Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter is @TheIWSG and hashtag #IWSG.
Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. Remember, the question is optional!!
Alex's awesome co-hosts are Rebecca Douglass, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Cathrina Constantine, and Jacqui Murray
July 1 question - Is there anything you'd like to see changed, added, and/or rearranged about the book publishing industry?
I believe book publishing, especially for indie authors, has been escalating. It is somewhat easy to self-publish if a writer so desires. The drawback, for me, is the marketing aspect.
Although, even a traditional published author or being published with a small press a writer must/or should self-promote themselves.
In this day and age, it's beneficial to become a social media guru, which I am not. Yet, media sites do help to get you and your books noticed.
New sites keep springing up, like Tik Tok, and I personally have no interest in learning how to navigate a bunch of new ones.
ReplyDeleteThanks for co-hosting today!
Even Amazon posts when a book is a TikToK sensation. Doesn't mean the book is an excellent read. These sites can help under-represented authors. But......still...it's frustrating to navigate, like you said.
DeleteYes, marketing is hard and too much pressure is put on the author to do it.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is!
DeleteYou can have the best product but if no one hears about it, it won't sell. I'm not a marketing guru for sure, but those who are will slay it. Haha!
ReplyDeleteYes, some authors are exceptional in marketing.
DeleteI actually worked as a marketer, promoting a Christian camp that was not associated with any particular denomination as a retreat center. I've also sold other stuff off and on through my life, so I don't dread marketing my own stories. I'm not saying I'll be good at it, but I don't dread it.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot to it besides writing the books, isn't there? Frustrating sometimes. @samanthabwriter from
ReplyDeleteBalancing Act
True words. I guess it boils down to "doing our best".
ReplyDeleteYou have great covers, so I'm sure the right readers will notice them.
ReplyDeleteMarketing is not something many authors are good at--it's kind of the opposite of what we do!
ReplyDeleteI am NOT a social media guru either, Cathrina. And you are correct. Today, ALL writers need to market and promote their books.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I hate marketing. It's because I just want to write and create. I was born in the wrong century. Thanks so much for co-hosting this month.
Thank you for co-hosting this month. I'd say a good percentage of writers aren't keen on the marketing aspect.
ReplyDeleteThanks for co-hosting this wonderful group, a resource as will as security blanket for many of us - a community! I wrote a blog post on March 4 (see my URL) that was the major elements for a talk I gave on marketing - I hope you'll find it useful.
ReplyDeleteI will never be a social media guru, Cathrina! 😂. And sites keep multiplying faster than the bunnies living around my home. I'm with Alex, I don't want to deal with them. If I'm an old fossil, then I'm going to be a velociraptor. 😂 Thanks for co-hosting this month!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a whole new marketing world every three years anymore. Master one site, watch as it totally changes.
ReplyDeleteAnonymously Esther O'Neill, East of the Sun, no google, thaznks again for co-hosting.
ReplyDeleteMarketing phobia isn't just my Achilles heel - I suspect it's all of me. How to change this ? Go back and start again , but from where ? After ID fraud and worse, I quit even minimal social media. Before epublishing, some writers in my area started to leave print copies of indie books on benches, at stations, other public places.
Marketing is a constant struggle. A lot of the comments have already pointed out my main problem with self marketing, which is how often the dang sites change or become irrelevant just when you finally got into a groove on one. Established authors like Chuck Wendig are big proponents of owning your own blog domain and marketing on other sites in a way which brings people to your blog, and I tend to fall into that camp when it comes to this whole issue. You own your domain, so at least you know it won't get deleted overnight or bought out by some company which will totally trash it. It's difficult no matter what! Thanks for co-hosting today.
ReplyDeleteMarketing seems to be a problem for many of us. It isn't just one aspect of it, it's all of it. Just as the word "hopeless " came to mind, I saw an article in WD that introduced (at least to me) a company called Gatekeeper Press which seems to offer everything a writer would ever need. Every little bit helps ;-) I'll check it out and certainly let everyone know if it's worth a try. Thanks for sharing and for co-hosting! Happy July!
ReplyDeleteTHanks for co-hosting the blog hop!
ReplyDeleteThanks for co-hosting today!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to just write and have a marketing guru solely working their all for me to market my work. Leave it all to them. Unfortunately, that's not possible.
Thanks for co-hosting this month. I think finding a marketing strategy that works for you is more important that trying to master social media. It can definitely be part of your strategy, if it works for you, but exploring other options is also a good idea. There are a million people living in my region, if I focus on reaching those readers, it's a lot less pressure than trying to reach the whole world.
ReplyDeleteYeah, marketing and distribution are hard for an indie author. But it is still wonderful that the indies can get their books published without anyone saying they are not good enough. The big trad publishers are not looking for good writers. They are looking to maximize their profits. That's all.
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard to find time for writing AND marketing AND social media. Gah! I've caught myself using marketing and social media as a way to procrastinate on writing. Hard to market if you don't have something to market.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! Thanks for co-hosting.
ReplyDelete