Why oh why is it so hard to market? For me at least. It has gotten to a point where I find myself zoning out at my desk or Starbucks and even while driving. Just trying to figure out ways to get my book in front of the people who can benefit from it, other single mothers who live on a tight budget but love to travel. Some might say that the easiest thing to do is to visit blogs that have single mothers as their target market as well. But how?
Not only is my target a very niche market but I prefer not to randomly visit blogs as a one off just to leave a comment with my blog or book as my signature. Yet I don't have time to visit the thousands of blogs that might be beneficial in getting my book into my target markets hands. I did email about a dozen site and blog owners a few months ago asking if any of them would be interested in a free copy of my book. Sadly, no responses. I mean WTF!:)
As I mentioned before I have to choose one form of marketing and dedicate time to it. Because seriously there are so many opinions about what works best that it can drive a girl mad.
I decided on using Yahoo Answers for a while and answering questions thoughtfully and closing with a signature link to my blog. I have seen a slight uptick in visits though no sales from it yet. Though I will keep at it since I can easily answer 5 or more questions in 10-15 minutes.
And I know that I have to add to that, just not sure what to choose yet. Maybe you have some ideas for a sista cuz I need help. Check out this very partial list of e-book marketing ideas you get on the web:
Bookmarks (for an e-book? really?)
Create Hype (okay, um how?)
Contests (This I want to do, perhaps a giveaway though instead of a contest)
Word of Mouth (The mecca o'marketing in my humble opinion)
Create a website for each book (no can dosville baby doll - I can barely keep up with my blog peeps)
Create a book trailer (this sounds fun and I have seen some cool ones)
Sign up at affiliate sites (I don't know, seems sketchy to me, but maybe it's just the word "affiliate")
Be active on forums (read above)
Write guest posts (I'd love too, anyone? people?)
Use coupons (?)
Business cards (?)
Use Twitter (read below)
Use Facebook (read below)
And these are just some, it's intimidating. I am not a social network person though a fellow newbie BIWer suggested Goodreads to me, thanks Laura . It seems insincere and not all organic to only put up a FB page to promote my book, so what am I to do? Make a page anyway and force myself to check it and update it daily?
For now I will keep on writing and editing and posting on Yahoo Answers. I'll keep you posted on they next move in my massive publicity campaign. :)
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