by Elaina Lyons
Usually, when I tell people I wrote a book, their first question is, “How long did it take you?” They’re typically surprised when I say it was a 2 year project to write, plus the last year of publishing and marketing.
But the funny thing is, most people assume that writing the book itself was the hard part. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
While I wouldn’t say writing it was easy, it certainly wasn’t the more difficult part of this journey. Even publishing wasn’t that bad.
What’s really been the challenging part of this process is the marketing. (And I’m a professional marketer, so that should tell you just how difficult it is for indie authors!)
Marketing a new book is hard, even for those who do it for a living. Beyond the difficulty of getting your work out there and in front of people, you have to actively work to convince readers that it’s worth taking a chance on you. That you may not be as famous as Colleen Hoover or as prolific as Stephen King, but you have something worth reading just the same.
What’s really been the challenging part of this process is the marketing. (And I’m a professional marketer, so that should tell you just how difficult it is for indie authors!)
Marketing a book takes time, energy and yes, a lot of money. And most indie authors like myself aren’t exactly rolling in cash. So it takes even longer to build up the budget needed to get that book noticed.
Plus, the majority of us indie authors have a full-time job already, and/or families, so we don’t have all the time in the world to devote to the process.
All this to say: Writing the book is, comparatively, the easy part. Marketing it is what’s hard.
What can readers do to help?
- Take a chance on an indie author. Buy a book from an “unknown” writer. You just might love it!
- If you DO love it, tell people about it! Encourage your friends and family to give it a go, too.
- Write reviews. Reviews are our lifeblood. Even the bad ones help us because they show our work is being read (though, of course, we much prefer positive ratings!)
- Share our books on social media. This is a great way to get free marketing for us, and we SO appreciate it!
Of course, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Marketing takes time. But with the help of our amazing readers, indie authors can (and will!) make it. One sale at a time.
Grab a copy of “The Love You Know” here.
Are you an indie author interested in sharing your experiences? Email here to be considered for a guest post!
*Professional photography by Empire Photography.
elainalyons.com 
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