Tag: marketing

Book Marketing 101

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

A month and a half until my debut novel hits the shelves and my mind has shifted into marketing mode.

Buzz is on the brain. 

In a post titled The Birds and the Bees of Marketing, popular blogger Jody Hedlund defined buzz as the chatter, the excitement, the hype that surrounds our book.

So how can I generate this buzz? 

It’s a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately. 

Thankfully, I don’t have to carry the marketing load on my own. Not even close. I happen to have the best in-house marketer in the world. Plus, an amazing in-house publicist and an amazing sales team. These people are doing things I could never even begin to accomplish on my own. They are the epitome of awesome. 

But still, I want to do my part. I want to do everything I can to help.

So I’ve been doing a lot of brainstorming. And I’m pretty excited about what’s on the horizon.

Will these ideas work?

Will people respond well?

Will they generate buzz?

Honestly, I have no idea. 

But as I dive into the unknown, here’s the biggest, most important lesson I’m learning about marketing:

We can’t be afraid of failure.

Not every idea will work out. Some things will flop. And you know what? That’s okay. 

Sure, public failure is embarrassing. Anytime I get a poor response (whether that be to a blog post or a Youtube video or a Facebook update or a contest or whatever), I feel stupid. I find myself second guessing the effort. Maybe even wishing I could take it back.

But here’s the thing.

We’ll never know unless we try.  

I remember sitting in a workshop at last year’s ACFW conference, listening to Allen Arnold and Jim Rubart and Julie Gwinn. One of them, I can’t remember who, brought up the Single Ladies Devestation Youtube video posted by Carlos Whittaker. It had millions of hits.

And Allen or Jim or Julie said, “Do you know how many videos he posted before that?”

Moral of the story?

It wasn’t his first.

He’d posted plenty others that languished in obscurity. But he kept publishing videos until one of them went viral. He had no idea that one would become so popular.

All he could do was throw it out there and see.

This is what I’m learning.

We have to be willing to throw things out there. To take risks. To try. Some stuff won’t work out. Hey. No big deal. Shake it off and keep throwing until something sticks.

Let’s Talk: What lessons have you learned about buzz and marketing? What ideas have you tried? 

Turning Buzz into Sales

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Lately, my thoughts have wandered into the murky waters of sales.

The other day, my husband and I were talking (we do that sometimes). He’d just finished reading an ARC of my debut novel, Wildflowers from Winter, and was excited about the story. So he asked a question most writers ask before publication.

How can we get your book out there?

My brilliant answer?

Word of mouth.

I know. Revolutionary thinking.

But seriously. Word of mouth is huge when it comes to generating a buzz.

Because let’s say my friend Sherrinda reads the book in Texas and she really likes it, so she talks to her friends and family. And my friend Jill reads it in Michigan and she really likes it, so she talks to her friends and family. And my friend Jenny reads it in Georgia and she really likes it, so she talks to her friends and family. And…you get the picture. 

Then hubby asked another question. 

How often does the buzz lead to actual sales?

My brilliant answer?

I have no clue. Because really, it’s impossible to quantify or measure. But I do know that buzz is a good thing. In fact, I recently emailed Jody Hedlund about the subject and she said this:

The more people we can get “talking” about our books, the more interest we potentially generate. And it often takes multiple times of seeing/hearing about a book before someone will actually decide to make the purchase.

What prompts a person to talk about a book? I can only speak for myself.

I buzz about books based on two criteria:

  • How much I like the story
  • How much I like the author

There. That’s it. 

If I find a book that I absolutely love. I mean, stay-up-until-three-in-the-morning love. And on top of that, the author is someone I like. Well then, that is a magical combination. Give me that combination and I will buzz, buzz, buzz like a dutiful worker bee.

How we turn that buzz into actual sales is slightly more mysterious. Very much beyond our realm of control. So what’s a writer to do?

Focus on the things we can control.

  • Write the absolute best story we can write
  • Be likable (translation: be real and be nice)

There. That’s it. 

Maybe not the magic key so many of us wish existed. But a pretty good place to start.

Let’s Talk: What leads you to buy a book? Not just talk about it or recommend it. Not just review it or be an influencer. But what prompts you to make a purchase?