Please Comment: Advertising and Social Media

There has been much discussion in writing circles about how much a writer has to self-promote these days—whether they are published by the big boys and girls or the little boys and girls; that is, the big traditional publishers (is it five publishing houses now?) and their imprints or the plethora of small regional or hybrid publishers.

In the days of old the Hemingways and Fitzgeralds did some book signings and interviews; however, in those days it was all set up by their publishers or publicists. The writers mostly just showed up to the events.

However and unfortunately, most writers, even those published by the traditional houses today, have to do much of this themselves (oh my, but I just want to hide in my office and write all day, not interact with people).

I spend at least an hour a day on promotion, whether posting on social media or scheduling an ad on Amazon Kindle or another service; it’s really not expensive if you manage it right. There are many reputable book promotion services out there (Authors XP, Shepherd Books—as seen on Pop-Ups, BookBub, Bargain Booksy, Written Word Media, Red Feather Romance) and of course you can place an ad with Kindle so that your ad shows up when someone opens their Kindle; it works as I have done this. Also, my small publisher actually does much promotion through lists etc. and it helps, but they have a limited budget as well.

In any event, the return? I actually do grab a fist full of dollars in royalties quarterly from my books. No, I haven’t made a million dollars from my writing (actually through buying and selling property), but for me writing is not about the money but the passion of creating a story and getting it out there into the world. It’s gratifying to say I’m a published author and hand out a business card listing my books and website to people I meet.