I run across a lot of marketing folks. Their sensibility, demeanor and genuine empathy for audiences tell me that times have changed: marketing is no longer a filthy bag of tricks. We can substitute “marketing” with acts of telling story or encouraging revolutionary change or feats that enable creatives to perform their universe-given work. Today’s advice revolves around providing value to human beings who need it. I don’t know—that feels like a worthwhile mission to me.

Writing is a difficult pleasure. Convincing readers to grant you a moment of their precious time is more difficult still, and there is nothing more pleasing than affecting change in a reader’s heart. It is why we write. We have power over our fingers, we can force ink to bleed, but we can’t force good, kind-hearted people to digest our words. We need to synchronize their needs with our offerings. We need to market ourselves.

WrittenWordMedia helps authors connect with readers. It is one of the few marketing outlets I’ve found that warms my heart. Ferol Vernon and his wife Ricci Wolman love books and they love writers, and from this love WrittenWordMedia branched into five services:

• Freebooksy (market your free book)
• Bargain Booksy (market your book fewer than $5)
• Red Feather Romance (market your romance novel)
• New in Books (market your new book)
• A Year of Books (book club that encourages reading)

Their stance is to provide cost neutral advertising—your return on book sales should cover the cost of your ad. This is a gateway to new readers for authors without large mailing lists. In a sense, you “borrow” WrittenWordMedia’s list of 200k hungry readers.

I only recommend services with which I’ve had personal experience. This is no different. I bought a placement when Modern Rituals launched and was pleased with the number of books sold. WrittenWordMedia has expanded since and I have no doubt that the quality of their ad results are the same or better today.

In Episode 13 of Bleeding Ink, I interview Ferol Vernon and we talk shop about the state of publishing, how to sell more books, the best marketing channels authors can use and how to build long, sustaining writing careers. Ferol does a lovely job of breaking down these complex topics into tender morsels. Enjoy.

Snippets

• How WrittenWordMedia can help boost your book’s sales
• Why giving away your book for free won’t necessarily lead to new readers
• The parallels between BookBub and WrittenWordMedia
• How the stigma around indie publishing is fading
• The definition of hybrid publishing
• Why those who focus on quality writing, packaging and marketing find success
• How to get started with cost-effective book marketing
• What it means to “hustle” and why you should be all about it
• What to expect from growing your email list to thousands of subscribers
• 3 techniques to grow your mailing list
• Why you should look into Facebook ads
• Why email is still the king of marketing
• How to price your book

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