Book Marketing: Shooting Arrows in the Dark? by Natasha Woodcraft

 

There’s a random hay bale in the field outside my house. It’s too old to use as hay. It got damp and mouldy a long time ago. So why is it there? 

Well, my husband dragged it there with the tractor and pinned a target to it for the kids to practice archery on. The target had to come down when it rained, but the hay bale is still there, waiting for the next session. 

When there’s daylight, it’s already pretty hard shooting the target, especially with a compound bow designed for adults not children (they’ve each been promised a suitable bow for their birthdays – like it, or not.) But suppose they should go out there at night time? What then? Would they stand any chance of hitting that target, shooting arrows in the dark?

I think not.

Book marketing sometimes feels like shooting arrows in the dark. There are so many things we’re meant to do, yet so few of them seem to make the blindest bit of difference. I feel like I’m constantly removing arrows from a quiver and letting loose, hoping they might hit something. I’m sure the target keeps growing legs and moving (I’m glad my hay bale doesn’t do that.)

This may be frustrating, but one thing’s for sure. If we never shoot arrows, we’ll never hit anything. Our books won’t sell themselves, so unless you’ve got Robin Hood on your side doing everything for you, you’d better get out there with the bow. Most of us don’t have a Robin Hood. I was listening to a podcast the other day. A writer with the Big 5, who scored an agent on his first attempt, was still struggling to sell anything and make ends meet. What chance do the rest of us have?

I think there are a few things we can do. Few people are naturals at archery. Much like most things, it takes practise, practise, practise. We can practise our craft – improving our writing, improving our people skills, learning more about marketing. We can get better equipment – decent editors, books covers and improved blurbs can all go some way to helping. 

Sometimes though, all these things are missing the obvious. You can practise archery as much as you like, but if you go out shooting arrows in the dark, you’re still never going to hit anything.

What’s the solution? Well, I’m not a marketing guru. But I have a couple of ideas:

    1) Know your audience

You need to be able to see the target, i.e. you need to know who you’re aiming for.

Here's the bale with target in place. Please don't shoot my photo-bombing cat.

It’s really easy to sell books to people that want to buy them. It’s really hard to sell something you don’t think anyone will want. One step is having a specific reader in mind when you write. That reader won’t be alone. Once the book is written, target the demographic they belong in. 

It’s no use saying ‘I want everyone to read my book’. That’s like having multiple hay bales with targets stuck on them all over the field and trying to shoot arrows at all of them at once. Know your reader, write for them and market them. I made this mistake when I started out, and it got me nowhere. Once I identified my audience and concentrated on them, marketing became far more enjoyable. I was simply building relationships with people that I knew would like my books.

Which leads onto another thing. Knowing your audience will remove the shame from marketing. If you’re writing for a specific purpose, and you genuinely believe in what you’ve written, you will enjoy sharing it. It’ll be natural. It won’t feel like a sales pitch. You’ll be excited about it, and your potential readers will catch your excitement as easily as you can catch a cold.

    2) Know your God

If God has told you to write something, for someone, and you’ve written in obedience to Him, then He wants it to do well. Let me just repeat that. He wants it to do well. 

It’s ok to pray for this!

Now before you accuse me of preaching a prosperity gospel, hear this: God’s version of ‘do well’ might look quite different from yours. It doesn’t necessarily mean ‘sell well’, but it might!

I had a crisis of confidence the other night. I was lying in bed, wondering why my books aren’t flying off the shelves. I panicked. ‘Is it because I’ve written a book You didn’t want me to write?’ I asked. ‘Are other books doing well because they are being blessed by You, and mine isn’t because something in it is wrong?’ 

Well, for starters, my logic was nonsense (most ‘successful’ books are not God-honouring). Secondly, I get these panics quite often. It’s probably because I write Biblical Fiction. I have low confidence about handling the word, even though the Holy Spirit has shown me again and again that He wants me to, and He’s pleased with what I’ve done. He showed me that once more as I prayed the other night, graciously reminding me of His goodness and how far He’s brought me on this journey in a few short years. I realised I needed to stop praying about my insecurities and start praying for blessing.

Remember the story from Genesis 32, where Jacob wrestles with the Lord?

Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’

The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’

‘Jacob,’ he answered.

Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.’

Now, I’m not sure we should take too many holiness tips from Jacob, but the more I read the Bible, the more I become convinced that God quite likes audacity. 

Here’s the point: If we don’t know our God, we’re going to keep shooting arrows in the dark. Even if we’re aiming at the right target, we’ll fall short. God is the one who can make the sun shine. He’s the one who can switch on the lights when we’re fumbling in the dark, not knowing quite what to do. He can make the target clear and ensure the arrows aim true, towards those He wanted you to write for. He can bring joy to burdens.

Let’s ask Him to.

Now, perhaps you shouldn’t be taking tips from somebody who struggles to earn anything from their writing, but it’s early days, and I’m still learning. (I’m preaching these things to myself, people!)

So, know your audience, know your God and let’s try being a little more audacious in our prayers. If nothing else, at least we won’t be shooting arrows in the dark at a moving target.

Natasha Woodcraft lives in a slightly crumbling farmhouse in Lincolnshire, with her family of boys and menagerie of animals. She believes stories have power to communicate deep truth and transform lives. Her published novels, The Wanderer Scorned & The Wanderer Reborn, explore God’s redemptive purposes for messy people by reimagining the tale of Cain & Abel. Also a songwriter, Natasha peppers her emotional prose with poetry and song.