The Marketing Stuff: Presenting Your Book to the World

By Naleighna Kai, J. L. Woodson, J. L. Campbell and 18 more

The Marketing Stuffis the companion book for The Write Stuff: A Journey into Writing Your Book and takes authors on the part of the journey that some find challenging.

Each author, from New York Times to national bestsellers, shares their inspiration for taking their publishing journey. You will find tips on everything from connecting to readers on various platforms, to ways of growing your brand and expanding visibility.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macro Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781952871429

Naleighna Kai

Her name is pronounced (Na-Lay-nah Ki) which means "the determined one is present." Naleighna is the author of Every Woman Needs a Wife, and co-author of How to Win the Publishing Game. Naleighna, a Chicago native who began writing in December of 1999, now pens fiction, romance, erotica, new age, and science fiction. She works for a major law firm in Chicago and incorporates that background into her characters, infusing them with humor and depth that rings with authenticity.

Book preview

The Marketing Stuff

THE MARKETING STUFF

PRESENTING YOUR BOOK TO THE WORLD

NALEIGHNA KAI MARY B. MORRISON J. L. WOODSON STEPHANIE M. FREEMAN J. L. CAMPBELL DARRY BENALLY, ED.D YVONNE ELLIOTT LA AMMITAI CHRISTINE PAULS MARIE MCKENZIE VANESSA HOWARD PAT G’ORGE-WALKER EHRYCK GILMORE KADESHA POWELL AIKEN PONDER U. M. HIRAM ANITA L. ROSEBORO FLORENZA DENISE LEE BRIDGETT RENAY PATTY HARRIS SEKINAH JACKSON ERICA B. DAVIS EHRYCK GILMORE, CH

THE MACRO PUBLISHING GROUP

CONTENTS

Introduction

1. Level Up Your Book Marketing & Promotion

2. Market The Hell Out Of It!

3. What I Learned and Why You Should Too

4. If I Can Do It, You Can Do It

5. Press Forward

6. Grabbing Your Seat at the Table

7. Get Out of Your Own Way

8. Social Media is Nice; A Website is Better

9. Creating a Connection with Your Readers by Building a Website

10. Marketing Is Key

11. My Top 5 Marketing & Promotion Tips

12. Kick Fear to The Curb

13. The Rules of Marketing – Children’s Books

14. Marketing a Self-Help Book

15. Into the Hands of Readers

16. Promotion and Publicity: Don’t Panic

17. Tips for Hosting Your First In-Person Event

18. Taking My Power Back

19. Marketing, My Unknown Factor

20. Make a Few Connections

The Blueprint for Writing & Publishing

The Write Stuff

Resources

What is NK’s Tribe Called Success?

Kings of the Castle Series

Knights of the Castle Series

The Queens of The Castle Series

Merry Hearts Series

Grateful Hearts Series

Naleighna Kai

J. L. Campbell

J. L. Woodson

Stephanie M. Freeman

Florenza Denise Lee

Christine Pauls

Darryl Benally, Ed.D

Aiken Ponder

Pat G’Orge-Walker

Yvonne Elliott

U. M. Hiram

Shakir Rashaan

Marie McKenzie

Kadesha Powell

Ehryck Gilmore, CH

Erica B. Davis

Anita L. Roseboro

Sekinah Jackson

Bridgett Renay

Mary B. Morrison

This book is solely intended for the use of helping aspiring writers or published authors on the quest to become better writers or marketers or widening their visibility. The information shared is based on the authors' personal experience, and any advice therein should be weighed against current circumstances and what is currently available from other sources on a consumer level.

---

The Macro Group, LLC / The Macro Publishing Group

---

The Marketing Stuff: Presenting Your Book to the World © 2022 by The Macro Group, LLC

ISBN: 9781952871429

---

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, or photocopying or stored in a retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages to be included in a review.

Cover designed by: J. L. Woodson www.jlwoodson.com

Interior design by: Lissa Woodson www.naleighnakai.com

INTRODUCTION

This book is companion to both The Write Stuff and The Blueprint for Writing & Publishing. Each one can be enjoyed for each stage of your writing and publishing journey.

LEVEL UP YOUR BOOK MARKETING & PROMOTION

By J.L Campbell, National Best-Selling Author of 40+ books, including King of Evanston , Knight of Paradise Island , and Queen of Kingston .

---

Path to Publishing: My short stories were first published through Bookends, the lifestyle pages of the Jamaica Observer. I joined an online writing critique workshop and tried my hand at writing novels, while studying the craft by reading books and hundreds of articles. After gaining three contracts with two small publishers in 2009, my first novel, Contraband, was published in 2010.

---

You’ve written your book, had it edited, bought a cover, and now you’re at the back end of the process. Whether or not you have a large budget for promotion and marketing, it’s a good idea to start building a promotional plan of action from the get-go. Because of the intensity of the writing process, many writers wait for the eleventh hour to start promoting, which is a disservice to their books.

While it may be challenging to go full throttle on promotion while you’re writing, there’s nothing with updating readers on where you are in the storyline and when you expect to finish. While that’s happening, don’t limit the ways in which you can sell your book. Here are some ideas you can try that will help get more eyes on your book.

---

As soon as you have a cover, aside from blasting it around on all your social media hangouts, be sure to upload it in places where readers congregate. Think places like Library Thing and Goodreads. You can upload your books, establish an author page, post reviews, and ask questions that will serve as conversation starters. You can also ask your followers to add the book to Goodreads.

---

Create some buzz around your book by writing a press release. Approach your local newspaper and see if they would be open to sharing news about your book on their lifestyle or literary pages. Talk about what makes it unique and share your message. An online search will help you find places that will welcome your article. With some publications, it’s as easy as uploading your material. In other cases, you submit and wait for a response.

---

Your website is an important part of your publicity toolbox. It’s where readers can find you online and if you write blog posts, people will know where to discover what you’ll be publishing next. The same goes for your newsletter. This is one of the most important tools we have as authors. When you have a direct link to your readers, there’s no need to rely on social media to stay connected to them. You have a captive audience to share the details of your writing life, upcoming projects, and any other big news. If you haven’t yet started a newsletter, don’t wait another day to put that together. Offer an incentive (like a short story) to get people to join. You won’t regret it.

---

Consider a book signing. Check out local book stores and find out whether they would be open to hosting you or if they have literary events where you can participate. Don’t discount libraries, as you may be able to do a reading during one of their events. If they have a roster of activities, it would help to stay in the know. Also think about literary festivals, if they have them in your area. This is another way to have more people become aware of who you are and what you write.

---

Book clubs are a writer’s dream. Depending on the size of the membership, you can offer group discounts if they purchase from you, prepare sell sheets about your book, and provide bonus material. When book enthusiasts fall in love with your work, they can’t help talking about it with their peers and other book club members. As they say, word of mouth is the best form of advertising.

---

A few years ago, blog tours used to be very popular and even now there are still many bloggers. If you don’t want to pay someone to arrange a virtual tour, think about contacting ten to fifteen persons who you know run popular blogs. Or, you can use a Google sheet and ask people to sign up. Figure out what you what to do at each stop. Some individuals have questions prepared to host/interview authors. Do something different at each stop. You can provide giveaways for people who leave comments on your post. This will only cost you time to put together and your book will be in front of a variety of readers. You never know where your next super-fan will come from. If you don’t want to do this yourself, you can hire specialists to do it for you.

---

Conferences and workshops are great for meeting important people in the literary world, but it is just as vital to find out what writers’ associations exist in your area, what they offer to members, and how you can become involved. Most have monthly meetings where you can connect with other authors. Who knows, aside from the wealth of information you gain, you can