My head is buzzing and my feet are stuck in clay! My fingers are poised on the keyboard but my eyes keep drifting from the computer screen to the ocean outside my windows and I’m trying to think. Thoughts come in words and phrases and follow one after another in a circle. I think you, my readers, may recognize some of these. You know the ones that keep streaming in with no action behind them because they’re circular!
target audience, holiday book signings, tweet, post, blog, write, sell, promote, follow, join groups, comment, like, apply for awards, hashtags, tags, guest blog, email, call, search, watch tutorials, learn more, do more, ad infinitum
I know the target audience for our book, Saving Libbie the Lobster, is children but young children don’t buy books so how do I appeal to the adults who can’t wait to purchase an awesome, based-on-a-true-story, signed by the authors, one of a kind, fun, funny, educational, artist illustrated, children’s book? “All of the above words in red” you may respond. But which ones work the best? There must be a way to do less and accomplish more — an easier, softer, smarter way that doesn’t include an “Upgrade to Premium” which costs money which is what I’m trying to bring in, not put out.
I think if I can just finish this blog, I’ll be doing well. But the moment I stop writing, the litany of words starts over again. And too, what about my novel, The Jumping Off Place? It is finished or just about and after it’s finished, there is a whole new target audience!
Maybe there is a solution after all. I haven’t found it yet but there must be one. It’s not rocket science I’m sure, although I think I understand rocket science better than that terrifying word — marketing!
If you can relate, please leave your comments below. If you have solutions, please leave comments below. If you have funny stories or anything that will stop this circular stream of consciousness, please write in the comments below.
And as always, thank you for reading.
http://www.libbiethelobster.com/
https://www.facebook.com/LibbieTheLobster
Libbie the Lobster 
October 14, 2015 at 6:57 pm
You’ve got all the information there you just need to implement it! as you said, the children are the consumers and the adults are the customers who make the decisions and finance the purchases. Remember that children WILL judge a book by its cover. Use this to your advantage and focus on the illustrations that children will enjoy, using ‘pester power’ to your advantage so that when kids pick up the book, or when their parents do, they see the colourful images and will make a purchase. I’d really like to hear from you more, I’m new to wordpress and will be releasing my first blog within the next few days. If you have any tips for me or want to carry on this discussion, let me know. Thanks, Tom
LikeLiked by 1 person
October 14, 2015 at 9:38 pm
Thanks Tom and good luck with your new blog! What has helped me with this blog (I have another one in the works) has been to keep them coming as much as I can and build a following. I don’t know how much of it sells books but I am also on several social media sites with our book (I do the marketing and my co-author takes care of the hard stuff – the money). We have sold hundreds of books. I’ve slowed down over the summer months due to some surgery and more recently I have been devoting time to finishing my novel. Marketing can be quite daunting at times. Thanks for the feedback. I’ll check out your blog and follow you when it’s up and running.
LikeLike
October 15, 2015 at 11:38 am
Thank you! i will try and gain a momentum thanks for the tip! i’ve got a few more ideas on the way so that’s good!! Congratulations on finishing your novel! Just released my first ever blog! Very exciting times!! Would be great if you could check it out and tell me any pointers! Thanks for your reply, Tom
LikeLiked by 1 person
October 14, 2015 at 7:51 pm
My advice–stop thinking about it and do it. (hahaha, I know, pretty funny coming from me) Find all the kid themed festivals for 30 miles in each direction and get your butt out there…even if it means forking over money for a table. Your power is in face to face…people meet you and they can’t help but buy your books, because they love YOU.
There’s nothing to fear my dear…you’ve got this!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
October 14, 2015 at 9:42 pm
Thanks Becky. You always believe in me even when I don’t believe in myself. I love you for that. So how exactly do I find kid themed festivals for 30 miles around? I guess I could just Google that hunh? So if I find a bunch, will you join me when you can because you have young adult books? ❤ 😀
LikeLike
October 14, 2015 at 8:44 pm
I’ve only sold a few physical copies of my book in person, and even less POD. Most of my sales are ebooks. That’s okay though, the percent I retain is greater on ebooks than POD. I would think “Saving Libbie the Lobster” would move at all of these little fall festivals/fairs. I think my grandkids have been to a half dozen this month and there are more between now and Halloween. The kids have enjoyed all of the bouncy houses at their school events and such, and come home with tons of junk…I would love for them to be able to come home with a book instead. 🙂
I hear you on the head full of words. I may have blogged four times since April. I am so ashamed. I still check in on the people I follow and comment when I have the time. Presently, I am trying to get the final edits done on one book I have been working on for two years. I finished it in April of 2014…went through a year of beta reads and edits. Still wasn’t satisfied with it. Sent it off to a professional editor, got back his edits, and still working on it. I hoped to have it published by the first of December, but it’s not looking like that’s going to happen. FB, Twitter, Pinterest, ENT, have all taken a back seat to e-juice mixing, kombucha brewing, jewelry making, trying to get Naked Alliances ready for publishing and trying to write The Conduit. I have no clue, really, how to cross genres. Having written a historical novel followed by a comedy crime caper, and then a serious crime thriller….I dunno. I’ve tossed around thoughts of a pen name, or different version of my own name for the historical fiction and the crime fiction to help clarify for readers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
October 14, 2015 at 9:50 pm
Wow Susan! It sounds to me like you are doing a whole lot of good things – writing eating healthy, more writing. That’s great! I wish I could just show up at these kid events but you can’t just show up at most of them. They want money for vendors. I know in my town the cost to put up a table at the events in the park is prohibitive. But I will find some. Best of luck to you in all of your endeavors.
LikeLike
October 14, 2015 at 10:27 pm
I’ve had some luck with face-to-face presentations at schools. William and I load up our little dog Millie and a bunch of books. Of course, teachers help me plan in advance. So far, they have been very open and helpful. They make it ‘an event.’ The teachers send flyers home to parents earlier in the week letting the parents know who is coming and what is going on. Parents are always invited. Parents will send money or checks with the kids if they feel they want to purchase. I make it a point to NEVER pressure parents for money. If I don’t sell a bunch of books, it’s still fun and I get my name out. I prefer to speak to smaller groups, not an entire school assembly. (I’ve been offered those gigs, but it’s too much for me, plus I like a more intimate setting, so we usually do classrooms.) I’ll do a little ‘Pet-Care 101’ for the littler children and allow them to talk about their own pets and how much their pets mean to them. They get a meet-and-greet with Millie who loves children more than she loves me. If it’s older children, I speak on the joys of writing your feelings, getting fears and frustrations out on paper in order to release tension and anxiety. One savvy teacher gave a class an assignment to her classroom, asking them to write a paper on what their pets mean to them. Teachers love these presentations. It gives them a break from the classroom, and they enjoy the event as much as the kids. I end the experience by donating several signed copies to the school’s library. We also have a drawing for a free signed copy. The kids like that. Schools are captive audiences for selling children’s books. Girl or Boy Scout Groups. Anyplace where children gather. Just read your newspaper’s social events roster. There’s usually something there that you could work with.
LikeLiked by 1 person
October 14, 2015 at 10:50 pm
Thank you Becky. Those are great ideas. Heather and I did go into all of the Flagler County elementary schools last year during Celebrate Literacy week. We read our book to thousands of kids. Some of the teachers sent emails to the kids’ parents and out of all the classes in each school over five days, I think we sold a handful of books. We did donate our books to each of the school libraries. But I like your idea of smaller groups of kids and maybe I can somehow go through a couple of teachers I know. Girl and Boy Scout groups is a good idea too. I don’t want to sound like I’m making it about the money. Heather and I wrote the book to make kids happy. Getting it into their little hands is getting difficult and maybe we have saturated our area. I never look at newspapers but I think it’s time I start. You’re awesome my friend. ❤
LikeLike
December 28, 2015 at 3:46 pm
You could check FlaglerLive.com and also the free newspaper, The Observer. I have a ton of marketing educational stuff, and you’re welcome to borrow any.
LikeLike
December 28, 2015 at 4:03 pm
Thanks. I’m okay for now but I’ll keep my eye out.
LikeLike