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Hellooo, everybody! A lot of you've been asking me, ‘Hey, Jenna, when are you gonna
do a vlog about marketing for writers?’ Never! Just kidding, this is the marketing vlog. It's
happening right now. I'm going to list the basic, easiest, most essential marketing techniques that
all writers can employ in order to widen their potential audience reach. A few things to keep
in mind. I'm going to be giving you an overview of each of these tools. I could easily make ten
vlogs about each point on its own, but I'm not going to do that. I am however going to direct
you to the best resources I found for each of these tools, and those resources are classes
on Skillshare. Skillshare is an online learning community for creators with over 15,000 classes
in creative writing, social media, design, and tons of other subjects. Users can take classes,
participate in projects, or even teach classes themselves. This vlog is brought to
you by Skillshare, and most of you already know I am a huge fan of their platform,
I use it religiously. And it's especially valuable for writers because there are so many classes
available that cater to every facet of being a writer. Not just creative writing, but business,
publishing, and of course marketing. So rather than just give you an overview of these tools,
I'm going to be referencing the specific classes I took and found most valuable toward learning these
skills. That way you can take these classes too. Consider them cyborg approved. Next point. There
are two types of marketing that writers gotta do. Product promotion, which is where you market your
novel. And brand promotion, which is where you market yourself as a writer. You can and should
be marketing yourself as a writer long before you have any work ready to be released. And everything
I'm about to cover can help you do that. And my last point, these tips are not exclusively for
self published writers. Traditionally published writers have to market themselves as well. This
is a new era of the writing industry folks, publishers reserve a bulk of their marketing
power for their most influential writers. And a lot of those writers became influential because
they marketed themselves. There's no skirting this step guys, sorry about it. And on that note, let's
get to the tools. Number One (1): Become visible on social media. If you don't have an active
social media presence, you're shooting yourself in the foot. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr,
a bunch of other platforms, get on ‘em. It also helps to understand your target audience, and
where they're spending their time online. Twitter is a lot more popular among younger people,
so if you're writing young adult, new adult, or crossover content, get to tweeting. But whatever
you do, get on social media and engage with readers and writers. It's super easy. You have
hashtags at your disposal like ‘#amwriting’ or ‘#bookbuzz’ You can also search through authors
in your genre or style, and mingle with readers who dig their work. Now there are a ton of social
media classes on Skillshare, and a lot of them are platform specific. One class I personally like
that covers several platforms is ‘Building Your Online Presence: Personal Branding Through Social
Media’ by Kate Aarends. This class covers how to use social media to create a brand which is really
important for writers. The most successful authors are ones you know by name. And in this industry,
our name is our brand. Number Two (2): Make an author website. Of all the marketing tools,
this is the one that receives the most contention. “But Jennaaa, do I have to?” Yeah, you do. If you
were looking to buy a laptop, or a line of makeup, and you discover the company didn't even have a
website, you probably be thinking, “Well screw that. Why don't they have a website? Are they
working out of their mom's basement? What are they hiding?” If you wanna be seen as a professional
writer, you have to have a professional website. Your website serves as a hub where readers can
learn more about you, your work, and your online presence. I know you might be intimidated,
but there was really no reason to be. Domain names are super cheap. And if you can't hire a designer,
there are plenty of platforms available that will help you easily design your own page. If you've
been following along with my quarterly goals, you'll know that I actually plan to overhaul my
own website in a few months, so I've been taking a ton of classes on Skillshare because well,
I'm clueless. I highly recommend 'Website Builder Software Previews’ by Rich Peterson. It's a super
short class that compares different web design platforms. That way you get a look into how each
of them works without having to commit. And I also really liked ‘Personal Branding Essentials:
Making the most of Squarespace’ by George Denison. This class breaks down all the content you should
feature on your website and also shows you step by step how to add this content. Basically,
this stuff is a godsend to people like me who don't know what they're doing. Number Three (3):
Set up a mailing list. A mailing list is one of the greatest assets a writer can have. It's also
the one tool most writers skip. “Pfft! I don't need a mailing list, I already sold three books
this year, to my parents…and grandma.” It's nice to have a strong social media presence, but you're
just one person in a sea of people. You can easily get drowned out. What's great about a mailing
list, is you're delivering content directly to your audience's inbox. Additionally, these people
volunteer their email address that means they want to be informed. Setting up a mailing list is
super easy, and there are several platforms that are free to use until a specific email count is
reached. Slap the link on your website, get some email addresses, and set up a campaign. Let your
audience know what you're up to in your writing process. Create a call to action: that could be to
read chapters you recently posted, to participate in a giveaway, or of course, to buy your book. For
a more in depth look into mailing lists I strongly encourage you to take the class ‘Getting Started
With Email Marketing’ by Alison Van Houghton on Skillshare. This class walks you through how to
set up a successful email campaign, what kind of content to include, and of course, how to build
your mailing list. Cuz you gotta send the emails to someone. Number Four (4): Create a blog. If
you're an aspiring writer, you kinda have to have a blog. Seriously, the Evil Writing Gods deemed
it so. And you don't have to be a veteran writer to know that there are a ton of blogging styles
to choose from. A lot of writers start off as book bloggers, others chronicle their publishing
process, some talk about book covers, fan art, or just life as a writer. Experiment with different
themes until you find your groove, and be sure to post regular quality content, because quality and
consistency are key to building an audience. It's worth mentioning that the blogging community is
highly saturated. So some writers are segwaying into vlogging. Vlogging is a great option,
but it's also a much more vulnerable medium which means you have a higher chance of criticism,
and trolls. It's not for everyone. Regardless of the direction you choose, once you get started,
be sure to mingle with other bloggers. It's really common for bloggers to write guest posts,
or interviews for each other's blogs. That way you're exposing yourself to their audience and
doubling your reach. And these appearances can expand to other mediums like podcasts, magazines,
or radio. Now if you're a total blog newbie, I'd recommend Skillshare class ‘Blogging Basics’ by
Teresa Christine. Seriously, if you have no idea where to start, this is it. If you already have a
blog, but it's not really generating the response you want, I recommend a another class by Teresa
Christine called ‘Creating Blog Content Your Readers Actually Wanna Read’ Once you have
a handle on these first four marketing tools, you can finally move on to Number Five (5): Giveaways.
Giveaways are a very effective method of growing your audience and getting them involved. A lot of
writers are a little turned off by the idea of a giveaway, because it requires giving stuff away.
“I'm not Scrooge McDuck. I don't gotta a vault filled with cash!” But most giveaways are either
incredibly cheap, or free. You can give away something as simple as a $4 ebook, or a free
critique, and get hundreds of new followers in the process. The key is to incentivize the giveaway:
if this person follows you on Twitter or Facebook, they get double or triple the entries toward
whatever prize you're offering. Then you just sit back and watch your follower count increase. Now
giveaways are great, but there is a right and wrong way to do them. They should always be a
source of thanks, and a symbol of success. “Wow! I just reached 10,000 subscribers. In honor of this,
I'm giving away an ebook. Thanks, guys.” You don't wanna announce a giveaway as a means to reach a
milestone. “Once 100 People buy my book, I’ll give away a signed copy.” This tactic reads as
desperation as opposed to celebration. Giveaways are supposed to be uplifting and fun. They're also
supposed to make you look good. And there are so many different ways to feature a giveaway. You can
celebrate the fact that you've just finished your first draft, or you can participate in a blog hop
and do a giveaway with a bunch of other bloggers at the same time. A Skillshare class you can
check out is ‘List Building With Giveaways’ by Jon Williams. Not all of the content is
applicable to writers, but there are still some really great points, especially regarding how
to translate giveaway entries into a successful mailing list. So now that we've covered the five
basics to marketing your book, we're done, right? Wrong. The single best way to market your writing
is to share your work. “But, but, but, Jennaaa!” Just do it. Slap a few chapters onto your website,
throw a chapter onto your blog. I know it's scary, but the easiest way to develop readership is to
give them something to read. How do you expect them to be interested in your book if they don't
know anything about it? You're a newbie, you don't have a big name or reputation to rely on.
So you're going to have to allow your work to speak for itself. So there you have it. Those
are my basic marketing essentials for writers. If you want to learn the ins and outs of these
essentials, check out classes on Skillshare because they are a lifesaver. Premium membership
begins around $10 a month, but as a special treat to you wonderful little cyborgs, Skillshare is
offering you two months of Skillshare premium, for FREE!
Free. Free. Free. Free. Free. Free. Free!
That's over 15,000 classes for $0. I got a link to your two month free trial listed below.
Skillshare will ask for credit card information, but you can cancel at any time. Click the link,
get free classes. You can thank me later. With that said, don't forget to subscribe
to my channel. I post new videos on Wednesdays and if you have any questions, or if there's
something you'd like me to talk about in my next video be sure to tweet me @JennaMoreci! Bye!