Learning marketing

I thought writing a novel was the hard part. Turns out learning how to market is proving much more challenging. So much to learn, so many options, so many sources of information, it is almost overwhelming! But that’s okay. It is taking me out of my comfort zone, and I kind of like that. I have been there before: setting out to learn how to do something I never did before, choosing to be a novice in a brand new (for me) field. I did that with photography. One day shortly after my daughter was born, I decided I wanted to learn how to take better pictures. I signed up for a course and slowly learned the techniques. I studied, practiced, made mistakes, learned from my mistakes, studied good photographers and what they were doing right, and kept trying and shooting. After several years, I ended up getting a part time job as a photojournalist. I loved it so much that I decided I wanted to write stories, too. So I went to the library, checked out a bunch of books on journalism writing, and taught myself the same way I learned photography, by doing. And by being willing to make mistakes. And then learning from them. And then going on. I did land a full time job as a journalist, and loved it too. And now I love writing novels. That too has been a learning process. But one that feels far more comfortable than marketing a book– a completely new field for me.

Curious, I searched online to see what types of qualities good marketers need. And what I discovered has given me hope: they are eternal learners, adaptable, creative, and have good observational skills. Well, those are certainly the same qualities needed by good writers. So maybe it won’t be so hard, after all. When it comes to marketing, I have learned one important lesson already: that I need to find fans of historical romance. Because that’s my genre, that’s what I love to write, and I am already hard at work on my second novel.

So, help me out here. If you belong to a romance fan club, or book club, or have any other tips as to where I can find people who might love a romance that whisks them away to an exciting place in the past, where love is an adventure, please email me at maggiefitzroyauthor@gmail.com. Thanks!