’s a story for another day; I need to save some content for the next blog!
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