On Marketing and Reader Magnets

I promised myself that I would not write any posts just for writers. My target audience is readers, after all, not other writers.

But I keep seeing writers who are struggling with various aspects of publishing and marketing, and I can’t not help them. So, I apologize profusely to readers who are here for something other than writing advice. Feel free to skip this one. It won’t hurt my feelings.

The latest writerly kerfuffle I’ve seen disparages free books and reader magnets, a view that is, quite frankly, recursive to the point of exasperation. Well, I’m exasperated anyway because of that recursive bit there.

Now, I should make it clear right up front that marketing is my weak suit. I’ve struggled with it from the beginning, but I do have certain strengths, I’ve experimented with a lot of the more popular marketing tactics (and some not quite popular ones), and like most semi- to successful indie authors, I try to stay abreast of the latest innovations, whether I end up using them or not.

This post is based on over a decade of self-publishing experience gained across multiple genres and pen names. Marketing, like publishing, falls firmly into the YMMV category. What works for me may not work for you, and vice versa. On the other hand, what follows is equally applicable to both indie and trad pub authors, or can be depending on the individual’s situation.

As with any endeavor, however, marketing must be approached with an open mind. Full stop. Marketing requires a flexible mindset.

Today’s post covers the effective use of reader magnets, but to get there, I wanted to lay a solid foundation. Dangling a cookie in front of a reader does no good if the author hasn’t covered certain bases. So first, there’s a crash course in the basics of marketing, and then I’ll get into the specifics of reader magnets.

Different Tactics for Different Thinkers

In my experience, there are three kinds of thinkers:

1. Bird’s eye view thinkers can step back from a situation and visualize the overall structure or pattern. They may need distance and time to formulate strategies, but they tend to have a good grasp of the long-term, so long as they don’t become lost in the data.
2. In the weeds thinkers can navigate situations in the moment and pivot with ease based on data received as events occur. They may not have a long-term plan in place, but may not need one so long as they don’t overcommit.
3. Some combination of 1 and 2.

The most successful indie authors seem to be those who can switch relatively effortlessly between bird’s eye view thinking and in the weeds thinking. They can formulate a long-term, overarching marketing plan, based upon a wide variety of disparate tactics, and execute it seamlessly over time without feeling overwhelmed by minutiae or getting lost to the temptation of the shiny and new.

Indie Women’s Fiction author Elana Johnson is a notable example. She started writing fiction around a full-time teaching job and steadily built her career into a seven figures per year business. Part of her success is based on her own intuitive understanding of people, part on her experimental approach to writing and marketing, and part on her workman-like attitude (she’s a workhorse). Elana is a brilliant marketer. More, she’s a brilliant entertainer. Both are reflected in her income.[1]

Most marketing tactics can be used by any kind of thinker or writer. Newsletters, for example, can be used to great effect by both bird’s eye view and in the weeds thinkers, whereas rapid releasing, however one defines it, may not.

The key is to play to one’s strengths and mitigate one’s weaknesses, which entails accounting for thinker type, personality, living situation, available time, and myriad other factors.

I’m not going to dive into TikTok or YouTube, for example, because I lean more toward a bird’s eye view type of thinker; my strengths lie in writing (which can be edited until satisfactory) rather than speaking (once spoken, it’s out there), though I do fairly well with in person events despite being a reclusive introvert. Such events require a heavy dose of weakness mitigation on my part: I bring my son along to handle payments so that I can focus on chatting with readers without becoming overwhelmed; plan extra recuperation time after the event (bless my introverted soul); and spend the week prior reminding myself that I have plenty of experience dealing with people and especially people who like books.

Writer know thyself and adjust accordingly, but not, I hope, to the point of never trying anything new. Staying too firmly in one’s lane leads to stagnation, and stagnation can be a career killer in a rapid-flux industry like modern publishing.

For more on the whole "writer know thyself" concept, see Becca Symes' QuitCast and Better Faster Academy. I also recommend following her Patreon.

Marketing 101: The Basics

For authors of any stripe, marketing falls into four broad categories:

1. The story.
2. Branding.
3. Reader acquisition.
4. Reader retention.

There’s some overlap between these categories, which I’ll discuss below. Authors who master the first two are well ahead of the curve, but the latter two are equally as necessary. Here are brief explanations of each.

Step #1: Write a good story.

Obvious, right? But also the hardest part of a writer’s job. Successful stories are both well-written (the mechanics are sound, i.e. grammar, punctuation, sentence and paragraph structure, etc.) and well-told (they demonstrate a mastery of story craft). Many authors can do one, but not both; between the two, story craft is more important. Pretty language wrapped in good grammar and punctuation can help, but if the story itself isn’t sound, readers will not finish it, let alone pick up the next book.

Stephen King serves as a good example. He’s got the writing mechanics down cold and his story craft, particularly the base concepts, can be brilliant. However, his endings often fall flat or resort to deus ex machina finishes, sometimes literally.[2] That flaw hasn’t been a deal breaker. He’s amassed a huge following of faithful readers over the years and made the kind of money most authors only dream of. So flaws in craft aren’t necessarily career ending, but this is one area where nearly every author can improve.

One key trick is to incorporate story craft at the very beginning of the development process. This is especially true for outliners, but it can also work for organic writers (aka discovery writers or pantsers).

It starts with a concept many writers overlook: a key purpose of story is to foster an emotional reaction in the reader. The desired emotions may change depending on the genre, but they are always there, even in genres we don’t think of as “emotional,” like Horror, Thrillers, and Military SciFi. Yet, a successful Horror novel can indeed elicit an emotional reaction outside of the terror or disgust found in the body of the story; a successful Thriller carries the reader on a vicarious roller coaster of suspense and danger, which leads to the emotions of satisfaction and relief; and a well-told MilSF novel can be a fun exploration of futures possible, a thrill in and of itself.

If an author can nail the emotions consistently (most importantly in the ending), they’ve hooked the reader and will, eventually, turn them into a lifelong fan based on their story mastery alone.

How can writers master a story’s emotional journey?

One way is to focus on and fully develop the character archetypes, tropes, and themes of each story and series. Readers expect (hope) to encounter these when they pick up a book. In Horror, they may be looking for a hope-filled Final Girl ending. If that trope is subverted (Surprise! Everyone dies!),[3] the emotional impact is diluted and the reader walks away dissatisfied, the exact opposite of a writer’s goal.

Now, I’m going to say something that will most definitely be controversial because so many people misunderstand this term: gearing a story toward readers’ expectations using basic genre conventions and familiar tropes, archetypes, and themes is called writing to market. That’s all writing to market is, in fact, a deliberate effort to give readers what they want consistently over time.[4]

Writing to market is not the same thing as writing to trend; the two are often conflated, but they are not the same. Chasing trends only works for authors who can pivot quickly and hit the market while the trend is still hot, which is why indie authors rely on this tactic so heavily and trad pub authors should think carefully before trying it. Writing to trend works in the short run, but it isn’t always sustainable over the long haul, whereas writing to market (i.e. writing with the reader in mind, even if that reader is yourself and you’re writing what you want to read, damnit)[5] is a wise long-term strategy for any author.

Discovery writers especially may struggle with hitting reader expectations for their chosen genre. I certainly do and I only sort of wing it rather than winging the entire thing. When I deliberately try to write for my readers, I usually end up missing by a mile; and when I write for fun and just follow the ideas or chase the fun, occasionally I hit a ringer.

Some of this can be solved in the editing and revision stages, but some of it can be learned. I hope so anyway, as my current continuing education project is learning how to better use tropes and archetypes so that I can more consistently fulfill readers’ expectations.

Regardless, there’s always room for improvement. Crafting a well-told story is so important to career sustainability, it’s worth the effort of focused learning. Mickey Spillane said it best: “The first chapter sells the book; the last chapter sells the next book.”

For more on improving one's writing, see the WriterDojo Podcast, BookFox, and How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy by Orson Scott Card. [Amazon affiliate link. Does not add to the book's cost, but does contribute to my pizza fund.]

For more on writing to market, see Chris Fox's Write Faster, Write Smarter Series.

Step #2: Branding

Once a writer has written and edited a story to the best of their ability at that moment in time, the next marketing step is branding. Contrary to popular sentiment, the best (non-classic) story in the world will not sell well if it’s not branded well.[6]

Here are a few aspects of branding that can make a serious difference in sales and readthrough:

---The book and series titles reflect the story’s nature, genre, archetypes, tropes, and/or themes, depending on what works best for the story and genre. Examples of good titling: Epic Fantasy, Thriller, Paranormal Cozy Mystery, Military Romance, Cowboy Romance.

---The cover must be well-illustrated and genre appropriate. It must conform to the series branding. Examples of well-branded series, in addition to the above referenced titles: Urban Fantasy, Space Opera, MilSF, Paranormal Romance (symbol covers), Paranormal Romance (man-chest covers).

---Typeface is genre appropriate and conforms to series branding. Yes, even this choice is important.

---The blurb (description) must be well-written sales copy containing, at a minimum, a hook, the setup, the conflict, and the consequence. Bonus points for including a tagline, a call to action, and keywords related to the major tropes, character archetypes, themes, and genre expectations. I'm currently rebranding my first novel. It just got a new, genre-appropriate cover. When I ran some low-key ads to see how well that worked, I discovered a pinch point with the blurb. It's poorly written. (I wrote it in 2014. Nuff said.) Because of that, none of the (many) cover-driven ad clicks converted to sales or page reads. ZERO. The blurb is important.

---The Look Inside features clean copy and enough of the story to hook the reader. Ideally, clicking on the “read sample” link takes the potential reader straight to the beginning of the story instead of to the front matter.

---The sales pages are well-designed and branded. This includes the retailers’ pages for the book and series, if applicable, as well as the book’s page on the author’s website.

---The metadata includes major tropes, archetypes, and keywords, and the book is placed in appropriate, highly pertinent categories, drilled down to the smallest niche whenever possible. Niche placement also gets books into the larger categories, so if possible, don’t place the book into a general category (Paranormal Romance) if it fits easily into a subcategory (Werewolves & Shifters).

All of this is relatively inexpensive. I’ve never paid more than $600 for an ebook cover, even a custom-made one; most of mine run in the $200-$300 range. The rest is either research or trial and error.

Getting the visual branding aspects right the first time saves time, money, and angst in the long run. Everything else can be tweaked over time.

Step #3: Reader Acquisition

The steps taken to get books in front of new readers in such a way that they will buy them.

Step #4: Reader Retention

Keeping the readers that got us to the point we’re at right now.

Collectively, reader acquisition and reader retention are called reader outreach. The rest of this post covers reader outreach.

Writers do some crazy things to lure readers to their particular dark side (Reader Acquisition), but the number one way to do this is through branding.

You thought I was going to say advertising, didn’t you?

Nope. It’s the branding.

A well-designed cover catches the reader’s eye. If it stirs an emotional reaction (“Ooo, this looks interesting!”), they’ll click on the link or pick up the book, read the blurb, and look at either the first scene or the last (or maybe both).

Et voilà. If the author (and/or publisher) has done their job, the reader is hooked. The next step is a smooth checkout experience, which is often beyond the author’s control.

The next effective reader outreach tactic is advertising, right?

Nope again. The next step is something the author has hopefully already done: written the next book in the series and either let their readers know when to expect it or made it available as a preorder.[7]

Surely advertising is next!

Absolutely. Now it’s time to advertise to followers...free, through one’s website, blog, newsletter, and social media. This falls more under reader retention than reader acquisition, but it can work for both. Here are a few ways to utilize all the free or nearly free spaces authors have access to:

---If you’re a social media person, having an active Facebook or X page (or whatever) with recent posts about your books will absolutely draw a new reader in as well as reminding current readers what’s going on in your corner of the world. Post cover reveals, teasers, preorder links, sneak peeks, excerpts, related evergreen content, maps, character art, character interviews, deleted scenes.

---Do the same with your blog (if you have one) and newsletter. Honestly, the possibilities are limited only by the author’s imagination. The sky’s the limit.

---Switch the home page of your website (if you have one) to a static page where you can advertise your new releases, upcoming releases, newsletter, and/or exclusive content.

---Use the sidebar and footers of your blog to advertise your new releases, upcoming releases, and newsletter.

---Use the front and back matter of every published story to advertise your backlist, newsletter, and exclusive content. Provide links to your website and social media as well.

---Create a dedicated page on your website for every book. Optimize it to sell that book. Include links to every place where the reader can find that book.

---Optimize sales pages for retailers.

---Create on-target marketing images (teasers, headers, etc.) for use with blog posts, newsletters, social media (posts and headers), and elsewhere. I use BookBrush and paint.net. One is relatively cheap. The other is relatively free. Here are some great examples I've snagged from other authors to use as go-bys for my own marketing efforts: