Marketing – that indefinable route to success. There are three things the writer needs to decide.

  1. Are you trying to do it for a living?
  2. Are you doing it for family and friends or to satisfy an urge to see your work in print? Nothing wrong with this, many do.
  3. Could you successfully market your book without much outside assistance?

There are no right or wrong answers to these and it will determine the level of help you need. Ultimately, it will dictate the level of involvement you will require from ShieldCrest.

Let’s clear up one thing right away and it is something, regrettably, that publishers are reticent to tell you or make misleading statements. If you think that retailers up and down the country will wish to place your book on their shelves once they learn it is available, that will not happen. Obviously, shelf space (and cost) is at a premium and reserved for books they know are in demand and will sell quickly. However, book shops local to the author might well do so and be prepared to host book signings.

Similarly, if you think by simply having your book available on Amazon or any of the other major retailer web sites, it will automatically sell thousands, then forget it. If no-one knows the book exist how are they going to find it among the millions of other titles available?

Marketing is key to getting your book known and our most successful authors have taken the lead in opening up their market with our support. But they don’t stop there. As already stated, even if your book manages to get onto a retailers bookshelf, it doesn’t automatically guarantee someone is going to buy it. You certainly can’t make anyone purchase your book.

So what does ShieldCrest do to help?

  • We’re honest about the prospects for new and unknown authors to avoid disappointment and so they don’t think they are going to be an overnight success. However, they can still be successful.
  • To be successful, the author must be fully engaged in the marketing programme.
  • We provide a range of support services to help the author get book sales underway.
  • Our news release service to thousands of media specialists potentially interested in your book lets readers know your book is out there which helps accelerate sales.
  • We make the book available in hardcopy and e-Book versions to suit all electronic readers worldwide.
  • We distribute your e-Book globally to Amazon, Kobo and to over 100 distribution channels for download anywhere in the world.
  • We feature all our author’s books on our regular blog which automatically feeds into Facebook and Twitter thereby giving the book a kick start.
  • We have a specific marketing programme targeted at Social Media which features the company’s services and authors books.

Someone else’s opinion of the book will certainly help. We provide the options of written or videoed reviews. The fact it has been reviewed gives it a certain kudos. Don’t worry if the review isn’t as complimentary as you would like, it is someone else’s honest opinion of your book, which can only be helpful. In any event, sometimes the critic’s views are very different to the ultimate reader’s opinion and it might tempt your customer to find out more.

One word of advice. Paying for an advert is unlikely to work as it is you telling the customer it is good. What author would say otherwise?

The important thing to remember is that we’re always here and never stop helping our authors.

Doesn’t publishing through anyone other than the established publishing houses carry a stigma?………More