There’s nothing like the satisfaction of holding your book in your hand and saying, “I am a published author!” And there’s also nothing like the misery of marketing your book. Ugh.

My day job is with a web design and development company. We don’t do a lot of marketing for ourselves, thanks to our loyal clients and their networks, but we operate within that sphere. I wouldn’t call us a “marketing company” exactly, but we do know an awful lot about marketing.

Even with all that experience, I find marketing my own books and presentations frustrating, and I know I’m not the only author who does.

Finding the right audience and platform, learning new technology, writing copy that resonates – all of these things are not only difficult to do, but often not usually within a writer’s skill set. One could hire a publicist or a marketing specialist, but according to income studies, it’s probably more lucrative to be the publicist than the author!

I have a series of presentations I’m promoting this summer, and the marketing slog is getting me down. Since I’m presenting for other organizations, the promotional part is, technically, on their To-Do List. But since I’m the one who has to face an empty room, I try to do as much marketing as possible for events like this.

Writing one’s own bio and a book or presentation blurb is tough. The object is to sound intelligent, hype up what’s being offered, and sprinkle in all the appropriate search terms. What I fear, however, is that it will sound pretentious and boring, with witticisms that don’t land well.

There are online tools to help evaluate writing, including blog headlines. When I ran the title of this post through the tool, for example, I got good scores for clarity and relevance, but was told I lacked “linguistic flair that would make it memorable.” Then the tool provided some suggestions:

• The Hidden Struggles of Book Marketing: Why It's Harder Than Writing
• Mastering the Unbeatable Challenge of Marketing Your Book
• Unveiling the Tough Reality: Why Marketing Beats Writing in Difficulty

To me, they all sound like the “one weird trick” kind of headlines that scream “spam.” But maybe I’m wrong? Do people not pay any attention unless the message is over-the-top?

Recently, I read an article with the title “AI Fatigue Is Real and It’s Costing Brands More than Engagement.” https://martech.org/ai-fatigue-is-real-and-its-costing-brands-more-than-engagement/ Apparently, there’s a backlash against AI-generated music, visual arts, and writing for being “inauthentic” and “creatively bankrupt,” particularly among younger generations. So maybe the “one weird trick” headlines are on the wane?

That’s encouraging news, but writing copy is only one aspect of marketing. Figuring out where to put one’s marketing message is even harder.

An obvious audience for me is Agatha Christie readers, so where do they hang out? I’m doing my darndest to find local book clubs, bookstore customers, and mystery fans, both online and in real life. I’m also looking for people who just want to get out of the house and see something other than TV. Community calendars, news releases, Facebook groups – I’m working all the angles.

As exhausting as it is to do this kind of marketing, I understand that it’s also exhausting to be marketed at. With so many events and organizations vying for attention, those Agatha Christie fans I’m trying to reach may be glazing over and missing my messages.

If you are also an author marketing a book and presentations, you already know all of this. But you should also know that you are not alone in the struggle! Since folks can finish reading a book way faster than authors can write a new one, we’re not competition, we’re comrades.

To that end, here’s a quick pitch for one of my author comrades: Rooted, a pirate romance set in 1612, is running a read-along right now. It’s like an online book club with an exclusive new chapter as a reward at the end. Rooted is getting all kinds of incredible reviews, so if you enjoy a spicy, slow-burn historical romance with a strong female lead, you will like this one a lot! https://emmagoldingwrites.com/books/#Rooted

Also, if you’re in the Elgin, Illinois area on July 24, come see us present “Lost Lingo” at Club 120. Don and I share the podium talking about phrases Christie used one hundred years ago that are unfamiliar today. You’ll learn something, but it’s also fun!

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