Wendy S. Marcus |
The Hot Pink Typewriter is pleased to
welcome talented friend and author Wendy S. Marcus.
The topic of Wendy's guest post is discoverability.
The topic of Wendy's guest post is discoverability.
How do we, as readers, find new books
and authors to love? And how do we, as writers, find new readers?
Wendy writes hot contemporary romances
with strong heroes, feisty heroines and lots of laughs...a
combination I truly enjoy.
Thanks so much for visiting with us, Wendy!
Hi Tina!
Thank you for hosting my visit to The Hot Pink Typewriter! I’m so happy to be here! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Wendy S. Marcus and I write medical romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon under the tagline: These aren’t your Aunt Mabel’s medical romances. They’re hot, sexy and fast-paced.
Like most authors, my interest in writing romance grew out of a love of reading it. And I still remember the book responsible for my ongoing romance addiction, Home to Copper Mountain by Rebecca Winters. A Harlequin Superromance I picked out of a box of old paperbacks at a school fundraiser about eight years ago.
I bet most authors don’t put yard sales high on their list of ways to improve their discoverability ~ how readers find their books among the millions of books available. No, authors need to be proactive in marketing. So we flock to places like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads. We toss ourselves out into social media desperately trying to make our message heard, “Buy my book. Buy my book,” while not actually screaming those offensive words at the risk of coming off egocentric and turning away potential readers.
We spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on advertising, websites, and contest prizes. We spend $7.00 USD to mail $5.00 books to readers across the globe. (Or maybe that’s just me who does that!) But you get my point.
With the glut of traditionally published, small-press published and self-published books available for purchase (and for free) on the Internet it’s no longer enough to write a good book. You have to find a way for readers to discover your book, read it, and hopefully review it - preferably with five beautiful stars that will gain the attention of other readers. And so on and so on and so on.
It’s with expanding my readership in mind that I’ve decided to add diversification to my discoverability strategy.
I’m thrilled to have my fourth and fifth books for Harlequin Mills and Boon’s medical romance line out in January 2013 (U.S. e-book editions releasing on February 1, 2013), Craving Her Soldier’s Touch, book #1 in the Piermont Sisters duet, and Secrets of a Shy Socialite, book #2. While both books are connected, each is written to stand alone. And my sixth book, Tempting Nurse Scarlet, book #6 in the upcoming NYC Angels continuity, will be out in May 2013. But after that, with six published books in my backlist, I am branching out in search of new readers.
I’ve already completed a short story for an upcoming edition of The Mammoth Book of… anthology, due to be published in late 2013. And I’m currently working on a book with a new publisher, Entangled Publishing, that I am very excited about, which should also be published in late 2013. Will I write more books for Harlequin Mills and Boon? I hope so. But for now my focus is on diversification and finding new readers.
Is this the best way to go? Should all authors diversify? Or is it better to stick with one publisher and develop your brand? I don’t have the answer. Maybe Tina will have me back for a follow up post in a year or so!
So what’s your take on discoverability? If you’re a reader, where do you go to look for books? What makes you choose one book over another?
If you’re a writer, what do you do to make your books stand out?
Two lucky commenters will be randomly chosen, via random.org, to win one copy of Craving Her Soldier’s Touch or Secrets of a Shy Socialite, winner’s choice.
SECRETS OF A SHY SOCIALITE |
CRAVING HER SOLDIER'S TOUCH |
To find out more about me or my books:
Visit my website.
Find me on Facebook.
Tweet with me on Twitter.
Talk books with me on Goodreads.