I'm writing today at the bookstore Books or Books in Las Vegas.
The purpose of this post is to speak to the hordes of indie artists out there struggling to market their art/reach an audience.
The question of the day - What are YOU doing to stand out in the crowd?
Seems most indies I meet spam their product links across social media.
BUY MY BOOK!!! The indies yell into the internet.
It doesn't work. Not anymore and I don't know if it ever did. Today consumers have millions of entertainment choices and simply making your art available online isn't enough. You must do something to cut through the mass of books/music/art people can buy/download or interact with.
What am I doing to stand out? Glad you ask that question.
I'm at the bookstore meeting readers and talking with them, shaking hands. I ask them what works - what gets their attention. I also ask what doesn't work. Talk to the readers and they will answer.
My advice is to be unique. You must be different and memorable to stand out from the maddening amount of choices in consumable art available in today's marketplace. Amazon sells MILLIONS of books.
One way I attempt to stand out is my 'Story for a Dollar' series. While I'm at a bookstore working on the next novel - I also offer to write a micro story of 500 words set in the world of my novels - priced at one dollar. You can see in the picture in this post an installment I wrote for the owner of Books or Books - which featured the store itself! Personalizing your attempts to gain exposure instead of simply doing the same thing as every other artist out there is how to break the ice with readers.
Be unique. Don't just follow the crowd off the cliff of obscurity. If you make an impression with readers, the sales will follow.
Thank you for reading and please comment and share this post if you feel so inclined.
From Las Vegas,
Stephen John Moran