Think Outside the Social Media Box

By Rachel M. Anderson, RMA Publicity

Admit it, you’ve gotten frustrated by all the things you’ve done to sell books that haven’t worked very well: all the advertising on Goodreads, doing book giveaways, producing a trailer, launching a social media campaign, blogging, buying a banner ad on a high traffic website, and the list goes on.

You have to admit that, yes, these tactics have created more traffic on your website, but very few if any of these techniques have sold more than a handful of books.

So what is it going to take to get your book the attention it deserves? You need to think outside the social media box. In other words, stop doing the same things all the other authors out there are doing and try something new, unique, heck, different. Here are a few ideas I came up with. Feel free to try them out and, if you do, please let me know if they made an impact for you:

1. If you have a children’s book, come up with some engaging activities kids can do with your characters, such as word searches, word scrambles, creating their own stories starring the characters, etc. Introduce these activities every time you make an appearance at a bookstore or school. Getting the kids to interact with your characters is a sure fire way to get them interested in your book, and when their parents see how excited they are, they’ll want to buy it.
2. If you have a nonfiction title, try to partner up with organizations whose members may be interested in your book. Suzanne Ruff, author, The Reluctant Donor, does a good job of reaching her target audience with the marketing efforts she engages in. Her book is about her struggle with the decision to donate a kidney to her sick sister because of her fear of medical procedures. Every year she participates in the US Transplant Games and secures a table at the event to sell books. She also has a testimonial on the front cover from CNN’s Dr. Sunjay Gupta, whom she had the courage to ask for a quote.
3. In the old days before social media, authors used to prepare press releases and send them to the media, offering a unique story angle in an effort to get themselves interviewed. Call me old-school but this is something I still do every day. Most authors do not.

Think outside the social media box and go back to the old way of doing things. You may be surprised how successful you can be. The one thing that hasn’t changed in the digital age is that newspapers, TV stations, and radio stations still need people to interview. Need help reaching the media? Let me know.