Marketing. The dirty word. Basically, I havn't got a clue and we've been stumbling around learning what we can, trying anything that we can do without financial outlay (except for a bookbarbarian promotion which worked great).
But, here's the question - if you had a budget of say £1000 or so, what could you do to get a novel in front of a lot of readers? Would a profesional marketing person be within that scope? Where would you find one? What else can you do?
I have zero skills or knowledge in this area. Without being egotistical, I think this is the single largest obstacle we have; getting the book in front of potential readers. The book is so well liked by 99% of readers, it is a bit depressing being unable to simply get it if front of a really large number of people.
Anyone have knowledge on how to really market an indie book, at reasonable cost? We will try bookbub but we all know how hard it is to get a gig with them.
Remember this: advertising is short term, marketing is long term.
I'm speaking from the place of being a minor but successful romance author, and it's important to understand that advertising a book may get you a few sales but if you are in this game to make money, you need to understand how that advertising fits into your marketing. Yes, it's about branding, and i know some authors hate that idea but it's a valid, necessary marketing tool. You are not advertising a book, you are advertising an ~experience~ and branding helps people understand what that experience is going to be. I could go into great detail on that but let's keep it simple:
As others have stated, writing more books to build a fanbase is key. So is an email list.
Make those two points work for you. Don't just include a link to sign up for your email list at the end of the book, offer a free epilogue or character backstory short story for the sign up (I like bookfunnel for this, it's worth the small change subscription) because that will really get them to click the link. Likewise, use a prologue short story (with "buy" links to the full book right after "the end!") and give it away via an Instafreebie campaign, which gets you both email sign ups and (if people like the prologue) buyers of the book. Or, go permafree with that prologue and go "wide" with it, to steer people to your book. Either way, you're pulling people to the book, with almost no money out of pocket to do it.
Facebook ads are not too expensive but I've heard from other authors that their buy-through rate has been dropping lately. AMS ads do work, if you have either a great niche to mine or a fantastic cover/blurb. The key with AMS is keywords, even moreso than the keywords you use for the book itself, and they are a good way to spread the word about a "first" book when there is little else to market. I honestly have not used any promotion services/sites, so I can't speak to that for SFF books.
Throw a few bucks to advertising this book, but think carefully about how you are establishing your marketing -- are you pulling people into your email list? are you creating a recognizable brand? how are you "teasing" readers to keep up with your releases? etc.
Good luck!
Good luck!!!
