Resources and tips for the self-published author.

Publishing News Roundup Series: The Problems Children’s Writers Face When Marketing Books

by Maureen Crisp •  August 14, 2017  •   Follow

Published in News  •  3 comments

 

Book marketing is always difficult, especially for self-published writers.

It is even further difficult for children’s self-pub writers. How do you find your market when you know the gate-keepers are the adults, and not the child readers? How can you go about it right to make sure to get it into the right hands? Most adults buy books for their children in stores, and are less likely to buy online. How can you get adults to notice your self-published children’s books? How do you get them to start buying online?

 

Navigating The Writing Whirlwind

Pic: Flickr/ Creative Commons – Jon Aslund

 

This week politics filled the news channels. Domestic and foreign policy was under the spotlight. Writers went around in circles trying to make sense of the narratives or gave up and wondered if we had crossed over into a parallel dystopian universe.

 

I have regularly struggled with the notion of where should I be marketing my books given that I am a children’s writer… Publishing Trends takes an in depth look at this problem that children’s writers face and has some solutions.

 

Spare a kind thought for Kat Rosenfield who wrote a Vulture article this week on The Toxic Drama of YA Twitter. Readers criticising a manuscript before it is even finished seems to be at the far end of acceptable behaviour. I’m not surprised that Y A authors might be playing it safe after reading this.

 

So if children’s writers have to play it safe what do they do on Social Media?  Anne R Allen has a great article on her blog on why blogging should be where an author is.
 
Agent Janet Reid talks about the contact page on your author website and how important it is. It’s not about whether you can be contacted. It’s the way you say it!

 

Jane Friedman has been hosting some great guest authors on her blog lately. Recently she has a case study by literary fiction author Nicole Dieker who self published her book. This is a fascinating ‘how to’ for a difficult niche.

 

Also in the case study file Jennie Nash has a terrific article on Why Writers Should Conduct A Performance Review. And you should download her review template. Call it professional development!

 

Startup Indie Author has gathered together a list of resources of great books, podcasts and articles on launching a new book. I can endorse this list because I have half the books and they are really good. (If you are looking for more information on this subscribe to my monthly newsletter and get my Book Marketing Summit notes for free.)

 

Kris Rusch has her final post on discoverability and it’s a must read. Kris looks at aggressive growth strategies – No it is not scary… it’s about timing.

 

Angela Ackerman’s post on authors working collaboratively is still making the rounds and getting comments. If you missed it from last week’s roundup- Check it out!

 

Tabitha Lord has an excellent article on Writers Digest about editorial calendars and how to use them to juggle the writing life.

In The Craft Section,

Two Bookmark posts from James Scott Bell Story and Structure in love and  Let your characters breathe
 
 
Writing all around your MS– Susan Dennard- Save the Cat-Bookmark
 
 
Write yourself into a corner- Janice Hardy – Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Unique swag ideas– Kate Tilton
 
 
Increase book sales – Ryan Holiday
 
 
Effective lead magnets– Meera Kothand- Bookmark
 
 
Market to grow your platform– Matt Aird- Bookmark

To Finish,

Chuck Wendig is always a sure bet for making sense of the turmoil of writing. This week he looked at writing as an act of resource management. This is entertaining and relevant as we all try to find our way through the politics and back to the page.

 

Maureen
@craicer

 

About Maureen Crisp

Maureen Crisp has been writing her weekly publishing roundups for over seven years. She is a traditionally published children's author as well as indie-published. She lives in New Zealand and is heading the team organising the 4th National Conference of Children's Writers and Illustrators. She is currently trying her hand at writing a children’s book series if she can drag herself away from forever tweaking her Mars novel or obsessing over space.