The M word; How to Market your Book.

Marketing. Yikes.

Now that the excitement of receiving my boxes of books has died down the tough work of 'getting it out there' starts. Here are a promo pic I took for The Isle of Wight County Press - my gorgeous friends Amelie and Alis and their chums.

Technically speaking, this is the bit of publishing children's books I'm least comfortable with. It's pretty hard to tell everyone how wonderful/terrific/genius/educational/insert-your-own-adjective - when you're a typical Brit who doesn't like to blow trumpets in general, let alone one's own. 

There's a good way of circumnavigating this difficulty and it comes from my Uncle's philosophy of 'Get Over Yourself'. I used his advice on Artist's Block, where he suggested the best way to break through that barrier was to 'make some sort of bloody mark on the paper'. So, the best way to get over feeling shy about your fabulous piece of work is to say some bloody words about it!! preferably nice ones. 

How do you start?

Here's my top ten tips:
1. Imagine you are someone else talking about your work. You really like it a lot. What would you say?

2. Get someone to quiz you about how you made it/ why you made it/ what you are going to do with it etc, so you have some answers stored as a back up.

3. This is your livelihood or hobby. You'd better bloomin' like what you've made - so tell people your story. People like to hear the history of a piece of work.

4. Understand how to write a press release. Google it. There are loads of ideas and tips on the Internet.

5. If you feel the urge to say something like 'It would have been better if I had...(insert your own end of the sentence), then roll up a virtual sock and shove it in your mouth. Only say positive things.

 6. Some people won't like what you do. This is because they have their own thing to do. Their thing is not your thing. Don't get hung up on it. If they say something unsavory, have a 'thanks for your comments, it all helps to build my next project' answer. Your next project might be an Hoover that exterminates negative-comment mutterers for all they know.

7.Invest in all the lovely things people say about your work. Keep them in your head (and maybe in your Amazon reviews if you are a book maker!)

8. Tell people about what you do like it's the first time you've said it. You might have told 3,000 people already, but this person is listening to you for the first time. 

9. Ask the people who are engaging in your work what they like about it. Ask them if they could leave you a review on Amazon/your website/ your blog/ twitter.

10. Get over yourself.

Oh and by the way, if you've seen my books and you like them, please can you leave me a review?
Here's some links that will take you straight there:
The House on Hare Hill
Flossie Bonce
Royal Fleas
Vincent and the Vampires
Wally and Bert, BFFs

Thank you so much! I owe you a cuppa!!
Jules x