After twelve long years of hoping and dreaming I’d someday be a published author, it finally became a reality at the start of this month. But getting Hybrid published was only the first step and now comes the same question on the lips of every other newly published author – how to become a bestseller?

I mentioned in a previous post that Amazon don’t offer a way for authors to track ebook sales which is really frustrating, and also makes marketing harder as it’s difficult to determine which of the methods I’ve tried have made a difference, and which have been a waste of time, or worse, money. There are numerous articles and videos out there with good ideas that have worked for other writers. I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface when it comes to marketing, and there’s still plenty of things I haven’t tried yet but will do in the coming months. In this post I’ll just talk about my experience so far and maybe it will be of some help to fellow writers, and of interest to my readers. I may well revisit this topic in future though, when I’ve got a bit more experience under my belt and have a better idea of which of these methods have actually worked.

So where to begin? Well in today’s technological society I think the first step is to establish an online presence. A good website is a must in my opinion, and I was also advised by friends to have a separate book launch page for Hybrid specifically, in addition to my author site. My author site has had a decent amount of traffic for a debut author, although it seems most users aren’t staying on the site for long. Nevertheless, it can still be a powerful marketing tool if you can get good SEO in place and provide quality content and a good design to engage your users. I personally feel it’s worth hiring a professional for your website which is the approach I took, but as mentioned in my previous post most writers make little to no money, so this may not be an option for everyone. I did find booklaunch.io, a free tool to make a professional looking launch page, which seems a good option if you are doing it yourself, and one I would probably have used if I didn’t have a designer on board.

I also signed up for Bing Webmaster Tools and was sent a free £75 coupon for Bing Ads. This has increased the traffic to my launch page significantly and I would highly recommend doing the same, though once the coupon runs out I won’t be continuing with it. Despite the higher number of users it’s brought to my site, I’m guessing not many of them are actually buying copies of Hybrid as my Amazon bestseller rank keeps fluctuating, indicating I’ve probably had the odd sale here and there, rather than climbing and remaining consistently high as I assume it would if I was getting a steady stream of sales. Still, while it’s free it is generating some interest which is better than nothing.

When it comes to paid marketing methods it’s hard to know where to put your money to get the most sales out of it. Most articles I’ve read seem to agree business cards are a great marketing method, if you’re comfortable enough handing them out every time you meet a potential fan. They’re great for people who are outgoing enough to start a conversation with someone who looks like a fan of the genre they write in, or appears to be an avid reader in general, but don’t waste money getting hundreds printed if you won’t realistically hand many out. I would recommend carrying some around with you even if you’re not particularly outgoing, just don’t pay for more printing than you’re realistically going to use.

I also watched another writer’s video in which he suggested promotional bookmarks to hand out in your local Waterstones. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to have been very effective for me so far, perhaps because Hybrid is only available as an ebook at present. I will try and get a few more out into bookstores and libraries, but I may keep the majority of them back now for any events I manage to get to, especially if I’m able to have my own stall anywhere.

Any conventions on the subject you write about can be a great place to meet new fans, or book related events can be great networking opportunities. I’m looking to get involved with Huddersfield Literature Festival which is already in the planning stages, and met some great people at the first meeting for volunteers. A few seemed genuinely interested when I handed out bookmarks afterward and it does seem to have earned me a few sales. I was also invited to apply to be part of the festival so I may be running an event in March next year, which will hopefully be another great way to reach out to new fans.

Social media is also a must in this technological age. I will go more into social media in a separate post, but your own Facebook page and Twitter seem to be essential to marketing in any industry these days. Not to mention Amazon Author Central and Goodreads as well. Starting a YouTube channel has also worked for some writers and it’s something I’m considering getting into. I’ve also joined Pinterest in the hopes of being discovered by other werewolf fans who will hopefully love Hybrid.

There’s plenty more ideas out there for ways to make a name for yourself and promote your book. In my second post I mentioned facing the reality that fans won’t just discover you on their own – you have to reach out to your audience. Or I like to think of it as, I have to be the wolf in the real world now. Prey won’t come to me; I have to hunt for them if I want to survive in this business. In an ideal world the media would help get the word out and do most of the work for me. I dreamed of appearing on Look North and BBC radio, and doing interviews for magazines. At the very least I hoped the Huddersfield Examiner would give me an article. It didn’t happen. I had no response to my press release, leaving me to fight for success on my own. It’s an ongoing battle, but one I believe I have the drive to win. I’ll keep on pushing to get my name and my work out there, and eventually I’m determined to see that rewarded with a loyal fanbase. The quest continues…