Niche Marketing Tips - Contest Entry

Marcia James' 10 Favorite Niche Marketing Tips

            The audience for genre fiction, particularly romance, is vast.  And the promotion of a single author is easily lost among the thousands of authors working hard to catch readers' eyes.  So niche marketing -- reaching those readers especially interested in your books -- can make the most of your promotional dollars and time.  As a romance author myself, I call this "thinking outside the heart-shaped box."

            First, you need to analyze your books and your author brand to find elements that might appeal to specific readers.  For example, one of the elements in my books is Chinese Crested hairless dog characters.  So I joined an international message board about "crestie" dogs and Friended many of them on Facebook to chat with people who are not only great subject matter experts on cresties, but are also interested in buying books that feature that breed.

[A quick note: The sensuality level of your writing can limit the places and ways you can market your books.]

Here are 10 Niche Marketing Tips, starting with a list of possible marketable book elements:

1. What are your hero and heroine's vocations?

What are your protagonists' professions?  If your heroine is special events coordinator, there's a professional association for people in that field.  If your hero is a veterinarian, you can look into marketing to the veterinarians' professional association.

2. What are your hero and heroine's avocations?

What are your protagonists' hobbies?  You might have a character who collects vintage cars, and there are many groups of vintage car owners.  Your hero or heroine might knit or quilt (okay, your Beta hero might do these things!), and there are knitting and quilting groups online and possibly in your community.

3. What are your hero and heroine's sports/physical activities?

Do your protagonists play softball or volleyball, fish, jog, hike, canoe, etc?  There are groups devoted to all sorts of sports.

4. What are your hero and heroine's charitable activities?

Do your protagonists volunteer for Big Sisters, Special Olympics, homeless shelters, or animal rescue?  Is your hero or heroine dealing with a medical challenge, such as cancer, or a physical disability?  Charities -- and the people who support them -- love to know when their causes are mentioned in a book.

5. Do your books include any four-legged characters -- not counting shape-shifters?  ;-)

There are many, many organizations for those who love animals.  And there might be marketing opportunities at a Humane Society fundraiser (e.g., you could donate a themed basket with a signed copy of your book) or a pet adoption fair.

6. What is the timeframe and location of your novel?

If you write historical novels, there are groups interested in specific historical eras.  E.g., there are Renaissance Fairs and Civil War reenactments that might offer a chance for promotion.  If you set your books in a certain city, state, or country (and maybe feature things specific to that location), there might be events that offer marketing opportunities, such as a state bicentennial celebration, the Kentucky Derby, or a jazz festival.

7. Do your books have paranormal, science fiction (s/f), or fantasy elements?

Quite a few authors whose books include these subgenres promote their books at s/f or fantasy cons.  There are also groups who have paranormal interests, such as vampire, shape-shifter, or dragon lore.

8. Does your book contain elements that would appeal to specific fans?

For example, do you have an Elvis impersonator in your book?  Is your heroine a Bruce Springsteen fan?  Does your hero love film noir or NASCAR?  There are groups for all of these.

9. Now that you've identified your book elements, where do you locate potential niche readers for your books?

There are library reference books offering information (contact name, email, address, phone, website, whether the group has a member newsletter, etc.) for every conceivable type of association and club.  Here are two good reference books that are often available online through library websites: The Encyclopedia of Associations and Associations Unlimited.  Many of the groups listed in these books would be happy to hear from an author who's written a book of interest to their members.  As I mentioned, however, this does work better for books that have a sensuality level from G to PG-13.

10. Another PR "angle" is tying your promotions to specific holidays based on the elements in your books and author brand.

Romances most often tied to February, thanks to Valentine's Day.  And many paranormal romances are promoted around Halloween.  But there are lots of holidays that would work, depending on your book elements.  E.g., I reinforce my dog logo and brand by guest-blogging about responsible pet ownership on pro-animal holidays like National Spay or Neuter Your Pet Day.  A good resource for some of the more obscure or funny holidays is Chase's Calendar of Events.  You can also Google national holidays that fit your book elements and/or author brand.

            Thinking Outside the Heart-Shaped Box is a matter of opening your mind to the possibilities beyond traditional author promotion.  It means considering yourself as not only an expert on fiction writing but also fluent on your genre or subgenre – and on elements within your books.  All it takes to do niche marketing is the same imagination you use to write your books.

Happy promoting!

Marcia James

Marcia James

BIO: Marcia James writes hot, humorous romances and finaled in eleven Romance Writers of America contests before selling her first comic romantic suspense, At Her Command.  Her latest release is Sex & the Single Therapist, a comic romantic mystery. In her eclectic career, she has shot submarine training videos, organized celebrity-filled nonprofit events and had her wedding covered by People Magazine. In addition to writing fiction, Marcia presents author promotion workshops. After years of dealing with such sexy topics as how to safely install traffic lights, she is enjoying "researching" and plotting her novels' steamy love scenes with her husband and hero of many years.

Website: www.MarciaJames.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarciaJamesAuthor

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Marcia_James

Sex & the Single Therapist is the first of the "Dr. Ally Skye, Sex Therapist" comic romantic mystery series.  Ally helps her detective boyfriend solve crimes in Sin City -- much to his dismay.  This series features humor, an amateur sleuth, cute dogs, and a super sexy romance!

 Sex & the Single Therapist:

A crime of passion…

            To clear an innocent friend, sex therapist Dr. Ally Skye investigates a patient’s murder. Soon she's trading heated words and hot kisses with a sexy cop. Can this free-spirited amateur sleuth and her posse of Vegas insiders solve the crime before the killer targets her?


Sex and the Single Therapist

A sexy complication…

            Cynical homicide detective Zack Crawford has the murder to solve. The last thing he needs is a red-hot sex therapist who haunts his dreams. Ally is trouble and, given her job and his luck, she'd probably grade his performance in bed.

A dynamic duo…

            Zack and Ally form an uneasy and sexually charged alliance. Murderers, extortionists and psychos are no match for these reluctant partners. Crime-solving was never this sexy or this fun!

Sex & the Single Therapist Purchase Links:

B&N: http://tinyurl.com/6mkkg75

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/d3erlku

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/63833

Me and My Muse - Contest Entry

Me and My Muse

By

Heaven O’Shey

As a new author unsure of how to gain fans, I decided to turn loose my muse. It has yet to let me down.

My muse led me to allow readers of my blog who might be unfamiliar with me or my books to become acquainted with the culture of the bayous in South Louisiana. These bayous are not only my home, but the setting for my books.

By including my characters in my blog, and now even letting them write the posts, I have not only introduced them to readers, but also given readers a glimpse into the world in which these characters live inside my books.

For example, in a post about Mardi Gras, I included a brief history of the different way it is celebrated, and tied it into a blurb from one of my books. Also, I uploaded pictures of mannequins my mom and aunt dress up in Mardi Gras costumes. This gives readers a visual cue to remember the blog.

Another thing my characters do is post recipes from the bayou. This makes my characters and the bayou more real to the readers.

As I write more titles, my characters and the world they live in will become the focal point of my blog. By including my characters in my blog it becomes more memorable to my readers.

Heaven O'Shey

Follow me: 

The World of Heaven O'Shey Learn all about Love's Bayou @ http://theworldofheavenoshey.blogspot.com/

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/heavenoshey

 https://twitter.com/#!/HeavenOShey

War-N-Wit, Inc. - Contest Entry

War-N-Wit, Inc.

By

Gail Roughton

I’m the cat’s meow.  The star.  I’m all over this series.  Over it, you understand.  As in, “on the covers”, not in the actual story.   Not yet, anyway, you never know what this crazy writer woman’s gonna do.  She’s not really my job, but since my assignments live in her head, well, she kinda goes with the territory.  If she ain’t happy, my assignments ain’t happy.  They’re just sitting there bored.  So I guess I have to take care of her by default. 

I’m Micah, by the way.  The cat.  The black one.  Sort of.  Actually, I’m Micah, Angel of the Divine Plan.  The watcher of spiritual evolution and revealer of the next steps of the path.  The world first met me over at the crazy writer lady’s place.  (http://gailroughton.blogspot.com/)  And you have no idea how long I’ve been watching these two.  ‘Course, they don’t know me from Adam’s housecat.  (Did Adam have a housecat, anyway? Did Adam have a house?)  But I digress.   See, it’s like this…

Ariel Anson thinks she has her life in order.  She’s young, smart, and beautiful, even if she doesn’t believe the beautiful part.  She’s a paralegal with a great career and a fiancé who’s a CPA.  You just can’t get any steadier than that.  Then she meets private investigator, bounty hunter, process server Chad Garrett.  What does War-N-Wit, Inc. stand for anyway?  Warlock and Witch?  For real?  Oh, yes!  For real.  Her life as she knows it is over!  

This Chad Garrett?  Oh, man.  He’s always into something.  It’s a high-risk profession to begin with.  But he took it to the next level even before he found Ariel Anson.  He’s a warlock, after all.  So he was bad enough to begin with.  And then he just had to go and find his witch.  Now my workload’s doubled.  But did he give a minute’s pause to think about that, when he finally convinced her to meet him?  At a Mexican restaurant, of all places?  No, he did not.  Though I guess I have to remember he doesn’t know a thing about me.  Anyhow, sparks started flying the minute those two met.  Like they weren’t flying already in those emails. No, at that point, he didn’t give a leaf of catnip how much extra trouble he was causing.  Not as much as he’s gonna cause, though.  I’m gonna have to watch these two through a whole series. 

Excerpt:

When the waitress asked if we wanted booth or table, I automatically said booth. I needed that table between us. That didn't work out so well, though, as he slid in right next to me.

"Too close?" he asked.

"No," I lied. Worlds too close. To the waitress, I said "Small guacamole salad and a chili rellano, please. And tea."

War-N-Wit, Inc.

He perused the menu briefly and flipped it shut. "Two chicken burritos, please. Unsweetened tea." And under the table, he rested his hand on my knee. An electric bolt of heat shot through me. I knew I should pull my thigh back over. Instead I felt it lean towards him.

I turned to the bowls of salsa and chips as though seeking sanctuary from a church altar. The first bite reminded me with a jolt that even though I loved Rosita's food, her salsa wasn't my favorite as it was made thin and, to my tastes, exceedingly hot. And our tea wasn't even on the table yet. And today, I wasn't even going to love the food because I was going to have a hell of a hard time eating anything. I glanced around. Nobody here that knew me. The attorneys ate at Rosita's occasionally, but almost always on a Friday when they made it a tradition to eat what they termed "funky". And nobody from Scott's accounting firm ever came in here, which had figured highly in the choice of meeting spot.

"Safe?" he asked, amusement in his voice. "Nobody here to run tattling back to the fiancé?" I'd forgotten he had a Floridian non-accent rather than a southern accent.

"So it appears," I said, leaning back. "Good drive up?"

"After I ran out of the rain. Wanta loosen up a little bit before you break?"

"I don't know if I can. And I don't even know what to say or talk about or—"

"Well, you've been just overflowing with questions in the emails lately."

The waitress deposited the plates with the usual warning they were hot, and I picked up my fork, promptly burning the hell out of my mouth on the first bite of rellano. To hell with this. Yes, I'd been overflowing with questions. Questions mostly unanswered.

"Yes, I have, haven't I, and you've studiously avoided answering most of them, too." I turned to face him, but instead of any of my prior questions, I had a new one. "Half-witch, half-bitch?"

He laughed. "For the moment."

"For the moment?"

"Until you figure it out. I'd thought there was no way you didn't know. Or at least have some glimmer of an idea."

"About what?"

"That you're a witch. One of the most powerful ones I've ever run across. And nobody with that much power could possibly not know. At least a little bit. Guess I thought wrong on that one."

Okay, I was in the Twilight Zone.

Gail Roughton

Gail Roughton is a native of small town Georgia who grew up on the banks of Stone Creek Swamp, immersing herself in imaginary worlds fueled by whichever book was in her hand at the moment including, but definitely not limited to, Edgar Allen Poe,  H. P. Lovecraft, Bram Stoker and Ray Bradbury.  She has spent over thirty years in a law office as a paralegal, having decided during the course of her first work experience that while she was as fascinated by the legal world as the imaginary worlds of her childhood, she never wanted to be a lawyer.  Sharpening her technical legal writing abilities all day every day while working full-time and raising her three children, her “spare” time has been devoted to writing because “I couldn’t have this much fun for free doing anything else.”