PEDDLE, PROMOTE, OR MARKET: WHAT'S AN AUTHOR TO DO?
Posted on August 29, 2018
I'm going to talk openly about a topic that I struggle with as a writer: getting word out to potential readers, touting the value of my novels.
I'm so bad at this that I actively avoid it. I figure at my age it's better to keep writing instead of taking time to seek out readers. I can't help myself. The act of creating, of crafting a character-driven tale, is just too intoxicating. It's why I have over 25 novels to my name after seven years. It's also why my pool of readers is so shallow and empty.
Excited readers can bring awareness to your books. They can spread the word. I just don't have the number of readers required to generate growing and growing sales. The same goes for reviews. The more reviews you have, the more sales and reviews you obtain. There's a certain point where the machine feeds itself.
My big problem is spouting off about your work just doesn't give me any sort of high. I'm a quiet person who doesn't go out of my way to tell people I'm a writer. It's not that I don't have confidence in my writing talent. I do. I'm at a point in my career where I know I'm good and that I know what I'm doing.
So what to do as far as getting the word out?
That brings me to the title of this post. I see three avenues to bringing readers to my world: Peddle, Promote, or Market.
A peddler is a turn off to me. This is someone who talks about their work all the time. They get in your face and spill about all their writing projects. They inflate their successes and hide their failings. Everything they post deals with hawking their books. It comes off as desperate and needy. I often associate a peddler with someone who isn't very good and has to hide it behind bluster and hucksterism. I never like feeling assaulted when someone makes a marketing overture, and that's how I see peddling. It's just too insistent.
The promoter makes talking about their books a smoother operation. You never resent their advertising intrusions, and they strike a wonderful balance between featuring a product to sell and sharing what the process of being a writer does for their life and well being. I know that sounds lofty, but when a writer gets this balance write, folks gravitate to them and they obtain a readership in a natural, organic way. I strive to do this with my playful posts about typos or sharing my thoughts on how to sell to readers like with this entry. Basically, the readership sees them as human and not someone intangible.
The marketer is really a promoter with an advertising budget or other people running their promotions. In my mind, this encompasses established indy writers and those who are carried by big book publishers. Their sales can be boosted through a dedicated staff or dedicated cash flow.
So what to do when you aren't at the marketing level?
I can't do the peddling thing. It smacks of desperation. I have to continue being a promoter, maybe doing a better job at it. If I can push myself to take a little more time to tout my wares more directly and indirectly, I believe the readership will follow. I just wish it was more along the lines of a deluge rather than an intermittent trickle.