I belong to several online groups, nings, forums, and Facebook fan pages for writers. In the last few days I have seen quite a few pleas from writers asking for feedback on why their books aren’t selling.

On the surface, all of the writers are doing the right things to market themselves. They’re using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, they may even be blogging. But for some reason, its not converting into sales?!?

I join right in on the conversation because I sincerely enjoy sharing what I’ve learned. While I’m unable to write a long drawn out post on a forum (and I have an eBook devoted to this subject), I make a few suggestions and try to offer the simplest advise I can – engage your audience.

“Wait, what?!?

Engage my audience? What does that mean? Can someone give me some REAL advice on why my book isn’t selling?”

Now of course, I’m using my creative license here, because the aforementioned conversation NEVER actually happened. However, once I share that they need to engage their audience, most are really receptive but there are a few who I get the sense are looking for a more PROFOUND answer. Like what I’ve offered is not good enough.

Have you wondered why your book isn’t selling? Why visitors are coming to your website, but its not converting into sales?

The #1 reason why an author’s book isn’t selling (assuming they have a well written book that’s going to capture attention), they’re not engaging their audience.

Let’s go back for a minute…

Let’s go to the beginning of your writing process.

When you began your manuscript, I’m assuming the last thing on your mind was marketing. You had plot issues, character development, and dialogue to work out. If you did give some thought to marketing, you probably didn’t think it would require hours and hours of your time.

If you’re traditionally published, its very likely you thought, “My publisher will handle that!” And now maybe you’re realizing, “I’m going to need to jump in here and help market my book too! But this is difficult! How do I do it?”

Let’s face it, we want to write! To hell with marketing!

If I could get back to “just writing,” do you know how much time I would have to crank out bestsellers? But the fact of the matter is there is no quick fix for marketing. I repeat – there’s no magic pill.

I take an hour out of my day to write blog posts to engage the readers of my blog. A few hours on Facebook and Twitter. I head over to other people’s blogs, nings, forums and online groups to engage and share my experiences, offer advice, and shoot the breeze to share a little piece of me. I can wholeheartedly tell you once you’ve engaged your target audience on a level beyond marketing (you will market too) it will result in sales. Now that’s the simple answer. Engage your audience.

- build rapport
- have a voice
- develop relationships
- share with your audience

The long answer is found in my eBook Marketing and Publicity for the author.

Every writer, I don’t care whether you are a new author, established author, a self-published author or a traditionally published author, NEEDS to know how to market their title on some level.

Unless of course…you’re Stephenie Meyer or J.K. Rowling status. And even then, hey it wouldn’t hurt.

Do you understand what engagement means for an author? Are you engaging your target audience? What kind of success are you having? Please share in the comment section below.

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Stefanie Newell

Writer at Write One Publications, Inc.

Stefanie Newell is an Atlanta-based writer and author of The Buzz: When celebrity gossip goes wrong….You can check out her musings on all things entertainment at TheMusicHotSpot.com and her The Life Of A Writer series on YouTube. http://youtube.com/TheLifeOfAWriter

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