Face-to-face training, tailored to you and your writing.
Maybe you’ve not finished your novel yet, but you’re sensibly looking ahead. Or maybe your novel is completed and edited, your cover designed, the book ready to go. Maybe you have an agent and contract, maybe you’re publishing independently. It doesn’t matter what stage you’re at, our book-marketing course can prepare you for putting your book out there to best advantage.
Letting the world know that your book is out there and persuading readers to buy it, is probably the hardest part of the whole novel-writing process. Yet it’s arguably the most important if you want to sell beyond family and friends; if you want to sell to strangers. Good marketing will ensure readers appreciate your creativity, your investment and hard work. Good marketing means sales: more financial rewards for you – and more people reading your words.
This is why, together with book-marketing expert Anna Caig, we’re offering this specialised face-to-face course tailor-made to your book and your needs.
You’ll send her information about your publishing endeavours and aspirations, and the first 3,000 words of your novel. In four, hour-long individual sessions delivered face-to-face via Zoom (or another platform if that suits you both best), Anna will discuss your book and ways of marketing it.
We ask you to complete a questionnaire with your publishing history and any marketing you’ve already done when you sign up for the course, so you don’t spend time on avenues that don’t suit you (this course still has lots to offer even if social media isn’t for you, for example), and yet she’ll offer you ways you’ve probably never considered to let the world know the good news.
We know you can get information about book marketing from books and blogs. But they don’t offer information tailored to your book and your marketing aptitudes and preferences. Through this route you’ll also discover new ideas that either you’d not considered before, or not in depth because you didn’t see their relevance or think they were viable for you. This training is completely bespoke.
Schedule
The four, hour-long sessions are usually spaced over a four-week period to give you time to take on board the information and to do the work that Anna will set you. However, she is flexible so this can be adjusted to suit your timetable and your needs. Once you sign up for the course, you settle on the days and times in agreement with Anna.
You’ll need to set aside 1-2 hours after each session to get the most out of the course. That way you can start to look at or even implement some of the ideas she gives you, and ask her questions. Email exchanges will be directly with Anna.
Opinion
The one-to-one Zoom sessions were highly geared to the client’s personal objectives and therefore far more valuable and inspirational than generic online courses or presentations to a mass audience. The sessions were highly focussed on additional marketing activities to those with which I was already familiar.
K Short, Novelist
Cost
The full course costs £475. For writers who have used Fiction Feedback services in the last two years, we’re happy to offer the course at £445.
You’ll need an internet connection and a device with a microphone and camera. You’ll liaise with Anna over whether you use Zoom or another platform, and she’ll make sure you’re all set up before the course starts.
The confidential course is one-to-one between you and Anna and will be tailored to your book, your marketing avenue preferences and your ambitions.
This is the crème de la crème of book marketing courses.
Email us: info@fictionfeedback.co.uk
Anna Caig, communications expert
Anna Caig has worked in communications for 17 years, specialising in media relations, reputation management and strategic marketing campaigns.
Anna tutors on the MA Journalism course at the University of Sheffield and is the former Head of Communications at Sheffield City Council. She writes crime and historical fiction, and reviews books for the Sheffield Telegraph and on her blog Murder Underground Broke The Camel’s Back.
She began her training business to help writers to build their brand and reach more readers. She now works with traditionally and independently published writers, as well as helping creatives in any discipline find a wider audience. Since setting up Anna Caig Communications, she has worked with over 250 authors to spread the word about their work in a way that is authentic to their values and reflects why they write in the first place.
What writers say about Anna’s course
Suzanne Snow, author, says: “Over our four sessions, Anna has provided informative, relevant and expert content that I’ve found so helpful as I approach the publication of my first book. Anna delivers her sessions with great professionalism, warmth, enthusiasm and insight. I would recommend her services to anyone looking for communications and marketing content and advice.”
Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch, poet, says: “The best course I’ve been on this year: jam-packed with ideas and tips to enable me to approach marketing my brand and my books from a range of different angles. The course was well organised and Anna was thoroughly prepared for each session. I now have the tools to set up an action plan for marketing my next book and for using social media more effectively without it swallowing up too much precious writing time.”
Kevin Sene, writer (www.meteowriter.com), says: “With Anna’s expert guidance I found it very useful to step back and ask wider questions such as why I enjoy writing, how I approach it, and how best to present that more widely. Our discussions on specific topics such as key messages and social media also gave many useful insights.”
Libby Cutts, writer, says: “I came to Anna as a new writer thinking I might be rather ahead of myself – learning about brand and marketing before I even have an agent – but I found it immensely helpful and interesting. The exercises on brand were particularly useful to a developing writer because it helped me to focus, to think about the kind of writer I want to be. These are topics that creative people would often prefer not to think about but I really came away feeling that what I learned did feed back into the creative work itself, giving it clarity and direction.”
K Short, novelist, says: “Anna provided a relaxed and informal atmosphere in which to explore how to develop a product brand and identify target audiences. The sessions were both informative and enjoyable. For my next book, I will develop a comprehensive and structured marketing plan against a timeline up to and beyond the launch date. The target audiences are now well established following the course and I will be approaching them individually using the suggested channels.”