Hello everyone! So, finally we received all answers from our participants from MARSocial author network. Are you excited to read the answers yet? Question #9 is “Who could/would help a writer to sell books?” by Jaro Berce.

Let’s check out the answers from all 11 author participants !

1) Coleman Weeks

2) Viv Drewa

Social media if you’re an Indie. Otherwise agents or publishers.

3) K. J. Rollinson

See the answers to question one. Of course, you can pay for advertising, and you can also pay reviewers and others, e.g. Twitter accounts to advertise your books for you.

4) Sam Reese

5) Neil McGowan

Anyone with an interest in books! If you’ve read something that moves you, tell others; leave a review. Promo sites are okay but unless you pay for it, you don’t get massive exposure and even if you do, there is no guarantee that you will recoup your outlay. Also, the authors themselves can drive interest in their work by interacting with people via social media, being visible at local festivals and events, giving interviews etc.

6) Marion Lovato

7) Jaro Berce

My, my … the toughest question to which I do not have an answer. If I had, I’d be selling my books in tons.

8) Marie Lavender

Tough question.  I think writers automatically assume that being an author is easy.  When they first approach the idea of publishing, they think, “I will write books and someone else, the publisher most likely, will sell them.  Easy!”  No, it’s really not.  And it doesn’t work that way anymore.  The industry has changed.  The term of “author” is changing.  Now an author has to be part writer, part marketing genius.  Publishers now are looking for writers who can not only write, but market themselves, basically “sell” their own books.  New authors tend to get jaded by this fact.  And, I agree, it is exhausting.  So, if you’re lucky, you get with a large publisher that has a whole marketing team to help you.  But, in most cases, you don’t have that.  And, even if your publisher has some marketing tools in place, they won’t cover everything.  You have to learn to be more than just a writer.  You have to be an author.  You have to sell your product.  You.  And your books, of course.  

Who else helps a writer sell books?  Fellow authors usually help by endorsing books or talking about them in social media.  Word of mouth is the best tool, though, and the best source is from readers.  So, how do we go about getting that?  That goes back on the reader in some ways.  All I can suggest is this.  If you are an avid reader of a certain genre, do your favorite authors (even if they are indie authors) a favor by doing these two things:  1) Leave a review.  You have no idea how much that helps an author, especially a fledgling one, sell books.  Be honest about what you liked or didn’t like, but be fair.  What one person doesn’t like may actually be someone else’s cup of tea.  2)  Tell your friends and family about this author and the books you loved, and why.  Chances are someone will get curious and look them up.  Word of mouth is everything in this business.

9) LaRae Parry

10) Theresa Moretimer

11) Annie Edmonds

The next question is “Who could/would help a writer to sell books?” by Jaro. Stay tuned with us for the next post !