Any tips for marketing self-published Ya?

starrystorm

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I could trust a few website's I've found, but I'd rather hear it from actual writers who have self-published before, particularly YA authors. I want to know what to avoid, what to do, what worked and what didn't work. What mistakes you made the first time and what you wish you'd done instead.

Thanks in advance.
 

starrystorm

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I think I'm going for a website. I've heard Blogger's good.
 

Woollybear

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Have you poked around online to read blog posts and articles about how to market? There are some Facebook groups and the like, try Indie Author Support. 20 books to 50K is another.

My advice: Keep your expectations low. Consider book signings. Social media presence. Write the next book.

Those are the things I do and suggest. I have a website but there are no sales from it. People occasionally download my free fiction, and that's fun to see happen. The website is a way to have a presence online. I do get people stopping by, but not often. It costs a little money. Will likely be a financial drain for most self-publishing scenarios of a first book. But still not a bad idea.
 

kittymowmow

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You can use Wrodpress for free. And post a blog. That's the best way to show people your writing chops without a book released yet, and to keep your readers happy once you have a book. But the websites don't sell much. Google stuff like, "Teen Influencers" and "best book promo sites for 2020." Check out Kindlepreneur.com and creativeindie.com for some great ideas. You want reviews to get customers so Google "YA reviewers" and see if you can find some reviewers. That's the best publicity, aside from writing the next book.
 

MaryLennox

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I belong to the camp that says "write the next book". :) The bottom line is, it's really hard to get your very first book noticed. I wouldn't spend money on anything until you have more than one book out - just stick to the free stuff for now.

For my first couple books I got really into researching and contacting book review bloggers. I'd say for every 50 I contacted, only about 3-4 got back to me, and of that 3-4 maybe 1 or 2 actually posted a review. It was super time consuming and while it was nice to get that one review, it really didn't make a difference in sales. I don't bother doing that anymore.

My first publisher was also really into Blog Tours. I didn't really like the blog tours because it required me to do extra work on things that I felt were kind of cheesy, like character profiles and random other stuff I really didn't feel like writing (The main character's Top Ten Favorite Movies, My Top Ten Favorite Books featuring Dragons...). I felt like no one even ended up reading them and I definitely don't think it helped with sales. And now, those cheesy things I'm embarrassed by live on in the depths of the internet, forever. I have no idea how much money this publisher spent on setting up these blog tours or if they had a connection with a friend or what...They weren't very high profile blogs.

I have used free review sites like BookSprout and Reader's Favorite. It's free and I got at least a handful of reviews, so that was nice. It took up a very small amount of my time, so I plan on continuing to use these two whenever I have a new book out.