Authors Marketing Together by Renee Bolla

Collaborate. Connect. Inspire.

Marketing is essential in any business, and the world of literature is no exception. Today authors are expected to not only write but also market their work. I’m sure some of you cringed when I said the word market. I get it. It can be daunting, time-consuming, expensive, overwhelming, and intimidating, especially for newbies. We are writers, and we just want to write! But we also want people to read what we write, and that’s why marketing is a crucial element along the journey.

I only recently began my author journey. At the end of 2020, I resigned from corporate retail after 20 years and followed my dream of becoming a published author. Zero-knowledge or experience, just a passion to share my stories and celebrate literacy. I’ve discovered writing can be a solitary process. It’s just you and your keyboard (or notebook if you’re old-school) with your thoughts. While writing is a solo activity, I realized marketing requires a network and a community.

There are many organizations that helped get me started and continuously support my writing journey: The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, 12x12 Picture Book Challenge, Women in Publishing, Making Picture Book Magic with Susanna Hill, and Highlights Foundation. But it was through the 12x12 Picture Book platform that I found my marketing community.

Leslie Eva Tayloe, Mona Voelkel, Tarja Nevala, and myself, Renee Bolla, a group of strangers, everyday women pursuing our writing dreams, found each other through a post on the 12x12 platform. A simple post from Leslie asked if anyone was interested in forming a marketing group. And just like that, Kidlit at Heart was born. We are a marketing group of women authors who inspire, support, and learn from each other while marketing our picture books, celebrating literacy, and connecting with communities. Each of us brings unique experiences and backgrounds. We are a blend of self-published, traditionally published, and even hybrid authors, but we are all aligned on one common goal…to build our author brand and sell our books!

The initial stages of forming our marketing group were about getting to know one another and asking the right questions. What is your goal as an author? How do you want to make an impact? What are your values? What are your expectations for this marketing group? What do you want your author brand to accomplish? How much time can you dedicate to this group? The only way for your marketing group to succeed is to ensure you are all aligned. We established early that we are NOT a critique group. We are here to market our author brands and our books as well as educate readers and other writers along the way.

In our infancy, we worked together on creating a brand. We knew early we wanted to be more than a group that casually meets. We wanted to be a picture book marketing brand. That means we established a name, logo, mission statement, and vision statement. This didn’t happen overnight. We took our time thinking about who we wanted to be and what we wanted to stand for. We researched other inspirational brands to help guide us. We had fun creating brand names, fonts, colors, and logos. And as writers, we loved writing our mission and vision statement. After some time collaborating, we had a brand, brand kit, and website. I also want to mention the importance of checking that your brand and domain name are available early in the process.

Next, we established meeting dates, times, and frequency. While this may sound basic, aligning calendars can be challenging and a deal breaker for some. Kidlit at Heart meets twice a month for an hour, and we set our dates for all of 2023. We aligned early that this time is prioritized for our marketing group. We do Zoom meetings because we are a group that crosses many time zones. One day we would love to meet in person.

We start each meeting with an agenda sent in advance and wrap up with an email that recaps the meeting and preps us for the next one. In between meetings, we connect via email or our shared Google Drive, where we continuously exchange marketing information, including information about events, classes, writing contests, blogs/newsletters, aspirational authors, interviews, podcasts, and website tips, to name a few. 

The biggest challenges we (and you) may face when trying to coordinate a marketing group can be bucketed into three areas. Scheduling/time commitment, conflicting individual priorities, and different viewpoints or working styles. That’s why it’s crucial to ask the right questions initially. We started Kidlit at Heart with six members but are now a group of four. Along the way, we had two individual members’ priorities/goals change, and they felt they no longer aligned with what we were working toward as Kidlit at Heart. Therefore, they chose to leave the group. We are all still closely connected and continue to support each other’s journey, just not as part of the marketing group.

There are many wonderful benefits of forming a marketing group and this experience has helped me grow as a writer, brand builder, and marketer. I want to highlight a few benefits with you in hopes of helping you along your author journey and potentially helping you form your own marketing group.

1.     Cross-promotion: Authors can cross-promote each other’s work, increasing visibility, including sharing each other’s work on social platforms, websites, or each author’s events, as well as connecting each other to your respective networks.

2.     Sharing resources: Authors share information on writing workshops/events, connections, book SWAG ideas, benefits of teacher guides, and speaking opportunities.

3.     Collaboration: By working collaboratively, authors can leverage each other’s strengths and pool resources to create a more effective marketing plan. A few examples of this: author interviews, giveaways, library placement, virtual events, website presence, brand building, and social media collabs.

4.     Feedback and support: A marketing group is a trusted and safe space, providing a supportive network to share successes and struggles, offer input and advice, and encourage authors to keep going. For example, our latest topic was all about creating press kits. We came together to ideate, set deadlines, and hold one another accountable.

5.     Increased visibility and credibility: By working together, authors can open doors for speaking engagements, media interviews, further reach on social, cross-website exposure, and ultimately higher book sales.

6.     Skill sharing: Each author can teach others what they know about marketing, writing, and publishing, leading to growth for everyone involved. Our group offers a wealth of experience, knowledge, and energy, and we all work together beautifully.

Being a writer can be a lonely and challenging journey, but it doesn’t have to be. Forming a collaborative marketing group with other authors can build a supportive community, increase your book and brand’s visibility, and help you achieve success.

As for Kidlit at Heart, where are we going from here? We have a vision to share our creativity and love of literacy with a broader community and support other writers on their marketing journey. Check out our website and take our “Get to Know You” survey, because we welcome feedback. If you complete the survey, you will receive “30 Tips to Build Your Brand” to get you started on your marketing journey.

Best of luck, and remember, our biggest resource is each other.

 

Renee Bolla is a former retail executive turned children's picture book author. She has two self-published books, released in 2022, Finding Bunny and Imagine That. Her inspiration for writing comes from her experiences as a mom to her three daughters. Those experiences are woven into each one of her stories. Writing has always been a creative outlet for her. She loves that a book can be a magical door that opens to infinite worlds, igniting imagination and how each page invites you to soar on the wings of its words.

Renee is a writing contributor for Detroit Mom and a member of the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) and Julie Hedlund’s 12x12 Picture Book Challenge. She is also a founding member of Kidlit at Heart, a children’s picture book marketing group. As well as a presenter at the Women in Publishing Summit 2023. You can find her on Instagram & Facebook (@reneebollaauthor), Tik Tok (@reneebolla), and Twitter (@rbollaauthor). To learn more about her journey, visit her author website.