Happy Monday, everyone! I’m taking a little blogging break this week as I am finishing up Alabama Rain, but I’m pleased to announce that fellow indie author, KT Daxon, has stepped up to contribute a guest post!
Thanks, KT!
Without further adieu, let’s see what KT has to say!
The Advantages of Word of Mouth:
I am so excited that Aila has invited me to ramble on her blog today. I’d love to chat about WORD OF MOUTH and how beneficial it can be to your business; particularly if you’re an author.
In every business, the most popular way of getting continued business is Reviews. However, what I see the most in the indie community is people wanting, asking, and sometimes even begging for people to leave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.
Pros of Amazon/Goodreads Reviews:
- Amazon has become this HUGE hub of goodies where you can purchase practically ANYTHING from the comfort of your own home, therefore; there’s a huge audience.
- From what I understand, if you have a certain number of reviews with both Goodreads and Amazon, you’re given a boost in visibility.
Cons of Amazon/Goodreads Reviews:
- While asking for reviews, you’re opening yourself up to negative reviews. While those are justifiable sometimes, in others they can be harmful to you.
- No one likes a beggar, and when you spend most of your time asking for people to leave reviews, that’s what it looks like you’re doing. Begging. It’s a very unattractive quality.
- Amazon’s newest tactic with deleting reviews by un-verified purchases.
Let’s talk about that last con for a moment. Amazon has taken a stand against paid for reviews. In the back of my mind, I support this. Because the more positive reviews you have, the more your book is placed in boost mode in the Amazon world, thus pushing out other people’s works. Let’s say a person has a terrible book, but pays people to leave 5-star reviews—well you can imagine what that will do to YOUR well-written, edited, novel, right?
However, because Amazon is doing this, it makes things harder for those in the indie-community because if you’re like me, you give a lot of your books away for free. For me, I don’t even give them away because I want Amazon/Goodreads reviews (more on that later), but because I know people who LOVE to read, and may or may not be able to afford a copy of the book. Why cheat someone out of a good read and discourage reading based on the fact of someone’s financial struggles? Do I give them all away? No. But, I can tell you, I’ve been generous in that area.
Everyone is different, and this post may be getting off track. Let’s hop back on, shall we? WORD OF MOUTH.
Word of Mouth is the BEST tool for marketing/selling your book. What does this mean, you ask? Simple. A reader reads your book—loves it SO much that they share with their friend. Then, it’s like a domino effect. The word spreads and before you know it, your books are selling. Easy right?
*laughs* No. It’s not easy.
How to use Word of Mouth:
- The first thing you need is a book worth talking about. No one will talk about Suzy’s story about Vampires if the story is flat—no strong character arcs, poor grammar, and slow plot. You need a talked about book.
- Next, you need your tribe. You tribe are your group of “fans” that truly love your book. This does NOT mean a group of friends who will tell you what you want to hear. Those are nice, but not productive. Learn to tell the difference and then have both in your corner.
- The Back Matter of your book should highlight the use of Word of Mouth. Most people write, “If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review where you purchased the book, etc.” You need to professionally state that you’d love for your reader to share with a friend their thoughts on the story. Encourage your readers to start a discussion post on FB.
With social media, these things can spread like wild fire with just a tiny spark. Your amazingly well-crafted novel, grouped with your dedicated and true tribe of readers, along with your back-matter hinting at the idea of word of mouth—that is your spark. Light it up.
Here are a few articles to help you with branching out in using Word of Mouth as a unique and fun form of marketing:
https://www.referralcandy.com/blog/10-word-of-mouth-marketing-tactics/ – Shane Barker lists 10 ways of marketing your business, including word of mouth. I’ve included this article here because his other ideas are also on my list of things to try.
https://www.tckpublishing.com/how-to-make-your-book-go-viral-with-word-of-mouth-campaigns/ – Jonah Berger gives you 151 ways to market your book using Word of Mouth.
I hope you’ve found this post helpful, or at the very least, inspiring. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you around the writer’s circle. I want to thank Aila again for allowing me to grace her blog with my words. Always a pleasure. Happy Writing/Reading!
Thank you SO MUCH for this post, KT!
If you’d like to get to know KT Daxon better, she can be found at the following sites:
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
If you’d like to grab a copy of KT’s debut novel, BROKEN TOMORROWS, click the pic!
Available on Amazon!
San Francisco native, Landon Marshall arrives in Nano Springs, Vermont with a painful past and a broken heart. When he meets his new boss, Gabby Lawsen, he finds himself fighting the flashbacks that haunt his dreams, and the desire to fall in love with a second chance.
When her boyfriend of five years decides to explore a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in Hollywood, Gabby is left hurt with a lifelong parting gift.
Turning to the comforting arms of the new Marketing Director at the Nano Springs Lodge is tempting, but can she give Landon what he’s looking for? Without knowing how far he’s willing to go to prove he’s the one and hoping for Parker’s return, Gabby is left with a difficult choice.
Fighting desire, truth, and doing the right thing, Gabby and Landon make decisions that will alter their lives forever.
I’m back on Thursday when I reveal how my Quarter Two goals have shaped up.
SPOILER ALERT: I’m still really bad at Instagram.
Aila Stephens 
Thank you for having me, Aila! ❤
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