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Welcome

I started this blog in 2013 to share my reflections on reading, writing and psychology, along with my journey to become a published novelist.​  I soon graduated to about twenty book reviews a month and a weekly 99-word story. Ten years later, I've transferred my writing / publication updates to my new website but will continue here with occasional reviews and flash fiction pieces, and maybe the odd personal post.

ANNE GOODWIN'S WRITING NEWS

Marketing declarations

24/9/2015

17 Comments

 
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Mired in marketing my novel, less of a shrinking violet perhaps, but still paddling in the shallows, I was pleased when the latest post from the Carrot Ranch appeared in my inbox this morning declaring that Charli Mills also has marketing in mind. “Marketing takes time,” she says. “You’re too damn right,” says I. But when the alternative is readers failing to find my novel, I accept I have little choice. Because when they find it, and let me know they’ve not only read it but loved it, I still get a buzz.

Today’s highlights have been a tweet from a reader who found my novel via a tweet of this photo by Rebecca Root and a yes from one of the quirkiest independent bookshops around these parts in response to my email nudging them to stock my book. Small gains, but they matter. As Charli says, “Being a marketer is like being a watchmaker. The gears do work, but you have to get it all aligned one piece at a time.” At the moment, I don’t even know what the pieces are, but I’m doing what I can to at least give them a chance of lining up.

Charli is boosting her own marketing mind-set by declaring herself an author. A similar declaration for me might be claiming my authorial authority and saying I believe in this particular book. Yet, on second thoughts, given that I’ve been a published novelist for two months now, that’s not much of a declaration. Can I be braver?

A few months before Sugar and Snails was published, and thinking it unlikely, other than at my own launch events, I’d be offered slots to talk about it, I put myself forward to local library staff to lead a discussion with reading groups on psychological therapists in fiction. The first of these happened earlier this week and, with a small but enthusiastic group, I really enjoyed it and sold a couple of copies of my novel. Though I am in the process of contacting other groups that might be interested, I hadn’t, until now, put anything about this on my website. But another conversation this week, with someone who had been proselytising on behalf of my novel but assumed I wouldn’t be willing to come and talk to groups about it, has persuaded me I need to declare myself as a potential speaker. In that endeavour, I’d appreciate your feedback. Obviously a webpage isn’t able to market itself but, right now, I’m more concerned with what it looks like. At this stage, I’m not even sure if author talks is the right name for what I’m offering.
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And so to my flash: 99-words on declaring an intention. One of the novels we discussed on Tuesday was Pat Barker’s Regeneration, set mostly in a psychiatric hospital towards the end of the First World War. In honour of that, and the declaration within it, as well as perhaps in recompense for my slating of her contemporary therapist in my review of Border Crossing, my story is a précis of her excellent fictionalisation of the meeting between army psychologist, WHR Rivers, and the poet, Siegfried Sassoon:

Sassoon wasn’t mad, just misguided in publicly declaring his opposition to the war. Rivers agreed court-martial was no solution, but why Craiglockhart? What of his men’s morale?

Yet, after hours attending to shell-shocked soldiers, Rivers looked forward to his conversations with Sassoon. The poet was intelligent, cultured, so damn reasonable; Rivers had no power to change his mind?

His method was intuitive, fatherly: bearing witness to the horrors of the trenches to help his patients adjust. But Sassoon turned his thinking upside down. Rivers didn’t cure, he realised, but silenced protest, denied sanity, sent the soldiers back to hell.

A final declaration on the subject of marketing is that for three weeks starting tomorrow, Inspired Quill is running a Goodreads giveaway for Sugar and Snails. Tell your friends! By the time you read this it’ll probably have gone live with a widget in the sidebar. (And no, I don’t know why the linky phrases are in a colour I’ve never seen on the blog before.)


Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
17 Comments
geoff laptop link
24/9/2015 11:09:32 pm

Fascinating. A fellow Arvon alumnus (from my first visit) Ruth Sutton who is self published as started doing both talks and some classes around the writing and publishing process and has had a similar reaction as you have had. My efforts at a bookshop launch has been rather put back because my local shop is currently changing hands but it will happen. Perhaps now should find out about this sort of thing too. A card in a local shop perhaps. Good to see your efforts pay off. Loved the summary of Pat Barker, too

Reply
Annecdotist
25/9/2015 09:02:05 am

Frustrating about your bookshop changing but I'm glad that you have at least been making inroads in that direction. I'm looking forward to raising a glass of orange juice in honour of your book(s).
Do note, however, that bookshops tend to require a substantial proportion of the sale price of your book (around 40%) though individuals vary, so if you're selling to people you already know it's not necessarily the best place. Though depends what you want. It's a subject I have been thinking of posting on for a while – perhaps you've spurred me to get onto it.

Reply
geoff laptop link
25/9/2015 11:11:07 am

Ah ha. Thanks for the tip. I didn't realise but I suppose I'm not surprised. So far I have only got as far as floatign the idea with them. I've put out feelers with a book shop a bit further away and we will see what happens there.

Charli Mills
24/9/2015 11:54:08 pm

Huzzas for marketing declarations! Well done, Anne! My suggestion is to look for regional speaker's bureaus in your area and link to your Author Talks page. Keep the feelers out -- libraries, book clubs, even other adult clubs that might be interested in your topics. Radio shows and podcasts are popular and expansive of one's marketing, too.

Such a great flash that reflects something unexpected back to the character, but is a contemplation I'm sure you've delved into. I like that about your writing, it's power to reflect certain truths or realizations through the reader's discovery of what the characters reveal.

Am I missing your widget? I see the link to writing a Goodreads Review...I'd like to share it!

Reply
Annecdotist
25/9/2015 09:11:38 am

Thanks, Charli. I'm hoping the talks I do will breed others, even if only in my own mind regarding who to contact. I have got one more small and two other biggish talks lined up but I do need to go back to chasing radio possibilities. I still haven't properly managed to get the balance between marketing and writing – I seem to dither around a lot, probably due to my continuing anxiety about putting myself out there.
Glad the flash worked for you and, indeed, that's certainly a dilemma I've reflected on over the years. There can be a lot of sense in madness which is unsettling for the more conforming among us.
And sorry I confused you with the Goodreads widget – the one about reviews has been there for a while and I've now added the giveaway. I couldn't fit the whole thing in the sidebar, however, so had to fiddle with the HTLM to cut out some of the words (how clever is that?!) but the full thing is on my homepage. It would be great if you could share it too (if that's what you meant).

Reply
Charli Mills
25/9/2015 07:51:01 pm

Flash HTML? :-D Yes, I would like to share your giveaway and now I see it.

When I write, I'm happiest as a pantser, but I know that planning is required of the process, too. Marketing can be the same way. There are tactics (doing) and goals (planning). There are also metrics (sales). Strategy is to plan the activities you do to hit a target and to follow up on why or why not you hit it. Pull back from time to time to think of what you are doing strategically. I think of strategy as making connections. How are you activities connecting? Sometimes this can help with what we then have to do or plan. It helps understand the results we are getting. Always, we can adjust.

Look at the Author Talks as part of a communication strategy. It's not much different from your Blog Tour. Instead of finding blog hosts, you are looking for groups to host the information you have to share. And, of course, your information is meant to stimulate interest in your book. Maybe if you see this as part of a larger strategy and take a "planning day" you can then assign yourself tasks that don't take up a large portion of your time day to day.

Annecdotist
29/9/2015 08:16:07 pm

Thanks, Charli, for your sound advice. I like the idea of thinking of the talks like the blog tour. I do actually have a marketing plan which is a list of things that seemed to be a good idea when they pop into my head and I work on whichever seems to fit my mood! A somewhat pantserish approach to planning I suppose, but I do keep checking where I am with it.
But I do think its effectiveness is quite hard to measure precisely, so many of these activities might stimulate interest that don't result in sales at that particular point, but might later. For me, it's also important that, while I might not necessarily enjoy it all, it's not too aversive. Perhaps the whole of the marketing for my first book is a test case for the second.
I've emailed you the HTLM for the giveaway. Now that's a strategy that SEEMS really successful in raising awareness but don't yet know what tiny proportion of those who have registered an interest will get hold of the book if they don't win.

Norah Colvin link
25/9/2015 07:11:03 am

I wish you success with marketing, Anne. It is a tough one isn't it? I think your talks are a great idea, and I think your Author Talks page looks good. I don't have any other advice to share, unfortunately. I think suggestions already put forward are all worthwhile ones to follow up. Over here we have, or used to have some Community Education classes. People would nominate a course, usually six one-hour weekly sessions, which they would run (It's how I did the drawing on the right side of the brain course) for a small fee. It may be of interest to others in the categories you have mentioned, but then probably wouldn't inspire any sales outside that group either, so would probably be time intensive with little return. Sorry, I am no use.
The last statement of your flash is very telling, damning really for its injustice.

Reply
Annecdotist
25/9/2015 09:17:14 am

Thanks, Norah, of course you're not no use! Appreciate you checking out that page looks okay. Yeah, we do have similar kinds of classes over here, and back in the good old days when socialism was a dirty word they were subsidised by local authorities, and a lot of writers teach because it's a more steady income. I'd probably have enough material for a course on literary psychotherapists, and I wouldn't rule it out completely, but I feel I'd have to put in more work than I'm inclined to. Though I'd never say never!

Reply
Norah Colvin link
4/10/2015 01:38:17 pm

A course on literary psychologists does sound good. I understand the reluctance to put in the effort when you have other priorities. You know, you could make it available as an online course with podcasts, videos etc, or even publish it as a book, as well as offer it in person. All three could carry a price and may not require as much work as you think. Then again - these things usually end up being more work than you think! :)

Annecdotist
4/10/2015 05:40:59 pm

Oh, wow! Great suggestions but I don't think they're for me. (I wonder if I'm feeling right now how you feel after reading one of my more engaging book reviews – there goes another thing that I'm really not going to have time/or sufficient motivation to do!) But seriously, I think I read a post by Joanna Penn somewhere (she's a highly successful author/ entrepreneur, THE expert on self publishing) where she said that her highly successful publications on publishing hasn't had much impact on sales of her fiction. Shoot me down if I'm wrong (note to trolls: I mean that metaphorically), but I don't want to go heading off in the wrong direction.

Irene Waters link
26/9/2015 08:40:50 am

Good luck with your marketing Anne. You are certainly giving it a good shot. The author talks look good. A good variety that would suit the different interests of readers and writers.
Clubs such as Rotary, View, Probus and other service clubs are all desperate for speakers as well and it might be worth sending off an email to clubs in areas that you are prepared to travel to. Small writing groups are also often interested in having someone run workshop sessions for either free or small fees and these can be of value on occasion. I know my old writing group used to organise weekends away and we always had a guest speaker who we not only paid but ended up buying their books as well.
Good luck with it. This is for me anyway, going to be the hardest part of the process.

Reply
Annecdotist
29/9/2015 08:19:15 pm

Thanks for these suggestions, Irene. I don't know if we have View and Probus in Britain but will follow them up, likewise the Rotary which we do have. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Reply
sarah link
26/9/2015 08:13:14 pm

Best of luck with the marketing (though I'm not sure you need luck -- you're so good at this). Love the idea of the "author talks". And the give-away. :-) All good intentions and declarations here, Anne. (And the flash!). I'll echo all previous comments with good will.

Reply
Annecdotist
29/9/2015 08:21:04 pm

Thank you, Sarah, your goodwill echo is heard and much appreciated – and I'll have that dash of luck to go with it!

Reply
Terry Tyler
27/9/2015 08:10:25 am

Best of luck in all that you do, Anne ~ how about submitting the book to some blogs, as well? I look forward to reading it, too! :)

Reply
Annecdotist
29/9/2015 08:22:33 pm

Thanks, Terry, we have sent off a fair few review copies to blogs etc (and had some lovely reviews in return). I was wondering whether you wanted one too?

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