14 Marketing and Branding Tips I Learned at the RWA Writers Conference

This post–marketing and branding tips for writers–is part two of all the great things I learned while attending the Romance Writers of America 2018 annual conference.

My previous post, part one, covered 12 Writing and Research Tips I Learned. Check. It. Out.

But first, look at these 14 marketing and branding tips for writers.

• Sell swag or merchandise that connects your reader to your book series, like Jillian Dodd does.
• Consider selling books directly from your own website. This can increase traffic to your site.
• Have a Books webpage on your website to make it easier for readers to see them. Include a blurb, a trailer, if you have it, book cover image, and buy buttons/links. If you’re pre-published, call the page, Work in Progress, instead. Add a blurb or summary of what you’re working on, information about the characters, and stock photos that correlate.
• Make specific books exclusively available for free on your website, such as novellas or short stories. This increases engagement and creates loyal fans.

• Try an online ad campaign to sell your novel, using a platform like Facebook. Author Skye Warren starts with 6 versions of an ad, only changing one thing in each ad. Then, she’ll monitor which version runs best. Her takeaway: her more successful ads include a small inset of the book cover image.
• Use the back matter of an e-book as a marketing feature. Include links to your social media sites. Provide a link to sign up for your newsletter or mailing list. Add a chapter entry of your next book, especially if your book is part of a series. Include links to buy your other books.
• Follow a strategy for pricing e-books, such as a high-priced front list and lower priced back list, weekly discounts, or a temporarily discounted back list.

• Start a newsletter, if you haven’t already, even if you’re pre-published. Newsletters are still the number one marketing tool that converts into sales.
• Try doing a giveaway or other incentive for readers to sign up for a newsletter.
• Set goals. For example, aim to get 250 newsletter subscribers, five comments per blog post, or 100 downloads of a free short story.
• Create a brand identity that speaks to who you are as an author and aligns with your genre—including logo, tagline, book cover art, website, social media, writing voice, and author headshot.
• Design book covers yourself with Canva or video book trailers with Videorama.
• Continually evaluate and refine brand and marketing strategies.

Check out #NovelAesthetics on Twitter to see what people are doing.

For comment below: What other marketing tips should I add to this list?

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash, Anthony DELANOIX on Unsplash, Gemma Evans on Unsplash