However, it can take a lot of time, effort, and even some of your own income to effectively market yourself. That being said, merchandising is a great marketing method. It can build your brand, generate revenue, and help you get noticed across the globe.

1. Optimize Your Book Covers

Talk to a successful chef, and they’ll tell you that people eat with their eyes first. While you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can certainly decide whether it catches your eye or not. 

Your book cover can be the central component of your marketing endeavors once it’s published. It can be used to create marketing merchandise like posters, shirts, buttons, and so much more. 

Luckily, you don’t have to be a graphic designer or artist to optimize your cover. However, you may want to outsource someone with that same gift. Some of the essential elements of an effective book cover design include:

• An intriguing title
• Unique typography
• A coherent design
• Captivating colors
• A well-placed biography

Don’t forget about the spine! If your book is on the shelf somewhere, the average reader will likely only see the spine first. Make sure it stands out and clearly states your name and the title of your book.

2. Create Accompanying Merchandise

While you likely didn’t get into writing to sell anything but your books, other merchandise can help you in that endeavor. It gives readers more avenues to connect with your book, and ultimately with you. 

When books become popular, fans often create their own merchandise and cosplay equipment. While this can be flattering, it also represents lost revenue and promotion and even a lack of control over your artistic image.

A couple of ideas for book merchandise might include:

• Mugs
• Glasses and shot glasses
• Keychains
• T-shirts & apparel
• Clothing and Cosplay accessories
• Posters, maps, and wall hangings

If you do end up creating extra merchandise to increase visibility, you can utilize these other steps in tandem to maximize your reach, such as utilizing social media.

3. Utilize Social Media

If you know you need to market your book (and yourself) but you’re on a tight budget, use social media to your advantage. You can not only use it to boost your book and its associated merchandise, but you can build more of a connection with your reader base.

If you use social platforms to boost your sales and visibility, post high-quality photographs and videos that make sense for your brand. Thanks to today’s technology, it’s easier than you might think to take high-quality photos. Use a clean background, understand the importance of composition, and make sure your photos look consistent so people will associate them with your brand.

You can take your creativity a step further by orchestrating a book trailer—yes, like a movie trailer for your book. It’s a unique way to capture more attention and further engage with your followers. Think of your book as an award-winning film, and make sure your trailer has a hook, an overall theme and feel, and a call to action for people to purchase and read it.

4. Manage Your Inventory

One of the hats you have to wear as an author is keeping track of your merchandise, including books and any marketing materials you choose to sell. On top of everything else you’re trying to take care of, this can sometimes feel a little overwhelming!

Thankfully, technology comes to the rescue once again. Nowadays, you can set up an online shop easily, and some platforms will effectively take care of inventory management for you. If you plan to sell your books in person or at different shops, however, it’s helpful to have a barcode system in place. Setting up your own barcode system and bringing a handheld scanner makes inventory management easier to track.

There are also barcode systems that connect with cloud-based software—you’ll be able to look at your sales and inventory at any given point. This will also make your inventory all the more accurate, and you’ll be able to determine how much you’ve sold and how much profit you’ve made each month.

5. Get Involved With Events

It can be tempting to be a “behind the screen” author. Today, anyone can write a book, self-publish it online, and build a digital following. While that can be an effective marketing strategy, nothing will ever beat connecting with people in person and holding a signing event. Some of the advantages of holding an in-person event include:

• Added value for your fans
• Signed books can’t be returned
• Better engagement and stronger relationships
• More opportunities to pull in new readers
• Shared publicity with signing locations

When you host or go to in-person events, bring more than just your books with you. Invest in marketing materials like flyers, banners, and even business cards you can hand out to fans with contact and social media information. 

When people see you in-person and get to know you on a more personal level, you’ll create more lifelong fans. You can also build network connections with word-of-mouth advertisers who will tell friends and family about your books.

Being an independent writer takes consistent work that goes well beyond telling great stories. Keep these tips in mind to boost your visibility and revenue, and to build a fanbase that will stick with you from book to book.

Indiana Lee is a writer and journalist from the Pacific Northwest with a passion for covering workplace issues, social justice, environmental protection, and more. In her off time, she enjoys hiking with her two dogs. You can follow her on Twitter @indianalee3, or reach her at indianaleewrites@gmail.com.

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I’m thrilled to be joining you here at DIY MFA to share actionable insights.

Over the last year, we’ve discussed author brand, how to SPARC great book cover design, using LinkedIn as an author, the role of contests in marketing your work, and multiple other topics. Please check out these previous articles on DIYMFA.com.

Have you ever thought that you’d like to share your knowledge through speaking? Today, we’ll cover how to get started with speaking at industry conferences and three benefits of doing so, which include: giving back, building your community, and tangible perks.

How did I start speaking at industry conferences?

Nearly a decade ago, I joined a writers’ group and attended their in-person session. When I introduced myself as a marketer working for Mars Incorporated, a gasp of delight rippled through the room. Initially, I thought they must really love chocolate. Pretty quickly, though, I realized they were eager to mine my knowledge of marketing! 

This group kicked off my speaking career by asking me to teach and share my expertise. I was passionate about the topic of brand, because I realized that not many had the perspective of a professional marketer, and people who were teaching the topic often conflated the concepts of brand with visual identity. These were my first two topics, and continue to be the most foundational presentations I give at industry conferences.

The Joy of Giving Back

In summary, I started speaking as a way to contribute to the writing communities that I’ve found to be incredibly generous.

This is the first benefit of speaking—the pure joy of seeing the impact of teaching. It’s a wonderful feeling to see how marketing knowledge can empower writers and publishers.

Nowadays, I often introduce my talks by acknowledging “Authors write for the love of the word and don’t always realize until later that they’re also expected to be marketers, businesspeople, and branding experts.”

Over the years, audiences have resonated again and again with my five core topics: Author Brand and Why Readers Care, Design as Art: Principles to Spark Brilliant Cover Design, Marketing like an Authorpreneur, Marketing Mindset, and Generational Insights into Millennial characters.

Conference attendees have said, “Carol inspires me and fires me up every time. I can’t wait to market my book and my why!” This is a great reason to speak at industry conferences—to give back, and witness the fulfillment that comes from making a difference for audiences.

Building Your Community

Secondly, I’ve found that the connections made at industry conferences last. 

I continue to be in contact with, and follow the work of, writers whom I met years ago at Writers’ Digest, Rutgers Writers’ Conference, NJ-SCBWI, Sisters in Crime, RWA, and other venues. 

A recent case in point: I spoke at the Independent Book Publisher Association’s Publishing University conference and was blown away by meeting publishers, authors, and other industry professionals. I loved presenting my book cover design insights. And multiple members of this warm, wonderful community have already reached out and connected!

Tangible Perks

Third, beyond networking, there are tangible benefits to speaking at industry conferences. Some events pay an honorarium, and/or provide speakers with free attendance, complimentary travel, the ability to sell books, or additional perks.

I truly treasure speaking at conferences, meeting new people, and making a difference in authors’ and publishers’ careers.

Simple Steps to Start Speaking at Industry Conferences

If speaking sounds appealing to you, start by identifying what topics you could uniquely teach. Ask yourself what you know deeply that others would like to learn. 

I’ve seen speakers present information on period costumes, medical details, productivity tools, story structure, editing, characterization, building conflict, great first sentences, social media, and much more. For instance, author K.M. Fawcett leans on her martial arts experience to teach classes on “Self-Defense” and “Writing Believable Fight Scenes.”

Once you have your concept, craft a logical flow, and a compelling course title and description. Research conferences in your area that you might like to attend, and submit proposals. Make sure to follow all their guidelines for submission.

After I submit a proposal, I hold the dates on my calendar until I hear back from the conference. As with many speaking gigs, conferences plan multiple months in advance, so expect events to put out a call for speakers six to nine months or more before the event.

Once you land a gig, ensure you (over)deliver. For me, I’m always striving to leave the audience with actionable takeaways, and that the talk is high energy and enjoyable. Make sure you know your content intimately enough to address questions well. Author Nancy Herkness says, “A well-organized, information-filled workshop sends me in search of the presenter’s books to buy, while a poorly prepared presentation leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

Don’t forget common courtesy—make sure you’re responsive to communications, that you’re on time or early, and that you’re well-prepared for the talk. You can even help promote the event, and follow up the talk with a thank you note to the organizer along with suggestions for future topics.

Herkness, who speaks and attends industry conferences, says, “If you do a terrific job of presenting one workshop, word will spread of the value you deliver and invitations to speak at other conferences will follow. You can become an authority on your topic, which brings invaluable exposure for your brand, as well as creating an aura of quality around your books.”

One professional who provides useful tips is Grant Baldwin. His “The Speaker Lab” podcast and website provide helpful guidance on building your speaking career.

Benefits of Speaking

In summary, consider speaking at industry conferences as a great way to 1) give back, 2) expand your community, and 3) benefit from attending valuable events and being compensated. Once you decide to speak, pick a topic of expertise, pitch conferences, prepare, and overdeliver!

Please share your own experiences with speaking at conferences in the comments!

Carol Van Den Hende is the award-winning author of the Goodbye, Orchid series, a public speaker, and MBA with 20+ years’ experience in marketing, strategy and insights. Carol is passionate about simplifying marketing concepts into actionable steps that authors need for publishing success. Please sign up for Carol’s newsletter at https://carolvandenhende.com/contact or contact her at linktr.ee/cvdh

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