Marketing in general is a multi-faceted process. Yet day after day I see posts around social media that confirm that many fiction authors are often unaware of the many different options available to them and the various layers that work together to create an effective and cohesive strategy for “marketing” their novels.

I also see a number of authors mention that they wish they had a background in marketing so that they were better at it and it was easier.

I then see posts by marketers turned authors reflecting on how hard they find it to market their own books.

To the authors I say, “A degree in marketing won’t help you as much as you might think with marketing fiction as an individual, independent author.”

To the marketers I say, “Some of what you know has value once you translate it, but you also need to let a lot of it go.”

The reason behind all of this is that there is no “one thing” that is “marketing.” Talk to an author who has had success running ads, and they will tell you to go all in on paid ads. Talk to an author who didn’t have success with ads and they’ll tell you they’re a waste of time and money.

You’ll run into the same thing of different experiences between different authors for organic social media, in person events, collaborations, and more.

So what actually works?

To be honest, all of it and none of it. Because it depends on you personally first and foremost, and secondly on your book(s).

Marketing isn’t a single tactic. It’s the process of connecting your book to the right readers in a way that aligns with your strengths, your resources, and the stage of your career.

Anyone giving random advice of, “This is the thing you should be doing to be successful,” especially on social media, is likely right for them but not necessarily right for you. And if they’re selling it as a fast track to success, well, run the other way.

No one can responsibly prescribe a universal answer, because what works depends on context, timing, resources, experience, and the stage of your career.

What works for you is also different from the marketing and publicity processes used by publishing houses, who are operating on a much larger scale. And it’s even different for the small indie publishers promoting a small handful of authors.

There are many different approaches to marketing, promotion, publicity, and selling… and no, they’re not all the same thing, though there is overlap and they often work together. The approaches also vary between industries, products or services, big business or niche business, debut authors or seasoned authors.

As an indie-author, you don’t need to be trained and experienced in all of the different aspects of everything that is often lumped under the umbrella term of “marketing.” But you do need to understand what the options are when it comes to marketing your fiction.

If marketing has felt confusing, conflicting, or overwhelming, it may not be because you’re bad at it. It may be because you’ve been handed isolated tactics without being shown how they fit together or how to determine whether they make sense for you in the first place.

A good next step is to read: The Anti-Marketing Roadmap for Fiction Authors ~ Part 4: Visibility Routes

And if you want to dive deep into the topic of Social Media Visibility as one potential route, that’s what we’re covering in March in my Patreon.