In 2018, I launched Les Stone Cold Killers, the lazily-titled first book of my campy Cold War YA adventure series Perilous and Sparks. At the time, Jack was occupied with renovating our old sailboat, and I was keeping the family afloat financially with my income as a copywriter. Read: we didn’t have much spare cash to invest in my creative side project. However, I did have several years of professional marketing under my belt. During the early days of my copywriting career, I’d taught myself how to set up a WordPress website, how to use email platforms like MailChimp, and how to develop marketing campaigns tailored to target audiences. Having those skills helped me overcome many of the challenges of marketing a book on a limited budget, which leads me to my first tip for building your author platform on a shoestring.

Invest in your own skills.

If you only invest in one thing, make it your knowledge bank. You’ll find lots of opportunities to develop your marketing savvy without spending a dime. The only capital you’ll require is your time and attention. Here are a few valuable skills (and links to free resources) that you can pick up with just a little research (and improve upon with the right tools) to boost your marketing efforts:

The publishing landscape is going through seismic disruptions right now, so adopting the mindset of a continuous learner will also help you adapt to the changing market space and even take advantage of the chaos. That sort of resilience and know-how can make a huge difference for an emerging indie author.

Study other authors’ marketing efforts.

I’m a recovering teacher, so pardon me while I continue proselytizing about self-education for a minute. Other writers – both the popular ones and the as-yet-undiscovered ones – can be a powerful source of wisdom. By observing and analyzing the approaches used by established authors, you can gain valuable insights into what resonates with readers, how to effectively engage your target audience, and which marketing channels yield the best results. Studying marketing campaigns can also offer inspiration and spark creativity, helping you think outside the box.

We’ve got some powerful examples in our own community, so you don’t need to look far. Tom Kies teaches creative writing at Carteret Community College and blogs at Type M for Murder, two very clever ways to continually build his fan base. Sarah Maury Swan is a master at organizing events for writers, and that keeps her front of mind among her readership and makes her a beloved advocate and ally to her fellow creatives. Emily Carter has readers galore thanks to her regular blog posts at A Chick’s View, her readings at local community events, and her commitment to the local writing community as a Carteret Writers board member. And Carteret Writers’ spring conference was a marketing boon for several North Carolina writers that maybe you’d never heard of before.

Think outside the box.

Yes, you can rant on Twitter and post one million photos of your new book on Instagram for free, but you’re going to be competing with one million plus other ranting writers and all their beloved book posts. The ease of social media is also what makes it less valuable for indie authors every day. Furthermore, we’re so inundated with social media that potential readers are likely glassy-eyed by the time they get to your posts. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use social media, but you shouldn’t rely on it as an attention getter. To get someone’s attention, you’ve got to do something different.

When I began to promote Perilous and Sparks, I wanted to find an unusual way to invite readers into the world I was creating. Since the series is set in the sixties and involves a lot of travel, I purchased a bulk lot of hundreds of vintage European postcards from Ebay for $50, stamped them with the Perilous and Sparks logo and website URL, and dispersed them all around town. Then, I sent them to “secret agents” (i.e., friends) in other states and other countries. It was a fun way to engage readers offline and to build a ragtag marketing team willing to take to the streets on behalf of my fictional heroes.

Prepping my “innocent postcards” (a nod to the espionage term for a covert postal delivery) for distribution.

Make in person events about your readers.

Prior to launching Perilous and Sparks, I traveled with Jack from New Orleans to Houston to see Jonathan Stroud, the author of the Bartimaeus Trilogy and the Lockwood & Company series, at a book signing. Most of the other fans were kids, but Stroud kept the adults’ attention, too, with a presentation that got everyone involved. He shared a flimsy little book he’d written in middle school to oohs and aahs, and then he invited us to collaborate with him on new ghost story ideas. Jack had only been along for the ride, but he was eager to listen to The Amulet of Samarkand, the first book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy, on the ride home. Stroud had won him over by involving him in his process.

I took a page from Stroud’s marketing playbook at the Les Stone Cold Killers release party. In addition to a quick workshop on crafting a secret identity, I gave a prize for the grooviest 60s attire and for the most intriguing international person of mystery. Making the event about the people who showed up to support me and my fictional girl squad made it more fun for everyone, and it didn’t cost a penny more than boring them to tears with an awkward performance of authorial showboating. (Though let’s be clear, I also did some awkward showboating.) The mid-century diner where the event took place was packed with mysterious strangers who, I like to think, will remember the event fondly, and I sold out.

Me and the down-to-clown father of an avid young reader who easily took the prize for most intriguing international person of mystery.

Know your reader.

Speaking of readers, knowing yours is one of the best ways to ensure you’re investing your marketing budget wisely. Very few books appeal to everyone and trying to appeal to everyone would cost a fortune. Identifying your niche market makes it easier to come up with targeted marketing campaigns. I imagined the target audience for Perilous and Sparks would be people who enjoy a caper, love to travel, and identify with fierce and fearless female characters. That made ploys like the postcards and the costume contest completely logical choices for my marketing campaign.

I made sure the poster for the release party reflected the vibe of the book to lure in my ideal readers.

Partner up with your creative pals to extend your reach.

When I was marketing Perilous and Sparks, I partnered with my crafty friend Hannah Herrick, founder of No Worries Soap, to make soaps inspired by my two titular characters, and my pal Summer Suleiman, the brains behind The Distillery Podcast, netted me some more readers when she interviewed me. Ellen Jacobson, author of the Mollie McGhie Sailing Mystery, shared my new release on her blog as part of a blog tour, and Women Who Sail founder Charlotte Kaufman, who was developing her own memoir Rebel Heart, shared a photo of herself reading Les Stone Cold Killers to her audience of readers who are very much my people. All of these people were already speaking to people in my market. They were already trusted voices, and by lending me their support, they helped me extend my reach.

Do unto others.

You want to be supported as a creative, right? So do other creatives. By using your growing platform to help other artists and writers find their audience, you’re also reaching more of your audience. When I had some spare cash to invest in marketing, I used it to market locally in support of other creatives in the community, for example, purchasing ad space in a local dance troupe’s performance billet. It was marketing, but it was marketing that felt good because it was going to a good cause. Bonus: the dancers were exactly my ideal readers – creative, energetic, young women, and the audience fit the bill, too, as people who enjoy adventurous art. I also reciprocated the promotional efforts of writers like Ellen and Charlotte, and I made the Perilous and Sparks blog Innocent Postcards a platform for indie authors like L.J. Savage and Bonnie Mary Liston to share their thoughts on writing and on life.

Boost your efforts online.

So here’s where we get to technology. You probably thought I’d start here given how much I love nerdy gizmos, but I don’t believe technology is the most valuable asset a writer has at their disposal. In fact, it can be a detriment if you’re using it in an unoriginal or, worse, tedious way. If you’re posting photo after photo after photo of your book and nothing else, people are going to get bored quickly. If you’re thinking outside the box and engaging with your community and other creatives, you’re going to be sharing more diverse and interesting posts. So. Use your online platform as a showcase for more than your book. Use it to promote your favorite indie authors. Use it to encourage other creators. Use it to show readers that you’re more than a shill for your most recent publication.

Don’t stop.

Here’s where you get to learn from my biggest mistake. Like many people, around 2020, I was struck silent by too much tragedy. I lost all motivation to write and all momentum to my marketing efforts. It didn’t seem meaningful to me anymore, and I was completely unequipped to channel the vibrant, youthful energy of my girls Perilous and Sparks. So I stopped. I pulled the books from Amazon and made the ebooks free on my Perilous and Sparks website for anyone who needed an escape. I haven’t done any marketing (or writing) for the series since.

I’m not going to beat myself up too badly for this complete and abject failure. I was tired. Burned out. Depressed. I didn’t have the energy to invest (and aside from knowledge and a supportive community, energy is your most valuable asset as an indie author). That means when I get back to poor Perilous and Sparks, I’ve got to start all over again from scratch. But writing this post was a good reminder of exactly how to go about getting back on track, and it’s also a sneaky little marketing ploy. But maybe not the one you expect.

Join me for Virtual to Vibrant: Maximizing Online Reach and Local Engagement in Your Author Platform at Carteret Community College.

I’ve had the great good fortune to be invited to facilitate a few mini-workshops for the CCC Life Enrichment program this fall, and the first is all about building your author platform, which is to say marketing your book on a budget. Starting August 7, I’ll get into more detail about your author website, email marketing, and social media as well as what I consider the most valuable platform-building skill you can develop – nurturing a community of readers. I hope to see you there!

Click here for more information on Virtual to Vibrant.

You can see all of my upcoming workshops on my author website.