I hate marketing
writing & updates
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writing & updates 〰️
Marketing is my worst possible nightmare as a self-published author. I don’t have a big following, heck I have no following, and I can’t decide on one marketing strategy. Here is my experience with all of them, and why I decided to just throw all of it out the window.
TikTok
Tiktok can get you a lot of views quickly, but I want to remain faceless (already had issues with students finding my personal tiktok which forced me to go private because safeguarding. The business one might still have my name on it, but I can always deny and say it’s someone else with the same name. Hard to do that when your face is plastered on it.) and I don’t necessarily have the time to produce content in a way that makes it worthwile. I still use it and try out different format when I can, and I also post silly animations if I get an idea or a trending audio inspires me.
If I was a romantasy artist specialised in YA, I’d definitely use TikTok more because that is right in BookTok’s alley. But that is just not what my book(s) is (are going to be) about.
Instagram has been my main social for years. But getting views on your content is a hassle. All of the followers I gained were people whom I know irl and wanted to show support (I’m really thankful for them) which is great but ultimately does not cultivate an audience.
I also got bored of the format of Instagram for marketing. I feel like it’s just doing the same thing over and over again, until you have something else to talk about. It feels pointless, I don’t know. I’ve looked at how other accounts with bigger following go about it, and I just can’t see myself doing that every week.
I will probably keep using it for big announcement and launches but that’s it.
X
No.
Threads
Half of the time I forget I even have it. I don’t think I’m built for the short-but-frequent format of the posts.
Tumblr
I spent a lot of time on Tumblr during my youth. So I did join it and started doing some promo. I do think it has solid potential, I just wasn’t sure how to use it or go about it. But now that I have started Substack, I think I’m going to post my newsletter/essays/articles/posts on both bottom of my bag and Tumblr. Especially because I noticed one post I made months ago had gained a bit of traction.
YouTube
Okay, this one is peculiar. I initially made it because I wanted to create an ambiance video for one of my characters (which you can find here although I’d recommend the short version if you just want to see the 4 loops animations). I saw other creative people had YouTube channel and how they talked about the great benefits it had for self promotion.
But again, I want to remain faceless. Meaning that I have to make an animation every time I have something to say. Animation takes time. I did make one video, but I don’t really like it anymore. Besides, I did notice that most “creative” accounts with a big following usually post 95% of the time about how to get successful and 5% of the time about their actual creative work. They felt more like marketing coaches than creatives in terms of what they were selling. I end up not really trusting what they say about how to get famous quickly, because the business method+audience as a creative and a marketing coach would be completely different. Some of it is good advice, I am not denying this, but it won’t make your art sell as quickly as a pdf titled « Get your small business from 10 to 1000 sales in a month ».
I am keeping YouTube, but only for animatics, ambiance videos and such.
Substack
I do love Substack. I did use it originally for promotion, but much like YouTube I didn’t really have much to say about my book other than look it’s there, it’s funny, buy it please. Which just felt very disingenuous and in-your-face. So I decided to start using it like a proper blog, and simply put my self promotion at the end of my posts. I think I will keep doing that.
In a way it feels like I am no longer putting my book out there but my thoughts, my brain. And if the synapses look active enough, people will—of their own accord— decide to dig a bit deeper to see what else that brain has produced.
Paid-ads (whether it be on social media/google/amazon)
Absolutely not. Making promotions and deals, yes sure. Paying for ads, no. I absolutely despise seeing ads interrupting my media consumption, or seeing it plague my web page. Henceforth, I won’t inflict it upon others. I know it’s dumb. How can I expect to be known if I don’t use ads? I don’t have the answer to that, maybe a fairy will pop up and decide to bless me with luck or something. Either way I am not using ads.
Overall, I think it’s pretty clear I am terrible at doing things I don’t enjoy. I cannot be bothered to do things I don’t want to do. In the end, rather than using strategies and specific wording, I’d rather just leave it up to luck. Now before anyone attacks me about privilege, the only reason I don’t care about being famous is because my teaching job earns me enough to live decently if I don’t overspend, and I am happy keeping my writing as a hobby. Sure being a full time author could be fun, but like… I’m not that delusional.
I will post my thoughts and rants on Substack and Tumblr. Upload my animations and silly headcannons on Tiktok and Youtube. Announce new releases/merchandise on Instagram.
There will be crisscrossing here and there obviously, so that people don’t miss out on anything. But that’s about it. Fate will do its thing, I don’t really care about becoming a super famous best selling author. I had one 5 star reviews over 8 months, and I already feel like my job is done. Just the fact one person I don’t know read it and liked it is enough.
But if you live around London and are feeling lucky…
Pass by the following Little Free Libraries, I left a little something in there.
Little Free Ling Road Library
63 Ling Rd, London E16 4AW
K2 Telephone Box (Book Exchange)
Lewisham Way, London SE4 1XL
Little Free Library
Charterhouse Square, Barbican, London EC1M 4AY
Little Free Library - Islington
71A Lofting Rd, London N1 1JA
Little Free Library
119 Abbotsbury Rd, London W14 8EP
I know there are more Little Free Libraries in London but I couldn’t afford getting more than 5 books at the moment. I might redo this at some point this summer.
Also, I left a surprise in each book. Anyway, have a nice treasure hunt!
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