In a post I wrote a few weeks back, I mentioned that I used a short cut of sorts when promoting my books. I also mentioned that marketing was a necessity to authors, especially those who self-publish. My “short-cut” came in the form of a Christian Bookclub who emails its’ members to let them know of new releases.
Marina Woods is the owner and force behind the GoodGirlBookClubOnline. She’s the person I turn to when I want to market my books. GGBC was started when Marina grew tired of reading books that compromised her beliefs. She reasoned that there were others out there like her, so she put the wheels in motion and has now amassed several thousand names of people who like to read the kind of books I write.
I spoke to Marina about what it takes to run GGBC and she was kind enough to answer a few questions. I’ve summarized my conversation with her below. Hopefully, her insight and time in the PR industry will help you in your future endeavors.
As well as promoting products on GGBC, Marina also takes on new clients/authors and pitches them to media outlets. She negotiates deals between those clients and the outlets based on what the client needs or is even budgetary concerns. She states that often times, she will offer an exclusive if the outlet is willing to offer her client a feature story. When she buys ads for her clients she looks at the media outlets ‘rate cards then after assessing her clients’ budget, she tries to negotiate a deal. She contacts an outlet letting them know of her ‘serious interest’ and proposes an offer within her clients’ budget that she hopes the outlet will accept. It’s at that point that the outlet will tell Marina what they can or cannot do for her and the client. She tries to negotiate with them, attempting to get the best rate for her client with a deal the outlet will accept. She notes that she has had to walk away from a deal when neither party could come to an acceptable agreement.
Finally, she stated that thorough research, kindness and fairness go a long way in negotiating deals. Whether you hire someone to do this for you or you begin, marketing and negotiating for yourself, the advice Marina gives here, should help you in reaching your goals.
