| We all have those dreams of great | | | | information about you and your novel. |
| accomplishments from time to time. Of climbing | | | | 3) Start a blog |
| Mount Everest, skydiving, or writing the great | | | | In the past you could write a great novel and |
| American novel. Maybe that is you, the writer | | | | either academics or media figures would fall in |
| who is ready to break out. Or maybe you just | | | | love with it causing old style viral marketing. |
| want to give it a shot. Regardless of the setup, | | | | Today, users are coming to expect a new level |
| you are reading this article because you are either | | | | of access and interaction with the producers of |
| writing a novel or you want to write a novel. I | | | | fiction. This combined with the fact that blogs are |
| understand you because I am you. I am on the | | | | probably the single best way to develop a web |
| journey of writing my first novel and hope to | | | | presence makes your blog critical. My |
| finish my first draft soon. However, the pages I | | | | recommendation is to blog about writing your |
| have written in my novel only account for a | | | | novel, or blog about parts of your novel. The |
| portion of my writing over the last year. | | | | reason is to keep you from being overwhelmed |
| It is just as important to study the current | | | | going in too many directions at once. Just write |
| methods, techniques, and technology of marketing | | | | about what you are learning and doing. And post |
| novels as it is to write your novel. Why? Because | | | | regularly. The best way to lose followers is to |
| once you are published (think positive), your | | | | post sporadically. Once a week is usually a good |
| publisher is not the primary push behind marketing | | | | schedule. Many free blogging sites exist but I use |
| your novel or you as an author. You will be the | | | | 4) Feedburn your blog |
| primary marketing department for all of your | | | | Now we are getting into some real marketing. By |
| creative work. This is a shock to many writers | | | | using feedburner.com, you are optimizing your |
| once they become published authors, and | | | | blog to be delivered through RSS feeds to |
| probably results in many one time novelists who | | | | whatever platform the user chooses. In addition, |
| sell five hundred copies and fade away. | | | | you can give users the option of subscribing to |
| But knowledge is power, and now you know. | | | | your blog by email. You can setup feedburner to |
| So what do you do about it? Read and learn. | | | | ping Google every time you post a new entry |
| There are literally hundreds of free online | | | | causing it to be instantly indexed for search. |
| information sources dedicated to online marketing | | | | There are more features than I can cover here, |
| and the more narrow discipline of marketing | | | | but I think you can see that this step will go a |
| fiction, both online and through other mediums. I | | | | long way to making you very searchable on the |
| will just lay out a few of the things I did for | | | | internet. Remember, every skill you learn now will |
| starters as a baseline. | | | | be applied in new ways once your novel is |
| 1) Choose your author name | | | | complete. This is a time of education with some |
| I know, sounds silly. But if you try Googling your | | | | side benefits. |
| name, you may quickly find that it is very serious. | | | | 5) Blog or podcast some free fiction |
| Most people have at least three names, first, | | | | I have not reached this stage yet, but I think it is |
| middle, and last. You want to find the combination | | | | the next logical step. When you are trying to sell |
| of those names and/or initials least represented in | | | | a $10-$15 soft cover or a $25-$30 hard cover |
| a web search. This will allow people to find articles | | | | book, why will a reader choose your novel? Once |
| and websites about you with much less | | | | you are established you have your brand name, |
| competition from others. For example, I searched | | | | like Stephen King or James Patterson, and the |
| for Hugh Thomas and found a well known | | | | brand is what attracts the buyer. The reader |
| historical writer by that name listed for pages on | | | | does not see a Stephen King book as being a big |
| end. Then I searched for "J Hugh Thomas" and | | | | risk. You do not have that luxury. If you are |
| found no writing competition. Therefore, as a | | | | willing to write some great fiction and give it |
| writer I am always J Hugh Thomas. | | | | away, you have a bigger chance of developing |
| 2) Buy your domain name | | | | readers who will buy your books. The key here is |
| It is cheap and in today's world, it is pretty much | | | | "great fiction," not just your leftover ideas. Spend |
| expected. This also factors into your decision on | | | | as much time, if not more, writing multiple drafts |
| your author name, because ideally you want to | | | | and editing your free fiction as you do with your |
| choose that name as your domain, in my case | | | | novel. This is your first impression so dazzle your |
| jhughthomas. It is best to get the .com domain, | | | | readers so they will come back for more. |
| but if it is not available you can always go with | | | | This only scratches the surface of all the ways |
| something like .net or .info instead. Buy the domain | | | | you can market yourself while writing your novel. |
| from a company that will allow you to put up a | | | | I hope that these ideas will help you as you |
| simple website without a hosting fee. This means | | | | complete your novel, get published, and market |
| that for less than $10 per year, you can have a | | | | like crazy to drive up sales. |
| searchable presence on the web with some basic | | | | |