When I first set out to write a book, I never thought there were so many extra things that went with it. After all, I just wanted to write. But, I adapted. Even if I underestimated the amount of marketing I needed to do. Writing that line now, I want to laugh, because it's obvious to me now. I mean, how else would people find my books?
Let's just say that marketing and I are not friends.
If you look at the psychology of marketing, you're appealing to human emotion and you're connecting with some aspect of it. This is what we do in our books. We tell stories that people relate to in some way. But for me, that's far easier to do in a book. With a 7 second reel that you need to master with a hook and a trending audio, with an algorithm none of us understand?
It's enough to do my head in.
Then, you need to have a solid newsletter strategy and look at outside sources of marketing, too. It can be overwhelming at the best of times. As an indie author, our unofficial rule is if you don't know how to do something, you learn how to become an expert in it. The same rule applies here.
Here's the thing, trying to do everything at once is a sure fire way to make sure you get nothing done. It doesn't help that when you see another author doing something that you aren't, you immediately feel like you need to do it too, even if you're not sure how it applies to your work. These were mistakes I made for a long time.
Now I've learned, start with one thing. Focus on it, drown out all the noise and become good at it. Then, you add another thing, and repeat. The saying "planning is 90% of success" also comes to mind. Because this plan helps you know what you're working towards and helps solidify your strategy.
And you know what? I'm finding that with all these things in mind, I'm actually starting to enjoy marketing. Something I never thought I would say.