In writing, as in life, there will always be obstacles, but do all obstacles have to be jumped, climbed or staggered over?

Sometimes what is needed is a different approach, if one thing doesn’t work, take a step back and try it from a different angle or perspective.

I’m approaching marketing in the same way:

My initial marketing was to go round book shops to get books into shops, and that did work for a while, but in recent years book shops, like many other businesses have gone out of business, and some of my books went down on those sinking ships.

My next approach was book signings at fairs and events, which was hard work at first, but it was just a matter of learning the ropes. Handing out a freebie is always a good ice breaker, and in my case book marks proved to be very useful. I made the book marks myself on my computer, with book images and information, and website and blog addresses for future contacts and sales.  

I also dabbled in merchandise, hand knitting little characters from my books as a giveaway with a purchase of a book. These proved very popular, and another talking point, although they did threaten to take over the table space, and more importantly my time leading up to a fair. I continue to sell face to face at fairs, but there aren’t as many fairs as there used to be.

I’ve sold a few books, and a few sheep on Etsy, but I felt very much lost in the crowd on Etsy, with the top ranking books tending to be books where a child’s name could be added to personalise a book.

I’ve tried selling direct on amazon, but that is a very complicated and costly thing to get into as a self publisher. I published two of my books on kindle, and made a few sales, but not a significant number.

So what is left? Selling from my own website. There is a shop coming, but first I’m building a bit more footfall to my website. In the meantime I have links to waterstones in the hope of encouraging some sales through a major book seller.

So that is where I’m at right now, still being flexible with my approach to selling my books, but with a clear vision of where I’m heading, if not over the hurdle, then finding my own way round it. or maybe I should find a way of breaking through it…! (Now that is food for thought)



PS  Picture book brewing: I have an exciting new book brewing. The story is written, but illustrations are still in early stages. It’s even been brave enough to venture out into the world to pitch to literary agents, where it got encouraging feedback, but no offer of representation.

And so here is the main dilemma of the self published author: to pitch to more agents, or get the illustrations done with a view to self publishing again, while at the same time keeping up with marketing for the books I already have…