Note to the Moderators: I am not plugging anybody here, just trying to let people know they can get things for free. I have noticed that a number of members have their own sites which is an excellent idea. I don't know how many of you know this but if you subscribe to a paid subscription like wordpress for example, you often get less flexibility and workability than the free wordpress option. When I say free, I mean no dollars, pounds - it costs nothing. There are plenty of 'themes' like Astra that are free and make your blog/site look professional. Not only this, Astra works in conjunction with your free wordpress account. I am not saying it is wrong to pay for wordpress but I am just pointing out it can be done for free. I figured this out after watching a guy called Tyler Moore on youtube. Does anybody have any other smart ideas for promoting ourselves? Edit: Just to add hosting costs would apply and domains but even they can cost very little.
Find a community where your work will be of interest, and participate. Don't join up just to promote your writing - that will get you a short, sharp whack with a banhammer. Actively participate, and you will be able to mention your writing naturally. Facebook groups, forums etc. Facebook is particularly good IMO, as long as you are prepared to participate in the social aspect of it, but it comes with health warnings. If you just knock up an FB business/author page, you'll get little traction out of it alone with some complementary marketing activity. That is to say, an FB page is a place to interact with your fans, not necessarily to gain new ones.
I definitely agree with what you are saying @Naomasa298. I have no intention of selling anything on this site for example. If however, someone has spent 2 or 3 years writing a book. Maybe 5 or ten years before that learning the craft, then I would say they have served their time. There comes a point when people might try and find an audience. This forum does not provide that audience but more of a supportive and encouraging environment. I agree that none of us should abuse what the forum offers. That said, for some writers marketing is real. It comes at a cost and that cost should be minimal as the chances of making money are minuscule.
Oh yes and Facebook! Not a very nice place is it. If I ever get any fans I would rejoin it. So probabably never.
What I mean about forums is, for example, if you've written a historical novel, sign up on history forum and put it in your sig, if they allow it, then participate in threads. This forum is a bad example of a niche community, unless you're writing a book for other writers. If you have a facebook page, you could attend a convention, sell your book and stick your website address everywhere - on your promotional artwork, on your book, on flyers that you hand out etc.
There is some confusion about wordpress .com and wordpress.org . The com is a hosting company that uses wordpress and you will need to pay . The org one is were you can down load wordpress onto your computer or hosting site for free . The org one is , is as you say , completely flexible. You will need pay for a domain name , I don't recommend the offer of a free one , and to use a hosting site .
most of the big host sites like blue host and site ground you get wordpress already installed (this works out much more economic that getting a free wordpress.com blog then paying for the bespoke url and gmail for business for the email). And yeah no need to pay for themes, or underlying options like Divi/... those are worth it once you are established and doing lots of sales but not at the start. In terms of getting word out i'd strongly suggest advertising on ams and fb, yes you have to pay but if you do it well you'll make a positive return a lot faster than if you rely on soft options like promotion via forums (the exception is non fic if you have a very specific niche), also don't forget to put your website in the back matter of your book so that someone who likes one book can connect, join your mailing list and buy more
And done right, FB advertising doesn't have to be expensive. You can get some good results for £1.50 a day, if you target your audience correctly and don't pay for wasted clicks/impressions.
and you have your sales page optimised - the number of people you see who have great covers that they've spent out on but have teamed them with ropey blurbs is astonishing. The best advert in the world will only send traffic to your amazon (or wherever) page... the page has to sell the book. I actually run a side hustle writing blurbs for people because even really good authors sometimes struggle with writing sales copy (I'm not going to plug it here since that would be against the rules and i'd have to ban myself) and ive had clients feedback that my blurb has paid for itself in increased sales in a single day.
After finding limitations using the WP.com and Blogger formats I opted to WP.org and now have my own dedicated server. The "costs" have totally overshadowed by the control, power and income generation provided through this decision. BUT it did NOT happen overnight. When Social Media blossomed that offered a very powerful added engine to traffic generation, engagement and book sales
