
Who knew that trying to market your book could be so stressful? I heard someone mention on X that writers spend months, even years, writing their books, so what’s a little book marketing? If no one has told you yet, I’m telling you now, it’s overwhelming.
As a self-published author who minored in Marketing, let me tell you it’s not an easy process. Writing the book, editing it, getting a book cover, and finding an editor is the easy part. Finding beta-readers for my story, not so easy, but that’s a different story for another day.
So, you've written a book, and you’re set to release it in a couple of months. Now you need to let your audience know that this amazing thing you’ve written exists. What do you do?
Well, after researching who your target audience is, there’s branding.
Marketing your new book goes hand in hand with branding yourself. Branding involves building a digital identity while emphasizing what makes you unique. Establishing and gaining visibility and doing it on a consistent basis.
Sounds fun, right?
Maybe in the beginning, when you have all these ideas and plans to try and make yourself stand out from all the other self-published authors who are in a race to get their books in front of readers.
Part of branding yourself as an author means being creative. Being creative consists of things like having an eye-catching website that focuses on you and the books you’ve written and are going to write. Being relevant on social platforms like Facebook, X, TikTok, and Instagram. Being relevant on social media means constantly thinking of new ways to stand out from the masses. Figuring out a catchy post to engage your readers. Figuring out a catchy video to post on TikTok. And doing this consistently every day, over and over again, when it feels as if no one knows who you are and could care less about anything you have to say.
The “simple” act of marketing has become so overwhelming that it has begun to feel surreal. It's like I’ve been transported from an alternate universe where people have no idea what a literary agent or book publisher is. Where they could not fathom the idea that someone would write a book and then try to sell it. It’s as if I’ve stepped into the Twilight Zone.
It has become so overwhelming that part of me is ready to step back and try tackling this process again in a week or two. But the logical part of me, that part that has been spending months researching everything I can on Marketing Your Book as a Self-publisher, knows that if I do step back, the little bit of traction I have gained could be gone in an instant.
Does anyone have an emotional journey they want to share about their self-publishing journey?
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