Right — encouraging the gift market and book swapping are unfamiliar areas for fiction marketing, but stuff like this is exactly what is needed. So many people are unwilling to step beyond their property lines.

Of course, the same exact tactics may not work for all writers in all markets, but the same principles of staying open to new ideas, staying flexible and willing to look for outside opportunities, knowing who your readers are and how they will consume your books… those will work for any writer.

Like Bill, I don’t like to get too tactical without the proper background. It’s far too easy to focus on specific techniques, especially ones you’re irrationally hopeful for or attached to, and feel completely at sea when those tactics fail. Most important is a flexible strategy that will spawn any number of workable tactics… The trouble is, to form the strategy, you have to be in a strategic (business) mindset, and that is something of a problem for many artists. More on this later!

Agree with these, totally.

This is huge with fiction / entertainment buyers. There is an abundance of entertainment available, and a lot of it is from already-trusted sources — for example, Stephen King’s latest or upcoming book, Joss Whedon’s latest project, etc. The uncertainty of whether the source (author) will deliver a quality experience is what stops a lot of people, especially when they don’t need to look very hard for alternatives.

It does take work to get into a book. There has to be a really compelling reason to choose an unknown source over the “greased neural slides” of trusted sources. My answer is always to make yourself into a trusted source, and free content is one of the ways to do this. Not the only way, of course, but one that delivers results in advance. People buy my other books because they love my free one and want to learn more from me.

I divide markets into two broad categories – single-copy buyers and bulk buyers. Most people understand this. People who go to a bookstore, or buy online, buy one copy of the book at a time. However, to further divide this market segment, we need to look at WHY they are buying the book. Are they buying it to read themselves, or are they guying it for a gift? The gift market is often overlooked, and it can be very lucrative.

Now, there are several complications. For one thing, in today’s marketplace, many people give gift certificates instead of an actual gift. In addition, many people give the book they bought for themselves as a gift after they read it. (Although, this is more likely to be a “book exchange” between friends and family members.) But, both of these seeming negatives are actually opportunities – particularly for fiction writers.

Do you offer gift certificates on your website? Or, do you have a gift-wrapping option, with the book sent to a third party? (How about designing a special email that is sent to the recipient, from you, that also mentions the name of the person buying the bift? Have you considered a “Buy one get one sent as a gift” idea?

I don’t like to get too tactical (specific suggestions of ideas) because most authors are not ready for ideas yet. They need to create a plan first, with specific information about their sub-mnarkets. Once they make the decision to attack a sub-market like the gift market, THEN they are ready for ideas that might work for their book.

Last week, I was helping a debut author who is Jewish, a doctor, and a novelist. This is a great combination. We began to explore sub-markets that would be attracted by these characteristics. One of them was the gift market. She is now looking for specialty retailers who might display her book in time for graduation gifts.

One final word – encourage book-swapping. It puts your book into circulation. While it may not give you more sales immediately, it is just like displaying free content on your website – it builds your community, reduces risk, and generates gift sales.

Glad to hear free content is working for both of you and Bill made a very good point about risk. In my case I’m in a higher risk category than Bill who’s titles can speak for themselves. There’s nothing riskier than a debut novel which is why I’m leveraging free content to spread the word.

Best regards to you both and keep the advice coming.

We see this at work in the larger economy right now as buyers save their money instead of spending it. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Smart consumers do not want to buy a new car, for example, if they are afraid of losing their jobs.

“But wait” you are saying. “I am only asking them to buy a $20 book. There isn’t much risk in that!” Let me give you a few thoughts to contradict that argument

1. To paraphrase Donald Trump “$20 here and $20 there – and pretty soon you are talking about real money”
2. Readers put more at risk than the money. They are giving up their time when they buy a book. They are giving up the opportunity to read another book.
3. Readers and authors build a relationship through the book. Relationships are fraught with risk. It takes time to understand the way an author thinks and writes. Readers are hesitant to risk that work against the possibility of dissatisfaction.
4. If you are selling online, most consumers still have uneasy feelings about trusting online sources.

What is the solution? One action is to give free content. Nothing reduces risk more than experiencing the material first. This might mean short stories, free chapters, or blogs. Another factor is a guarantee. This reduces risk, but the buyer must believe the guarantee, and over-delivering with free material first will set up confidence. Finally, testimonials from trusted sources are also excellent risk-reducers. By giving free content for others to SHARE with their friends, you build confidence through viral promotions.

“In the meanwhile, I’m curious if you all have any thoughts on the effectiveness of giving away content in order to increase sales?”

Giving away free content has *always* has worked for me, and I believe that it will always work. I’d love to hear from Bill and Kit on this subject, but one of my books is absolutely free and will always be free. I’m actually working on another whitepaper/tutorial about building an effective author website, and I’m going to address free content directly.

Free content helps build that bridge of trust between a reader and an unknown author. Indie authors definitely need to do this, to make it easier for readers to decide if they like the author’s “voice” and story. As a buyer, it certainly makes my decision easier, and I’m not talking about just the first 3 chapters of the latest novel. That’s the minimum. I like to see short stories, that “unsellable” novella, blog posts — all of this is free content that leads to a buying (or list-joining) decision.