Marketing Takes Money and Work. Whether one likes it or not there isn’t much chance of selling very many books unless you are famous or fortunate. I wrote my first novel just expecting that people would see the title, like it and buy the product. It doesn’t work that way. My publisher, Dawn Stillwell, has enrolled me into an advertising program on FB. Thus far it has cost approximately a dollar for every two bucks worth of revenue that goes into my bank account. It might not sound like much but the result is positive enough to involve me in the process of stepping up the amount I pour into the program this fall. It’s good business to make one hundred percent on your investment. I’ll spend a thousand to get back two thousand any day of the week.
Targeting specific audiences is also crucial. If you want to sell a murder/mystery, it’s not really a brilliant move to promote it to people who only read romance novels.
I’ve learned in the scheme of life, that if I do not promote myself no one else will either. We all live with the dream that with every book we sell, someone with some clout will say, “I like it!”, and give us a hand getting our product to a bigger market. I’m sold on the rule that success will always come to those who work the hardest while never giving up. It’s also an absolute that one must have someone working with them when it comes to selling books, keeping web pages up to date, etc. Team work is so crucial in life.