Wow, it’s June already, Winter has definitely arrived in our part of the world and with it has come more rain and thick fog today. There might even be the possibility of snow towards the end of the week. In April I promised you part three of the realities of self-publishing would be in my May blog, but if you read that, you already know I changed my mind and wrote on the topic of National Dinosaur Day instead. The link to read that is here if you missed it. The link to the Realities of Self-Publishing Part 1 is here and the link to the Realities of Self-Publishing 2 is here.
You may have wondered why I decided to take a moment to write something out of sequence? It’s an important part of marketing. Writing blog posts helps you connect with your readers especially if you write on topic. National Dinosaur Day is on the 7th May, so I would have been remiss in my marketing if I hadn’t written May’s blog on dinosaurs, especially considering it is an ideal way to market my book Fossil Frenzy.
Blog posts are a great way to start to build an audience. Well before your book is due to be released, consider writing a regular blog that readers will look forward to each month. It is an opportunity for your readers to get to know you and what you like to write about before they invest in your new release. Of course, a regular newsletter does a similar thing, but why not do them both, it increases your reach to a larger audience, as not everyone wants to sign-up to a newsletter arriving in their mail box every month or more.
Don’t forget to consider whether you want to use social media platforms and decide which one or ones, suit you best. Personally I use both Instagram and Facebook, I gave up on Twitter or X years ago, and have never attempted Tik-Tok. I have made posting to both easier by linking my Facebook business page with my Instagram account. Deciding what to share is always a difficult question. How much of your personal life do you want other people to know about? I feel it is best to limit this but it is a fine line between letting your audience get to know you, and be comfortable with you enough to trust you to want to buy your books. I very rarely share anything about the rest of my family on either of my business pages, I prefer to keep my family private. Share more things that interest you, what made you decide to become a writer, where do you write, what do you like to do when you are not writing? I hope you get the idea. There are many people online that can give you advice on what are the best things to share and how without me going too far into all here.
Enough about social media, lets look at other ways you can find to market yourself. In person marketing is often far more valuable.
Become involved in writing groups and associations. You might find your tribe at SCBWI, (Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators.) We have a great SCBWI group here in the ACT, I encourage you to find your local group and consider joining them. It’s a wonderful place to connect with other writers who will help and support you every step of the way. From Professional Development days to simple catch-ups of a cuppa.
CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia) is another great association. It has many members who are also teacher/librarians who enjoy connecting with authors.
The Story Creators Community is a small group of writers here in Canberra set-up to help those new to writing and needing advice on how to get started.
Attend other author book launches and events. Be supportive of other authors especially in your genre. You will meet and make some great friends, and gradually build a fantastic library of books. Just this weekend I attended a book launch for an author who has become a great friend over the years. There were many other author friends there in attendance to
SCBWI ACT Connecting with Creatives
“ast weekend I attended the Book Launch for my friend Maura Pierlot.
There were many other authors I know there to share the celebration.
Once you have a book or two, you can attend speaking events. Find and take the opportunity to do these whenever you can. You just may find your next fan. In May I spoke at the SCBWI (ACT) Connecting with Creatives event in a school library after school hours. It happened to be held on National Dinosaur Day, so naturally I wore one of my Dinosaur dresses which made for a perfect conversation starter and lead into my chapter book Fossil Frenzy the Adamson Adventures 3 and subsequently the rest of the series. In my previous bog, the Realities of Self-publishing part 2, I wrote about the speaking engagement I also had with SCBWI ACT on their recent Professional Development Day.
Being authors of children’s books, you should also consider whether you are comfortable doing school visits. These are amazing opportunities to connect with your readers directly. Author School visits can be difficult to land, especially when you ask for an attendance fee. However, I encourage you not to do these for free, the ASA (Australian Society of Authors) has a list of recommended rates to consider that I suggest you contemplate. I am fortunate that I have a regular offer of a school visit with a certain school every year or two. Secrets Hidden Below the Adamson Adventures 1, is set in Bali, and includes much to learn about Indonesia. Because of this, I am often invited to speak to the year 3 & 4 students. This book has now been published since 2018 and yet is still getting offers for school visits and purchases by families in and around my region. Just last week, I enjoyed two visits to a school to talk about this book again. I loved every moment sharing my inspiration and knowledge not only on Indonesia but on topics for all the books in the series. Not to mention connecting with kids and filling more wonderful book orders. Knowing these kids are going home keen to read my books makes it all worthwhile.
Markets can be another great opportunity to help get books into the hands of your readers. These can be fun, but be aware that there is usually a stall fee which in some cases can amount to quite a significant part of your sales. I did one market in Sydney several years ago that cost me $120 to share a stall. I had hoped that being in Sydney there would be enough traffic to make a reasonable profit. Unfortunately with the addition of two nights accommodation I did not make a profit, but instead a loss. Still, it was fun to engage with fellow children’s book authors for the weekend. Another aspect of markets you should be aware of is that people usually come to markets in search of bargains, so don’t expect to sell your books at full RRP. One last item to consider is whether the market is indoors or outdoors. Outdoors means you are out in the elements, the weather is not always kind. I did a Christmas Market one year, that was not only very hot, but extremely windy. My books came home covered in dust and dirt.
Sharing Secrets Hidden Below with year 3 students last week.
Sharing Secrets Hidden Below with year 4 students last week.
I hope you have found this series of blogs helpful. Have I missed anything?
If there is something you wanted to learn and I haven’t discussed it here, please let me know in the comments below.