On self-publishing and marketing your memoir

Let’s face it: Most of us will never sign a contract with a traditional publishing company. Thousands of writers don’t make the cut, not even good writers—not even great writers.

But nowadays we have publishing options we didn’t have only a few years ago: self-publishing companies. They offer various services for various prices.

Note: They also publish books of varying quality, in both contents and materials. Too many self-pub books can’t be described as “high quality.”

Having said that, many self-published books are top-notch quality, so much so that some prolific traditionally-published authors are now going the self-pub route. Self-publishing can be an excellent choice for most of us.

Nevertheless, some people continue to turn up their noses at self-publishing.

“Some writers will think you’re not a good writer because you’re self-published,” writes Joanne Dannon. “There is still a stigma that you’re not good enough since you’re not traditionally published….”

But if you want to be a good writer, Joanne says, “Focus on being the best writer you can be. Self-publishing is not for bad writers, it’s for motivated, savvy writers who write quality books….

“Successful self-published writers have excellent books with a well-written story, professional editing and formatting as well as a quality well-made cover (not home made)” (What I wish I’d known before self-publishing).

To write and publish a professional-quality memoir, you must work hard.

Become a student of everything related to writing, publishing, and marketing.

Among other skills, improve your self-editing abilities. Bethany Cadman offers tips in Practical Advice for Editing Your Manuscript.

Also check out Jami Gold’s post, Writing Habits: We Can’t Fix What We Don’t See.

And then there’s successful marketing: We must educate ourselves, pre-plan, and commit to hard work. Look over Joanne Dannon’s blog post, What I wish I’d known before self-publishing.

I highly recommend Sandra Beckwith’s blog, Build Book Buzz. Begin by checking out Facebook advertising for authors: A quick-start guide.

If you want to be

“motivated, savvy writers who write quality books,”

educate yourself.

Make it your goal to publish a well-written book,

professional in editing and formatting,

whether you’re publishing your memoir for only friends and family,

or for the masses.

Do you have a plan to promote your memoir?

The closer I get to publishing my second memoir, the more I look for marketing ideas.

I find book promotion painful. How about you?

But you and I know we must do it.

Marketing can seem like grinning at people and saying, “Buy my book! It’s great!” But that’s not the best way to do it.

There’s an art to book promotion and we need to do it correctly.

If you’ll soon publish your memoir, you must become a student of marketing it.

How do you do that? You can buy books, attend workshops and writers’ conferences, sign up to receive relevant blog posts by email, and follow pros on Facebook and other social media.

Below you’ll find links to articles I’ve found helpful.

Sarah Bolme at Marketing Christian Books says, “Most people hate selling. They also hate being sold to. So, stop trying to sell your book and start trying to connect with your potential readers.”  Read Sarah’s advice about creating emotional connections, including Mark Rodgers’ list of seven types of emotional objectives in persuading people.

Jocelyn Green shares helpful tips in her post at Christian Authors Network, including:

• her most effective means of promoting books
• the least effective promotions she’s tried
• connecting with her readers
• the craziest promotional gimmick she’s used
• unexpected doors for promotion
• tips for new authors promoting their first book

The Book Designer offers tips on what to do and not do in publicizing books:

• learn when it’s a good idea to give away free books and when it’s not
• listen to the pros, not your family and friends, about your book’s cover design

The Nonfiction Authors Association shares tips from “the industry’s best, brightest, and most innovative experts.” In this post they answer the question, “What are some of your best tips for leveraging social media for authors?”

Debbie Young at Self Publishing Advice Center encourages the following marketing methods:

• joint promotions by groups of authors
• targeting specialist markets, not just bookstores
• networking with people from your past
• bookish acts of kindness

I highly recommend you follow Sandra Beckwith at Build Book Buzz. She’s a real pro. Check out her post, Who are your key influencers? in which she explains how to find your influencers and what to do with your influencer list.

Sandra Beckwith recommended a post over at Just Publishing Advice. Check out Ten Marketing Mistakes New Authors Make.  

Do you know what metadata is? If not, you need to educate yourself. “Book metadata is all about making your book more discoverable,” says Derek Haines at Just Publishing Advice. It’s “about words and phrases that will help readers find your books.” And that’s what you want, right?

I’ll post more links to help with your marketing strategies, but for now, begin by taking in all the information in today’s post.

Let’s help each other! 

If you have marketing tips to share with us, 

leave a comment below 

or on our Spiritual Memoirs 101 Facebook Page.