Your Questions Answered
Marketing isn’t as hard as online coaches would have you believe. Here’s a few answers to some writer questions.
A few months ago, I sat down with writers from Huddersfield to answer their questions on Marketing. Here’s a few of the questions I was asked.
1) Someone has been converting my ebooks into PDFs and putting them online for free. What can I do about it?
Firstly, don’t panic! There are some steps you can take to handle the situation smoothly.
First off, gather up some evidence like URLs and timestamps. Keeping a detailed record of what’s going on will help if you decide to take it further.
Then, consider shooting a friendly message to the website hosting the unauthorised content. Let them know you’re aware of the situation and kindly ask them to take it down. You’re protected by UK copyright laws, so don’t worry—you’re on solid ground.
To discourage future sharing, think about watermarking your ebooks. It’s like signing your name on your work, and it might make people think twice before sharing it without permission.
If all this legal stuff feels a bit overwhelming, don’t hesitate to reach out to a legal expert for some advice.
This situation can take a while to sort out in the best of cases. Just remember, you’ve got a community of readers behind you! Encourage them to support you by buying your ebooks and spreading the word about respecting creators’ rights.
2) How do I get my book into libraries? How do you keep track of Public Lending Rights?
Firstly, ensure your book is accessible through library wholesalers like Nielsen BookNet or Gardners, aiding libraries in accessing diverse titles. Or approach your local libraries directly, either online or in person, to ask about their acquisition process.
For Public Lending Rights (PLR), a UK system compensating authors for library borrowings, register your books with the British Library. This includes your work in the PLR system, so you can receive payments based on library borrowings. Tracking PLR is simple, as the British Library collects borrowing data from libraries, using it to calculate payments to authors. Just keep your contact details updated with the British Library for prompt payments.
Overall, the process involves distribution efforts, outreach to libraries, and registration with the British Library. It’s not just about getting your book on shelves; it’s also a fantastic opportunity to connect with more readers and earn royalties for your hard work!
3) I put a link to my author’s blog on another writer’s site, and they link back to my blog. Is this a genuine marketing tactic?
Yes! It’s called affiliate marketing and basically means a partnership between yourself and another party to promote your books.
The most common type of affiliate marketing you’ll see at the moment is when influencers share paid content with a discount link. They could either be paid a set amount or a commission based on the sales from their audience.
It doesn’t have to be influencers though! You could work with bookshops in the area by referring people to buy your book from their shop for a time – that’s just one example!
4)My novel is set during a holiday. How do I market it throughout the year?
That depends how creative you want to be. There are memes about celebrating Halloween in May, and countdowns to pumpkin-spice lattes.
You could write a scene about your character during another holiday, and send it out as a newsletter.
But really, you need to set a goal and a timeframe. Do you want to market your winter novel during the summer? You might want to run a social media ad for 3 months, and then compare your sales to the previous season.
5) I want to use social media but I don’t want to take photos or record myself. What else can I do to promote my book?
Don’t worry about this at all! Normally, book-related social content doesn’t show the author’s face – Unless they’ll be meeting their readers face-to-face at an event.
If you follow your favourite authors and really look at the type of content they’re posting, it could be book covers, or character designs, mood boards, or key locations. It’s rarely the writer in front of a camera.
When you’re on social media, what kind of content do you like and share? This’ll go a long way in finding what’s right for you.