Passive Advertising

I have never posted a "buy my book" post through social media. I have posted excerpts, giveaways, and notices that a new paperback or e-book is available.

I don't place ads. I don't visit websites and join them to talk about my books. I don't even generally mention the titles of my books.

I do have links available for easy clicking. I do have a website and an Amazon author page. I do link to my website in my e-books and list all the other books I have available in my books (and update them when a new release comes out).

I believe the thing that drives my sales most is releasing a new title. Then another one.

I am a 'rabid anti-promo-er' of my books. (Worked as head of a marketing department for a hotel/resort, and burned out bad!). All I do is blog, occasionally. I do have several novellas that are under 1.50$ and are part of the same series. The rest of the series is novel-length. I put excerpts (short ones, as my readers are not paying for excerpts!) in the back of each of my releases for both of my series'.

I average 4-digits in sales each month total of all venues, basically from return buyers/word of mouth.

I do have a pretty much dead FB page, my twitter attempts are laughable (and few and far between) and I've done maybe 2 guest blog posts?

I also have free reads available at Amazon, SW, BN, and on the blog. That's literally it.

BTW, it took me 2 months to break 100$/month, (2 books out at that point), 6 months to break 500$/month (5 books out at that point), and a full 12 months to break 1200$+/month (10 books over two series' at that point).

Like Merrihiatt, writing new books is my best promo tool hands down!

turningpoint said:

What about those of us who hate self-promotion? Is there a better way to go than mentioning one's work again and again all over the internet? Does anyone ever do well as a self-published author based only on word of mouth?

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I also dislike the self-promotion side of self-publishing. I'm still pretty inexperienced here, but so far I have found that simply mentioning one's work again and again all over the internet doesn't work at all.

Whenever I post links to Amazon, or Smashwords, or B&N on my facebook page, no one ever responds. But, if I post something else on the same page--a link to a blog post, or a link to something amusing--people are much more likely to take notice and respond.

I think this is the key to successfully promoting one's work. People ignore the hard sell. But, if you have something else to say that appeals to the same demographic as your book(s), then that may intrigue someone enough to take a look at the other links on your blog, or facebook page, or wherever you're posting.

I think if you have something else to offer, funny stories or writing advice on your blog/twitter. Then people will be more interested, and maybe you can slip in the occasional excerpt or something, but not straight up "buy my book" stuff.

I know that's what I respond well to, as a reader.

When I saw the thread title, for some reason I pictured authors slipping subliminal messages into TV shows and stuff. Hmmmm...

You know, I think you guys all make some great points. I've been pushing like crazy on Facebook since my book came out three weeks ago. I've managed to sell around 30 (some sales figures not in yet). Chances are, I've ticked some people off. I know I don't like the hard sell when it's used on me. No wonder my wife is sick of me talking about it.

The thing is, I'm probably doing pretty well for a first-timer at this point. I'm just impatient. Who doesn't want their novel to be an instant success? I think it's time to ease up a bit. Okay, ease up more than a bit.

Thank you for this thread. I have my first book coming out next week and as I'm British I hate bigging myself up and am full of self-deprecation.

Good luck Jane.

To me, social media is a classic example of passive advertising. You're not directly saying "buy my book". You're creating an interest in you, and that leads people to check out your website to find out more about you/your work.

I think there is a difference between using the internet in a way that sells books, and egotistical bragging.

That said, you don't have to do it. Really, you don't.
But if you don't will it affect your sales? That is quite possible.

merrihiatt said:

Good luck Jane.

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Thank you very much

Jane Wallace-Knight said:

Thank you for this thread. I have my first book coming out next week and as I'm British I hate bigging myself up and am full of self-deprecation.

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I'm a Brit and hate taking the stand too. But since I've started blogging, running a website etc, it's not been as bad as I thought. Just give it a go.

Fallen said:

I'm a Brit and hate taking the stand too. But since I've started blogging, running a website etc, it's not been as bad as I thought. Just give it a go.

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Yeah, I have started a blog and a twitter account. I had to give an interview for manloveauthors.com and found it so hard talking about myself. No one could accuse me of arrogance lol.

I hate talking about myself too.

Oh, and I'm British. Well, I'm American now. It's definitely a trend, isn't it.

I'm terrified of crossing the line from promotion to spamming, too. My book came out yesterday and has sold a whole five copies...but I'm working on it.

For some real life passive advertising, try leaving bookmarks or flyers at your local library. Not sure if that's going to work, but at least I got a broad smile from the librarian .

I recently was seated beside a woman that teaches PR to college students. Her tips for authors didn't contain any jewels. She considered social networks a must. She mentioned "guerilla advertising" similar to what Ninja fingers called passive advertising, as a different style to consider.

Her suggestion was to ask people who travel a lot to drop of your bookmarks, business cards, etc., wherever they go to add an additional layer to local efforts. I wonder if anyone here has tried this?

turningpoint said:

What about those of us who hate self-promotion? Is there a better way to go than mentioning one's work again and again all over the internet? Does anyone ever do well as a self-published author based only on word of mouth?.

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I'd look here: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=241431

BAY said:

Her suggestion was to ask people who travel a lot to drop of your bookmarks, business cards, etc., wherever they go to add an additional layer to local efforts. I wonder if anyone here has tried this?

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That's the kind of thing PA suggests. They also said put your bookmarks in other people's books at libraries or bookstores

It's unprofessional in the extreme.

Now, bookmarks when you're at a con or ALA or ABA? Sure. Especially for a newly released or forthcoming title.

Business cards, yes, but you don't just drop them off. You give one to someone you have a contact with that makes keeping in touch with you/your Web site relevant.

Participate in the conversation; make that real and primary, while making it easy to discover who you are (online Profiles that link to your Web site) or by giving someone with whom you already have a connection a business card (or a bookmark).

The thing is, you can push all you want on your own Facebook page or twitter page, but you're still just reaching the same people. And if you're new and haven't built an audience yet, that's not very many people. And someone else can go make a bunch of identical posts on Goodreads groups or in blog comments. So it seems like the person is doing a lot of promotion but there are no sales and everyone is annoyed.

But regular promotion, like blog tours coinciding with a release, like mentioning sales and events on twitter and Facebook, like actually having a presence there (aka. being human) are totally valid, non-spammy things that will ultimately lead to more sales than if you didn't do them.

Keep in mind, too, that everything you do is cumulative. This is really hard to see or care about at the beginning, I know. But my most recent release, I did virtually no promotion for and my sales were the best they've ever been. Partly that was because of that particular book and just dumb luck, but also there were a lot more people who said 'oh, so-and-so? Yes, I've heard of her, I've read her before, I'll check out this new one.' Now for my next release I'm going to gear up and do a big blog tour, multiple actually. So you can take breaks between books and skip doing anything for certain releases.

But (I don't think) this isn't a question of being a spammy braggart... I don't even think that would help you sell books. I find blurbs from other authors and review quotes work the best for me. I'm hardly going to go anywhere, even a guest post where I've been invited and say "my book is so fabulous, everyone read it." Instead I'm just going to talk about how I came up with the idea (or whatever), show the cover and book blurb and include a nice line from a review. If someone is interested and wants to read it, cool. If not, also cool. No pressure.

Medi, thanks for putting the link in up thread. That was a fabulous post. When I set up my website, I put my twitter link under the social links. My blog post went to my Tweeter. I realized its automatic on posts unless I edit. Newbie learning curve.

I won't be "guerilla marketing." I hate litter. I'd heard of guerilla style gardening to wipe out urban blight, but not guerilla marketing.

What I did was politely ask the librarian if I could leave a few bookmarks on the circulations desk. So it was WITH the library's permission and assistance. Leaving them in other people's books I was NOT comfortable with. They're not litter if they're neatly arranged in a leaflet stand .

My business cards go to people who might be able to give me a gig, interview me on their website or podcast, etc. Business cards are not for fans, although if I was somewhere and out of bookmarks, I would give one to a fan. (For this reason, my cards ONLY have website and email. If I have a reason to give somebody a phone number, I write it on the back).

Really, though, I've had to learn to be more outgoing. Talk about things you enjoy, not about your book ALL THE TIME. Talk about what you read. Then slip the book into the conversation.

If you are genuine, engaged, and thoughtful online, people will find your books by checking your profile.

Actually you don't have to blatantly shove your book to people's faces, if that's what you mean. You can always use optimization tools online. You can do it without being “salesy.” You can contact an optimization specialist like Lead Generation Lab. You can also get a lot of ideas from this video: http://blip.tv/the-rise-to-the-top/...-without-being-a-product-pushing-jerk-3646863

AmberS said:

The thing is, you can push all you want on your own Facebook page or twitter page, but you're still just reaching the same people. And if you're new and haven't built an audience yet, that's not very many people. .

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If mostly what you do is just use social media, and being entertaining or and/or informative, it can be quite a lot of people. If you choose to be entertaining and/or informative about topics related to your books, they might not even consider the occasional post about them to be "pushy" and may even buy them.

Good thread to come across since I'm inching closer and closer to self-pubbing. I too have a problem with self promotion in regards to social media. I have no blog, no web site, I use Facebook infrequently (and don't have that many "friends" on it that could make a difference in selling my book anyway.) and Tweeter is out of the question. So the real question here is, what CAN I do to promote my book? How do I start and maintain a blog when I feel my life isn't all that interesting to keep people interested in it? Have I completely wasted all the time I've invested in writing my manuscript, because after over fifty rejections from literary agents, I'm starting to think the story just doesn't have the legs to cut it. (Just got 2 more rejections today, matter of fact.) So what can a completely digitally inept duffer like myself do to generate sales should I choose to go the self-pub route?