The Basics

Marketing Rules

Your title is CRITICAL to the success of your book. Think about some of your favorite books or movies with a different title.

Pretty Woman was originally titled 3000, after the amount of money Vivian (Julia Roberts) and Edward (Richard Gere) agree upon for her week of service. But it was later changed and named after the popular Roy Orbison track used on the soundtrack.

Can you imagine that movie under the title 3000? Blah. Or these titles? It is amazing the power of a good title.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was called First Impressions in the first manuscript submitted by Austen’s father. It was rejected and later submitted under the new name.

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell had multiple titles including Tomorrow is Another Day.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien was titled The War of the Ring.

Your title is the number one marketing tool you have in your arsenal. It is the one that prompts a reader to pick it up off the shelf. It’s an invitation to flip it over, read the blurb, and fall into the storyline. Even a nobody (like me) can get people to pick up their book if the title draws them in. Who wouldn’t want to pick up O-B*tch-uary? When they do, they are chuckling. Just sayin’.

What I’m sayin’ now is, I need a refill. You? Come on, sweet cheeks. Let’s getta fresh cuppa and a nibble. We have lots to cover. We are mere pages away from the end of this gem and we must decide what to do next. Thoughts? Well get on it while you make yourself some yummies. I will go get out our lovely reading rug and my copy of The Novel Writer’s Toolkit by Bob Mayer. We are on page 206.

Let’s talk about some basic marketing rules for your novel.

Rule one is the “DUH” rule. Write the best book you can. See- duh. Remember the power of word of mouth. This can make or break an author.

B. Go for media outlets if you have the cash-o-la. We are talkin’ radio, newspapers, magazines, tv, and don’t forget podcasts. Now, if you know how to sell the local pov then you could get an interview for free. If, however, you are looking to place an ad then cash is your bestie.

Tres. Get a website with an easy address. Like this one. I bought ticia-rani.com to make it easy to direct people here.

D. Have flyers at the ready. No, really. Ladies, keep small flyers in your bags. Men, keep small flyers in your bags. I’m talking 3×3 size or quarter of a sheet of paper (no bigger). Hand them out everywhere. See someone reading at the coffee shop, give them a flyer. Better yet- make sure you have a QR code on that little slip of paper. A quick scan means a quick sale.

Five. Teach (like I do here), go to conferences (once Covid is under control), and network, network, network.

X. Remember this: If you don’t do it for yourself, no one else will.

Genre

https://bisg.org/default.aspx

I cannot tell you just how important this is. Part of identifying your book’s market is understanding genre. Deciding where your book fits means you know who is reading it. As much as we hate to hear it, there are rules to follow for each genre.

• Mystery: it’s all about the crime and the protagonist finding out who done it.
• Thriller: must stop the bad thing from happening.
• Mystery Thriller: global consequence.
• Romance: love is the central part of the story.
• Fantasy & Sci Fi: world building- means longer, possible series of books.
• Literary Fiction: character driven, character growth, inner transformation types of stories.
• YA: this means the characters are young adults- not the readers. I will be linking a few amazing YA books at the bottom of this post. I thoroughly enjoyed them.

And many, many, many more. Each of these genres have subgenres and those have more subgenres. Use the link above, BISG, to read more detail into each classification. Find out where your book fits. The more subs down you go, the less readers you will have. If your readers only want characters with green eyes, then you have fallen too far down the rabbit hole. Back up a few levels and write a bit broader than that.

This is where I tell you to do your research.

DO YOUR RESEARCH!

Next, we will look at the ugly world of Writing Scams. Jerks.

Please remember that I am not trying to write this book for you word for word. I am skipping a lot of detail. I highly suggest you purchase the book and read between the lines.

Polish your sparkle and keep twirling.

Find joy. Be joy. Enjoy.

I’m always looking for new friends!

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Books by B. B. Swann

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