This post is for the authors that follow me. Yes, I haven’t forgotten you. Like all creatives, I’m on a journey following my inspiration wherever it takes me, and I appreciate those who have stuck with me. Book promotion is a constant problem for all authors and having returned to writing and being at the start of a new series of rather unique books, I’m faced with the question, ‘How am I going to tell people about it?’
The Low-Key Approach to a Book Launch
Unfortunately, the sheer volume of books available means that the odds of people even seeing my book are stacked against me, and like many creatives, I don’t have a lot of money, so paying for adverts isn’t on the cards. Social media is my only tool, so I rely on it to get the word out. Book promotion can be stressful if you’re hoping for masses of sales, but I refuse to play on that level. If I can’t do it without stress, I’m not going to bother. Quality of life is more important to me than book sales.
Lucky for me, I have no great expectations for sales, I’m happy with low-key chats about what I’m doing, and I’m taking the slow release, rather than the big-bang style of book release. I also don’t have huge plans for a writing career. It’s just a hobby. That approach takes the stress out of it. ‘No expectations, no disappointments,’ I always say. In addition, I’ve been on social media for years and so have built up some followers.
Identifying the Ideal Reader & Where to Find Them
Unfortunately for me, a lot of my personal friends are against AI art and my inspiration has taken me in that direction, so my personal network is mostly useless for this new book series. They don’t want anything to do with it! Ouch. So I have to find new friends. It’s not quite starting again, but in some respects it is. If I can’t talk to my online friends about my passions, then I have to find new friends. And I have to re-evaluate where I spend time on social media.
All book promotion begins with identifying the ideal reader. That means you draw up a detailed profile of the kind of person who would get the most out of reading your book. The Psychemagination series will definitely speak to neurodivergent folk, those playing with AI art who want to create meaningful art, and those who are into symbolism, myth and exploring their inner world.
The next step is to find out where they hang out and to hang out in the same places and engage in genuine authentic conversations with them. This has required me to join new groups on Facebook, but the great thing about this is that in those groups I am finding people who share the same kinds of challenges and/or passions. That’s helpful. At this point I’m showing up, engaging, but not talking about my books. Social media is about being social, about being there for other people, not about selling your books. The sales come as a slow trickle when people gradually learn about what you’re doing.
The Extra Neurodivergent Challenge
Book promotion is a long game with no place for impatience. It took me a long time to learn this. I burned out trying to promote my first book – any form of marketing is doubly challenging if, like me, you have autism and ADHD.
I stopped writing books entirely because of the knowledge that once I published them, I was faced with promoting them, and the thought of doing so sets waves of anxiety through me. So I don’t promote; I just let people know what I’m doing when it seems appropriate to do so. I do it on my own terms or I don’t do it at all. (That’s a neurodivergent-affirming approach.)
I’m only writing again because the inspiration to make truly beautiful and deeply meaningful books around my introspective AI art practice struck with great and unresistable power. I have never been able to not follow a strong creative urge, as someone with ADHD, it’s hard not to, and in my experience, not following a powerful inspiration is bad for my health. And when I do follow my inspiration with the passion and drive that comes with it, though the projects don’t necessarily ‘succeed’ in the usual understanding of the word, I’ve never regretted it.
Why YouTube?
Another important point for book promotion is that authors need to chose promotional methods they’re comfortable with and can maintain long term. YouTube isn’t for everyone but it’s a good choice for these books for me because:
- I already have the Psychemagination channel. I set it up because it’s the only place where I could put my art/music videos, and initially I didn’t plan for it to be anything other than that.
- The content you put up on YouTube is evergreen, meaning it doesn’t pass by in a feed and disappear. People search YouTube for areas of interest and will find your material long after you first post it.
- AI is a hot topic there. Lots of people use it, share their AI videos and talk about how to make it.
- People do go there looking for self-help information, and the Psychemagination books are self-help through active imaginative journeys in association with introspective AI art.
- I’m comfortable in front of a camera, have the enthusiasm to stick with the topic of using one’s imagination to explore one’s psyche and ultimately go beyond it, and I have the experience to enable me to speak meaningfully on my topic.
- I like the wide screen and long-form format. It allows in-depth communication, and people do engage in a way they don’t on other social media. On Instagram it’s very hard to have deep philosophical discussion in relation to one’s work. People just say ‘wonderful’, lovely’, and so on, or they leave a row of emojis.
- I already have two YouTube channels, so I know how it works. I know what’s involved and how to approach it.
- I have another motivation apart from the book promotion that drives me – helping people to bring more awareness into their lives both through my art videos and my talking ones.
But is Anyone Interested?
Let’s be real, though; is anyone interested in using their imagination (aided by AI art generators) to explore their psyche? Not many at the moment I expect, but neurodivergent people are interested in the stories of other neurodivergent people and will relate well to the Psychemagination stories because of that aspect. Those playing with AI art generators might be interested if they are introduced to the idea, and authors -of which I have many connections through my editing and publishing work – will find the guided journeys in the books fantastic for inspiration. I just have to let these people know my books exist and can help them. Sounds simple, but … no expectations, remember?
And do readers buy books from YouTube? There are a lot of big reviewer channels on YouTube, so yes, people do go there looking for book recommendations. But my ideal readers are not necessarily avid readers searching for their next great read; they are people who want support for their life journey and a way to approach dealing with their inner world – and actually, isn’t that pretty much everyone even if they aren’t actively seeking it?
Optimising the YouTube Channel for Book Promotion
Optimising a YouTube channel for book promotion essentially means being very clear in one’s channel description and in one’s mind about the purpose, scope, and audience for the channel. And it means setting it up so the links to the books are clear. This means setting up the right links and having the right kind of intro and outro for your channel. It also means making a commitment to showing up consistently. Since making the art videos is my hobby, that will keep happening, but the talking videos will take some consideration. I have a juicy list of topics though, so I should be inspired enough to keep sharing my thoughts on them.
So I’ve made these clarifications and I’ve shot and posted a channel trailer. Watch it below, and click through to view on YouTube to check out my channel description, the way I’ve laid out my home page – and of course, some of the videos. Let me know if you think there’s anything missing or if it’s not clear enough what it’s about.
Will it Work?
Ask me in a year. That’s how long you need to keep up a YouTube channel before you can expect to see anything much happen in terms of subscribers and video views, so any sales from it before then will be minor, but I’m planning on enjoying it.
So if you think you might enjoy my offerings too, please do subscribe.
What do you think of this idea?
