Every author will tell you the most difficult thing about writing is, well, not the writing part. It’s promotion. It’s telling everyone you have written a new book and it’s really good. Of course, telling someone it’s really good is not going to do it unless they buy the book just so you’ll stop bugging them.
I have to be honest. I don’t have the answer. My books have won literary awards and I always have difficulty telling anyone about them. Quite often, posting becomes boasting in my humble opinion. But wait! By divulging I have trouble telling people about the awards, you are now aware that I’ve won some and you might go away thinking about looking into my books. It’s a subtle way of getting the message across without appearing boastful.
I was sharing a table at a book signing with another thriller author recently who was using aggressive sales tactics. Someone would go by looking in the opposite direction and she would yell at them to come over and look at her books. Two things happened. The first was that I benefited from her aggressive behavior and by taking a more passive approach, I had more sales at the end of the day than she did. The second is that I just told you I write thrillers, that I do book signings and my books sell.
I have done many book signings in book stores now and I find the best approach is to just let people know you’re there with your books and what the genre is. If they are history buffs with no interest in thrillers, there is no sense in dragging them over to try to convert them. It’s probably going to be a waste of everyone’s time. But if they show some interest in thrillers, then it’s time to proudly tell them about your books.
We all have to promote on social media, but a nice graphic with the cover, a line or two from reviewers and a call to action such as “Buy Now” is all that’s needed.
There are subtle ways of letting people know about your work. Confidence, honesty and passion (without being aggressive) will shine through. The internet is full of people willing to promote books at no cost up to thousands of dollars. Let them boast on your behalf.
