it's not a black hole - MARKETING

     But I don’t want to market my work!
     I just want people to buy it.
     Read it.
     LOVE it!
       Yeah, right. That doesn’t exist.  In long ago boomer years…in other words, centuries ago, the rich wrote because they had trust funds or inherited money and could share their work with others of their like who had time on their hands.  Forward to the 19th and 20th Centuries, authors wrote who weren’t rich and did not accumulate riches or notoriety during their lifetimes:
Famous after death--Lovecraft (At the Mountains of Madness);  Poe (The Fall of the House of Usher); Emily Dickenson (Poetry); , Zora Neale Hurston (Their Eyes Were Watching God); , Kate Chopin (The Awakening);  John Kennedy Toole (A Confederacy of Dunces);  Stieg Larrson (A Girl With a Dragon Tattoo).
Those who died poor: Edgar Allen Poe, Nora Neale Hurston, Lovecraft—see the connection here.
Those who had a job to support their writing habit: Agatha Christie (apothecaries' assistant); Charles Dickens (factory worker); Arthur Conan Doyle (surgeon); Fyodor Dostoyevsky (engineer); Harper Lee (ticket agent for Eastern Airlines); Kurt Vonnegut (house painter, car dealer.)
​
Get my drift…
Most authors, especially those who haven’t hit the New York Times Bestseller List several times, have a day job to support their writing addiction. And whether you are published through a traditional publishing house, small publisher, or self-publishing, you are expected to become a marketing guru.

For many of you, Marketing is like standing in front of a black hole. The air is sucked out of you. But to begin, or as a reminder for those who already do, knowing the first 5 Steps in marketing  is the trick:
Product: It goes without saying, write a good book. Read those who write the same type of book you do and figure out which their books you liked and why. Which books you didn’t like…or couldn’t get past page 20 and why. Like Stephen King in his book ON WRITING said. “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”
Or be brave…write something with a new twist: Harry Potter
Audience: Know the person who is going to read your book. And, p.s., not everyone will want to read it. Start there.
 Place/Promotion
         Places to promote you work. Try a few, and continue with those that bring you the biggest rewards. Either choose one that will free up time, low money, or bringing about readers.
Social Promotions: 
                Twitter
                 Instagram
                 Pinterest

Get help with managing your social networking with apps like:
Hootesuite  (free or little money)
Buffer   (free or little money)
Tweetdeck (free or little money)
MeetEdgar  (money but Free Trial)

Marketing Companies and Services:
Booksgosocial
Bargain Booksy
 Book Sends
 Many Books
Books Butterfly
Bookbub
Book Gorilla
Book Funnel               
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Data Collection:
Create your own marketing by establishing:
Website: Do this even before you publish your first book. Get yourself out there and let people know you.
Newsletter: Develop an email list. Don’t bother buying lists, make contacts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Linkedin.
Consistency:
If Amazon Prime offered a two-day delivery but got each order to its customers whenever it had the time, it wouldn’t be one of the giants today. Make your deadlines in writing your book, the publishing times listed on your website, the promises made to your audience in offering a newsletter.
 
The thing to remember with a black hole is that in marketing if you work the 5 steps above, you won’t be torn to shreds but will eventually come out the other side with those who look for the release of your next book.