I’ve shared the above image on my social media sites as well as my website. Officially, this will be my first book launch party. I have my doubts as to how well it will be attended, but I’m happy I’m doing it. If I can build my readership even more before the next book comes out (no idea when that will be), then I hope to do a launch party on a grander scale.
If you’re able to attend on Sunday, I really hope you can come.
The most difficult part of my writing journey is the marketing and promoting of what I write. On one hand, I thoroughly enjoy going to readings and appearances and meeting people who often become new readers, and I even enjoy posting things about my books; however, it’s overwhelming because there are simply so many places that I could share about my books but to have any sort of real effect, I have to be posting things daily on all the social media sites.
I’m not even on all the social media sites, but I’m on enough that it really eats into my time. And, while I’ve become far more adept at those sites than I ever imagined I’d be (or ever even wanted to be), I don’t have the talent or the desire to create all the fancy videos and things that I should create to catch the attention of potential readers.
Sometimes I feel like I’m whispering into a giant storm or a massive void and I’m not being heard (or seen) at all. Even if I am being heard/seen, people quickly move on to the next post or video and instantly forget mine.
If I don’t post, though, very few people at all will ever hear about me. Yes, I have done many appearances, and I have more lined up, but the number of people who come to them are small, and about half of those people simply plan to check out the library’s copy. While I love that they are using their libraries, I need people to buy my books — that’s simply a fact.
I’m not alone with this frustration — most authors, even traditionally published ones, have the same problems. Fewer and fewer traditional publishers even spend money to market their books, so authors everywhere are scrambling to build their readerships through social media and the like. Many spend thousands of dollars to pay for advertising and marketing for their books, too, knowing their is a very slim chance of ever recouping that money through sales.
I don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on advertising. Heck, I don’t have tens of dollars to do that, so I must stick to the places where I can share about it for free.
Thank goodness for social media and my website and email and my blogs, etc., where I can post things for free. Without them, I don’t know how I would get the word out at all. I’d have to stand on a busy street corner with one of those old-fashioned sandwich boards strapped to my body while I hawked my wares — believe me, I’ve considered doing it, so don’t be surprised to find me and a large stash of my books on a street corner near you someday.
Prior to a week ago, the social sites I used were Facebook and Instagram. I’ve dabbled on Twitter/X, but I’m not very fond of that site at all. There’s a ton of politics and negativity on it and people just being downright mean, so I don’t use it much. For a while I’d been considering giving TikTok a try because of the HUGE impact that the BookTok portion of if has had on the publishing and book-buying world, but I resisted for many reasons — the fact that it began in China (but has headquarters in L.A. now, too), the fact that it mostly involves making videos and those aren’t my forte, the fact that so many young people are obsessed with it to an unhealthy extreme, the fact that it would just add more nonsense to my overburdened plate, and many other reasons.
However, after visiting my best friend in Mexico and discussing it with her and her 18-year-old daughter and hearing them tell me all the reasons that I should use it and then discussing it further with my own daughter, who is very intelligent and whose opinion I value, I decided to jump on the TikTok wagon for the time being at least. Since joining, I’ve been happy to discover that there are many other people my age, and even older, using it to share anything from silly videos to extremely helpful and even educational ones.
I am by no means, though, promoting TikTok — the BookTok portion of it, maybe. I am, however, saying that I’ve added it as another tool in my arsenal of places where I’m trying to entice people to read my books and to give me a chance as an author. I have enough loyal readers to know that people like what I write, so if I could simply find more of those people, I could make the business side of my writing career look as good as the creative side of it. Sites like TikTok literally open the entire world of potential readers to me — I just have to hook a few.
If you wonder where you can find me online, here is the info sheet I give out at my events, updated to add in my new/current TikTok account:
Tammy Marshall Author of: The Clearwater House State of Georgia . . . and Other Writings Ticker Tape Twinges Trouble on Tybee Her Ride of Die Novel Thoughts – book column that runs twice a month in Nebraska in the Norfolk Daily News Cognate Cognizance – free and paid biweekly word building newsletter and podcast delivered to subscribers’ emails. SUBSCRIBE at: cognatecognizance.substack.com Tomes and Topics – free and paid weekly publication containing pieces of my writings and commentary SUBSCRIBE at: tomesandtopics.substack.com Author website: tammymarshallauthor.wordpress.com Author YouTube channel: Tammy Marshall - Author Follow Tammy on: Facebook @tammymarshallauthor Instagram #tammymarshallauthor Twitter @AuthorTammyM TikTok @tammy.marshall.author Tammy has an author page on: nebraskaauthors.org Tammy is an officer and member of: Nebraska Writers Guild – an anthology from the NWG features two of Tammy’s poems and two of Tammy’s short stories
Ultimately, though, I just want my writing to speak for me, but even my most loyal readers have to be told when and where to buy the newest book, so I mostly have to rely on those social media sites and/or email for that.
Word of mouth, too, is a very powerful and free advertising platform, so please tell any reader you know to give me a chance (and I’ve made this entire post available for free, so if you’d care to share it, there’s a button below to do so). So far, “Her Ride or Die” has gone over well with my loyal readers, “Twinges” has been really popular, “The Clearwater House” is still my most recognized book title, and “Trouble on Tybee” has received solid reviews. “Ticker Tape” and “State of Georgia . . . and Other Writings” have my favorite characters in them.
Currently, I’m trying to finish another story for “Living Here” magazine, and I’m working on a comedy routine for a retreat I’m supposed to be speaking at in January. After I finish the story and polish the routine, I’ll begin tackling the next novel. Actually, the next three novels are all begun, but they each need my dedicated time to complete them. That’s the plan for 2024 — to get the 7th book out there at the very least. For the month of December, I’m going to work hard at promoting what I’ve already written and sending it out into the ether that is social media and see what happens. Maybe I’ll get lucky, and maybe I won’t.
Wish me luck. I’ll have new writing pieces and portions to share with you paying subscribers soon, I promise. Thank you for your support in my writing journey.
Tammy Marshall