What authors can do for themselves...
Taking control when you feel like you haven't got any!
Hello and happy long weekend! I hope UK readers are enjoying this glorious sunshine. I thought I’d do a post about what writers can do for themselves, beyond the publishing house, as a few people have asked about this. Of course, your publishing house will also be doing marketing and publicity for you (though this can be limited, particularly if you are in a smaller house) but given so much of publishing can feel out of your control, I think it’s useful to consider what IS in your control. Not everything works for everyone, but hopefully the below ideas are useful and you can pick and choose as to what works for you…
Grow your social media following / online presence. Facebook/Meta is still one of the largest tools we as publishers have for connecting with a wide platform, and most publishers run Meta ads behind the scenes (along with Amazon ads). There is still a large (possibly older) demographic using Facebook in the more traditional way, so depending on your genre, growing this profile can still be helpful. Also useful is growing your Instagram, X/BlueSky, and TikTok channels, if this is something you enjoy and feel you can naturally fit into your schedule. I know it’s not for everyone, and I promise it isn’t a deal-breaker, but connecting in real-time with readers does help drive sales (it can be particularly useful pre-order wise, and we know that they enjoy seeing behind-the-scenes glimpses into the lives of authors).
If you have a look at some established authors, you will see that content is key - make your page somewhere readers want to visit by posting snapshots of your writing process, giving writing tips, running giveaways of your books, supporting other authors and encouraging readers by responding to their comments and messages. Social media will also allow readers to private message you if you choose to keep that function on, and this can be a nice way to hear from people who have enjoyed your book (NB there may be the odd negative message - just don't engage! My favourite one was a very pedantic one that told me the difference, in great detail, between shrimps and prawns in my third novel on page 67). Have a look at the authors you admire, and how they engage with readers, and if you feel this might work for you, then experiment with giving it a go. Video content outperforms stills now, so unboxing videos, to-camera readings, Q&As - all of these tend to perform nicely. TikTok does tend to have a younger demographic and most of the books that have ‘taken off’ this way have done so naturally, so this one is more organic and reader-driven than the others (it’s all about the emotions! And romance and romantasy do particularly well), but Instagram is easier for you to curate a presence as an author on (in my opinion anyway, but I am becoming a dinosaur!)
Connect with other authors. There are tons of great writing groups now on most social media channels that you can join, but it’s also about putting yourself out there physically. Coming to literary festivals, engaging in talks, reading other authors’ proofs and sending them yours - most people in the industry are really supportive, and if you are a debut it can be brilliant to hear from other people who might be a bit further down the line than you are. I would caveat this by saying (I know this is easier said than done!) but try not to compare yourself; everyone’s writing and publishing journey is different. You are on your own path, so drown out the noise and focus on your writing and your journey, and if anyone is making you feel negative, consider taking a step back. But it can be wonderful to become part of the writing community and these connections can lead to practically helpful things in the future (e.g. pairing up for local independent bookshop or Waterstones events, securing endorsements). Local festivals can be really lovely and supportive - I adore them - and getting to know the festival organisers is a good idea. Often these start small and are very grateful for champions.
Encourage people to post Amazon reviews. The way Amazon works is it will favour novels who have garnered 50+ reviews, and its algorithm is more likely to give those books higher visibility. I know it can be a bit awkward doing this, but it's worth asking family and friends to do a quick review if they've bought the book, and explaining to them how helpful reviews are to writers (not everyone realises this). If you've had a blog tour, you can also ask the bloggers to transfer their reviews across to Amazon and they're always so nice and helpful about that sort of thing too. I recognise not everyone loves the Amazon machine, but one cannot really escape the fact that they sell a lot of books and their market share is enormous.
Contact magazines with short stories. Quite a few weekly magazines are happy to hear from authors rather than going through publicists, so draft an email which you can send out which briefly introduces yourself, gives a short (1 paragraph, no more!) blurb about your book and ask if there are any opportunities for short stories - you might be pleasantly surprised! I would say these do not hugely drive sales but they do help your profile and every little helps (especially if you actually like writing short stories, which I do!) - plus you usually get paid.
Ask other writers to read your book. It can sometimes really help if your book is endorsed by an established writer, and although often authors may not have the time to read your book, if you know them or have a connection with them, you're allowed to ask (as long as you do it politely and understand you may get a no!) Definitely don't hassle anyone into reading your book, but if you think another author may enjoy it and you admire their work too, you could politely ask if they have time to have a look as you never know - they may love it! Endorsements from authors are often reassuring to readers, and could make a difference between someone deciding to take a chance on your book or not. Blurbs are also very useful for us as publishers as we send them to the sales team, who can pass them on to retailers such as Waterstones.
Visit local bookshops and libraries. This is easier if you have a physical copy of your book, but one of the things I encourage my authors to do (as an editor) is take proofs of their book into their local stores and ask if they can leave a copy behind. Local bookshops can be brilliant at getting behind authors, so it never hurts to ask - in the past I have had authors do this and the result has been an entire table dedicated to their book! That doesn't always happen, but it's nice to introduce yourself as a local author, buy a book (!) and leave your details in case they want to get in touch. You could volunteer to do an author talk if they'd be interested, too. While this sort of thing won't always pay off, if you have the time and are brave enough, it's a good idea. You never know - you might meet the member of staff who absolutely loves crime thrillers and decides to showcase your book with a little review card - it does happen, I promise. Plus, supporting local bookshops is always a good thing. You can also ask if they might host your book launch party. Authors generally pay for these themselves (wine/snacks wise) but usually the actual venue is free if it is a bookshop, and your publisher can ensure the shop orders up copies of your book. This can be a great way to get books through the till in your first week of publication (if you do it on or just after publication day).
Make sure you sign up for PLR (Public Lending Right) - you can do this here and this is how authors get paid for library loans. It can be much more lucrative than you might think, and you need to register each individual edition (each book and each format) and then you get paid every year.
Sign up for ALCS (Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society) here - similar to the above, you need to register your books and this means you get payments whenever someone copies or uses your work. Again, more lucrative than you might think!
Start a newsletter! They can be a great way of speaking directly to your readers, as obviously you go straight into inboxes, and it’s a lovely way to connect with your audience. There are some fantastic author newsletters (my romance authors Lucy Score and Shain Rose both have great ones which might be helpful to look at - I promise I’m not just plugging their books haha, I think it’s genuinely useful to see what they do!) and this can be a good way of alerting readers to upcoming releases or price-drops (we have to remember we are living in a very price-sensitive market at the moment, for obvious reasons!), giving them behind the scenes extras, and letting them get to know you a little. I used to use MailChimp though now obviously use Substack. I’m sure there are a few different options! Sometimes publishers run these for authors but you can absolutely do it yourself as well. On the crime side, I like C.L. Taylor’s, Gillian McAllister’s and Clare Mackintosh’s just to name a few.
Claim your Amazon page and add your bio and photo - a small thing but this does help overall visibility. You want your Amazon page to look as strong as possible, and most of this is done by your publisher, but this bit only you can do! It’s very easy and straight-forward.
Say yes to opportunities! Sometimes, media outlets (TV/radio/print) are looking for very specific things at specific points in time, and you might be the perfect person to talk about a topic, even if you’ve written about it in the past in a novel that might now be backlist. Our in-house PR teams are always being sent these requests and if you ensure your publicist knows what you are qualified to talk about / any interesting stories you might be best placed to speak about, then they are likely to think of you. For example, an author of mine went on BBC Woman’s Hour recently but spoke about one of their backlist novels as it was relevant to a recent news story. All of it helps get your name out there, so be open and willing to try new things and conquer the nerves if you can! (You don’t have to!) But you genuinely never know where opportunities might come from, so I think it’s important to remain open-minded if you do want to self-promote. I totally appreciate some authors do not and of course there are hugely successful writers who don’t do any of this, but in today’s world I think it can only be advantageous.
I hope these tips are helpful, and if you have any questions or comments, just pop them below as I am sure I have missed some. What has worked for you? What would you add? It might seem as though there is a lot of hard work involved in some of the suggestions above, but honestly, once you get into it it's not too time-consuming really, and I'm always of the belief that every little helps.
Thank you as ever for reading The Honest Editor, and please do tell your friends!
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Phoebe x
Again, so helpful, Phoebe. I know a lot of authors don’t think it’s worth signing up for ALCS but they also collect and pay you PLR for translated works from other countries with whom the UK has a reciprocal agreement.
Love all your posts SO much... And with this one, also check your contract says 'lead title' and then you know you'll get some marketing lol ;-)