They say the hardest part of self-publishing a book is the marketing. But, truthfully, any publishing contract negotiation these days will ask you how YOU plan to market your book. So, either way, if you publish, you are responsible for marketing your book, at least partially.
Marketing is hard. I have an Etsy shop and constantly trying new ways to market. Some succeed and some don’t
Marketing a book will be much the same.
My indie publishing tip for today is to Sing It Out Loud!
Your book, no matter how good, will not sell itself.
I’ve posted notifications on all my social media outlets about the release of the poetry anthology.
The book’s birthday is April 7th, 2024. If you haven’t heard, it is for sale on Amazon. Just search for my name or the title, or click, here.
Looking at this objectively, I need to email the authors included in this book. I’ve couched the release inside of other posts.
Why? I am not so sure.
It’s been a hectic week. I was in New York when I got the final two proof copies of the anthology. I wanted to move things along so I had the second copy sent to my Dad’s and the third copy sent to my Sister-In-Law’s home. I was still in New York when I pressed the publish button on KDP, on Saturday, April 6th. We traveled there and back between April 1st and 9th – the very end stages of work on the book. So, maybe I’ve been lax about keeping participants informed due to my travels. It’s not an excuse, just the way it was.
And I thought I’d put my travels out there so I’m not judged too harshly. It was time to visit my 87-year-old Dad. The trip came before the book was finished.
But, today, I will sing it out loud!
The anthology is finished and in the world for all to enjoy!
I’ve ordered author copies. They are on the way to me. I bought the bubble mailers in which I’ll send the book out to the included authors. It’s hard to wait. I know!
The book has 114 pages and 25 authors from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia. Each poem was inspired by a photograph of a scene from nature. All are previously unpublished works.
A backmatter section includes resources for teachers, parents, and students to use this book as a mentor text.
I want to send a public thank you to all who trusted me with their work. You took a risk. I hope you feel like it paid off. I feel grateful for the risk we both took – on each other and our poetry. So, thank you to all who participated in this anthology!
My state poetry group will help promote the book. I’ve posted on FaceBook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn about the project’s completion.
I have yet to put it on my Medium.com page. Medium is somewhat fickle about promoting work not done on the site, especially if one submits to a publication. I’ll have to publish and promote the book under my page and name. That’s fine.
The IngramSpark upload is on my to-do list this week. It will be great to have the book available to libraries and schools.
How can you help?
Any help from readers of the anthology will be appreciated. How can you help market the book?
- Spread the word that you have new poetry published.
- Leave a review on Amazon if you purchase from them – this is very important for the book’s success on their site.
- Send me a testimonial – How was I to work with? What do you think of the work included in the book? Would you suggest others buy it? Why? Let me know that I’m free to use your review and/or testimonial in my marketing.
- Buy a copy as a gift for a teacher, librarian, or friend you know who likes poetry or even yourself.
What’s Next?
I’ve been mulling this over. Since I have the Canva Pro software for ten more months, the way to use it is fresh in my mind, and I have more drafts ready to go, there will be another publishing project.
I’ll let you know what it is as I start to work on it. It’ll be a solo work but also useful to teachers and parents.
I also have a novel to finish. I’m 32,000 words in; I should finish it.
Is there another anthology in my future? Most likely.
I’ve enjoyed the experience of curation, layout, and publishing of Picture Perfect Poetry!
Thank you!
The Apples in My Orchard 