A professional in marketing said it takes approximately three years for an Indie or small press author to receive recognition online.

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine’s father about marketing. Asking him for advice. I couldn’t afford his service because this man was marketing before the days of the internet.
He asked what have I been doing so far?
I told him what I had been doing. Spending a lot of time in on and offline marketing but I explained the days I’m offline takes away from my online marketing.
As a professional marketer he said it takes approximately three years for most author to receive recognition online in contrast to almost instantly offline.

I agreed with the instant offline recognition.

He said he has seen books put out by big companies fall to the wayside although big bucks are spent in marketing it. According to him, the amount of money spent doesn’t always guarantee the book will become popular.

The wasn’t very encouraging news.

I asked him I thought the internet reached more people than you can reach offline? He said it does but if they aren’t paying attention then what good is the reach. Those you reach offline are listening to you and will remember what you said. They don’t a million other things to distract them from you. There’s no rankings or algorithm to push your book aside for another. During a book presentation it’s all about your book.

I agree, no one else can walk into your book presentation and start yelling “Herald! Herald!”

He suggested starting a local fan base first and then venturing onto the internet, so you will have supporters to help market your book. To start building your fan base before the book is published by asking local bookstores, libraries, and such will they carry it on their shelves??

Ask local book clubs to discuss it.

One thing he said is the second I spoke to someone who said. He said look the covers on the best sellers’ lists. He wishes authors would quit making book covers that look like a poster for a movie or a Marvel Comic book.

I asked what about if it’s an action or thriller?

He asked do you want your book to be dated?

I said no. I don’t.

He explained that what dated mean in the literary world is that someone can look at the cover and instantly pinpoint when it was written. Like for example all the tats on guys in romance novels. Twenty years from now, tattoos maybe passé. That’s great if you write something that becomes a classic or you become famous. But otherwise with all the covers start looking alike you get lost in the mass of eBooks.

He said select an iconic design so that anyone seeing it from afar can easily recognize it and say that “Such and Such”

He helped me created this cover for a short story that probably won’t be published until who knows when. But anyway, he was showing me what he means by creating an iconic image that people can easily recognize if they see it again. He said building, animals, and places are fine but don’t use a lot of modern human faces because people don’t actually remember them if the person’s face isn’t already famous.

He admitted that most online readers are between the ages of 12-30 and other genres outside of young adult aren’t going to do well online because what does this segment of society really knows about the real struggles of life? Or can relate to things they haven’t experienced.

He explained that earlier generations were exposed to the reality of life such sooner so yes, they could relate to not having the rent money or sitting in a cold house because they can’t pay the heating bill. Adding that all these elements play a role in whether or not you get the attention you are aiming for.

I asked about the keywords, SEO’s and such. According to him all that is fine if the reader wants to read that particularly book. But a site can get a thousand visitors per day and yet make no sale.

He said people must realize that all the marketing ventures are businesses. And that all businesses are out to make money. All are going to sell you a bunch of stuff you don’t need to make money. You must choose wisely in which you employ to market for you.

He did say that if other businesses had to depend solely on someone’s rating, word, opinions, and marketing to sell something they wouldn’t exist. Everyone would be out of business in a month or so. There would be no supermarkets and such.

He said he understand the literary rating and review system but he thinks it should have been devised in the last 150 years.

Wow! I didn’t realize it was that old!

He also said that every author could have mailing list online and off.