As an author, you’re probably always trying to find new readers.
Here are 6 great ways to help to boost your career and get more readers:
1) Be Part Of An Anthology
It may seem a waste of your time as an author or writer who is wanting to become professional. But being a part of an anthology is priceless exposure, especially if the publisher or author who is in charge of the anthology has a large social following. As an author myself, I have had several readers tell me that they got into my books as a result of reading one of my short stories from an anthology. So get sending your shorts out, or accept any offers, and who knows, maybe you’ll be lucky and be compensated financially.
2) Blog Tour
This is crucial when marketing a new release, but all year round you should always be trying to reach more readers, bloggers, and reviewers. You want to continuously be pushing yourself and getting as much exposure as possible. And blog tours are an excellent way to do that. More importantly, people who follow blog tours are hardcore readers. And I shouldn’t need to tell you they would be invaluable for your career.
3) Get More Reviews
Be polite. Be kind. Edit and polish your work to perfection. Hire an editor. Reach out to your target readers/bloggers. And fingers crossed, your book will get some wonderful reviews that will give it a nice overall rating. A lot of readers rely on honest customer reviews when purchasing books, so you must always be working to get more and more reviews.
4) Have An Awesome Website
No typos! Plenty of organized information. Links everywhere (but not too in-their-face). An appealing colour scheme. A nice and easy-to-understand layout. An opt-in pop-up (getting them to sign up to your newsletter).
5) Have A Newsletter
No ifs, ands or buts! It may seem like an impossible task when it comes to building that newsletter. But do your research and you’ll be rewarded. Newsletters, even in 2016, are still one of the best marketing tools out there. People sign up as they like what you’re offering and selling. An author newsletter must not always just say ‘buy my book!’. You need to be more subtle. Feature behind-the-scenes content, exclusive teasers, competitions and so on. But always put a book ad or two in the newsletter. If they buy a book, they buy a book, if they don’t, they may not be able to that month, but still be planning on it.
6) Learn From Your Results
It still baffles and infuriates me as both a marketer and author, writers seem to blindly promote, send newsletters, reach out for reviews, all without having some kind of system to stay organized, and most importantly, learn from the results. If you don’t keep track of the results when using a promotional service, you will just keep wasting money. If a reviewer always gives you bad reviews but you don’t keep track of this, you will keep giving out free copies to a reader who clearly just doesn’t like your work. Think about it guys. Make a system, one that works for you personally, and stick to it! It doesn’t have to be an Einstein or NASA system, it can be simple, straight-forward and easy. But trust me, you need one!
These 6 ways may seem simple, and most authors may already be utilizing these tools/tips. But are you doing them right? If your newsletter isn’t growing at all, what are you doing wrong? Your website isn’t getting any views, why? If you are using these tips but nothing is coming from them, you need to go back to the drawing board and figure out the problem. Ask fellow authors!
Wesley Thomas is a bestselling horror author, owner of Wesley’s Author Promo Service, head of marketing for a UK firm, and works as a freelance writer for several websites. He loves reading, painting, fitness, movies, traveling, good food, and spending time with his family & friends. Authors, sign up for his monthly writing and marketing tips here.