Guest Post: NEO MARKETING by Rubina Ramesh

Rubina Ramesh

It was a blessed day when I met Rubina Ramesh on social media a little more than a year ago. She has been a friend, guide, philosopher and a lot more to me. If I am a self-published author who is also successful today, I will give full credit to Rubina. She’s like a Tornado who works 24/7. Living on the other side of the planet, I don’t quite know how she manages to stay up most of the night to be in touch with us members of The Book Club. 

Incidentally, this is my third blog tour with them and I have to mention that the past two tours have been supremely successful. I am quite confident of the outcome of the present one for Meghna as well. 

I can’t think of a better person who can write about promoting Indie authors through Blog Tours which is what The Book Club has been doing since its inception. And here we have Rubina Ramesh writing about NEO MARKETING. Thank you so much for the Guest Post, Rubina! 

CLICK HERE to check out Rubina Ramesh's blog...

NEO MARKETING

Thank you Sundari Venkatraman for giving me this opportunity to talk about Neo Marketing! Here I take the liberty of using the 1999 cliché of marketing Cluetrain Manifesto, ‘Marketing is Conversation”. When I first entered this field by accident, (another cliché), the first thing I noticed is to write a book is damn tough. It takes hours and months and years of planning, plotting, characterization and visualization. In my words, “Years of labor pain”. And then comes a part when your book is either rejected by the publishers or they are lost in the sea of books published. We can’t blame the Almighty publishers too… they have a company to run and our public is damn fickle-minded.  Who would have thought a few years ago that Modern India will lap up Amish Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy, especially when Avengers and Gladiators were in vogue? 

But more than writing a book, the pain is felt when you market your book. How many of us are born marketers? So, many stories are lost is the digital world - some of them due to lack of marketing and some due to lack of editing. But who is at the loser’s end? Of course - the Writers. Some of them, or rather most of them don’t even see .01 percent royalty. So, how do we do this? Is writing after all worth the pain?

But then, even in an overpopulated India, we plan our kids ;). How can our stories be any different? They are born within us. We have to deliver. Here are some of the things I have learnt after we started The Book Club. I don’t mind sharing them with you. (Okay... I am preening in my knowledge and want to boast about it.)

YOU HAVE TO BE HEARD!

If you have written the book for yourself, by all means close your lappy and sip your cup of tea. But if it is meant for your readers, before the publicist picks up your book, it becomes your duty to shout about your book in ALL social media.

YOU HAVE TO BE SEEN!

Maintaining anonymity if you write erotica or you have a political and religious reasoning is understandable. But to hide under a pseudonym just to create a mysterious aura is foolishness. I am sorry if I sound blunt. A reader wants a face of the author. Why? No idea. Victoria Gordon hid behind a pseudonym but there is a difference. He (yes it is a ‘he’) created a whole new personality with that name. You cannot hide behind a profile pic of flowers and cartoons. In the erotica world yes… anonymity is the essence. But every other genre needs a personality. Create one.

YOU HAVE TO BE TALKED ABOUT! 

The more the media and the blogging world talk about you, the better. Check out some of the latest books on the stand. Are they all selling because of the stories? Or does marketing play a huge role? I really wish I could take some names but I am not earning enough to pay the bail, if arrested. :D 

Get reviews and spread those reviews. The review world works in a very quirky fashion. The bloggers need to be heard too, if they are spreading your word. Help them to spread your word by posting the links when they review your book. Good or bad. Any publicity is a good publicity. 

YOU HAVE FREE SOCIAL MEDIA AT YOUR DISPOSAL - USE IT! 

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Flickr and many more are there. They are free. Use them. 

START YOUR OWN SCREAM TEAM!

This is mainly for authors who have already written a few books. Have your very own Scream team. (Will write an article about that later)

GIVE AND TAKE POLICY!

You want everything free? Then help others to spread the word. If you promote other authors, they will promote you too. Their audience will see your work. There are more readers in this world than books. So, spreading the word helps.

IF YOU CAN’T – HIRE THE BOOK CLUB!

BE AS SHAMELESS AS ME  :D

About Rubina Ramesh:

   Rubina Ramesh is by profession a Homemaker. After completing her MBA from The Liverpool University, she had dreams to take the corporate world by storm. But two little bundles of joy entered her life and she settled down to enjoy domesticity. But life had other plans for her and she found herself going around the world with her two kids and DH. She does not regret any moment of her constant travels, though many feel that she leads a bohemian lifestyle. 
   She was introduced to the blogging world by her brother and after that she has never looked back. Writing short stories, reviewing books in every genre gave her the much need individuality. She is currently working on her two manuscripts. One story deals with reality and the other mythology. Hopefully, they will be published soon. 
Her published works include:
   ‘Home is where Love is' a short story in the anthology Writings from the Heart. Ed. by Beth Ann Masarik
   ‘You Stole My Heart’ and ‘Let me Go’. Short stories as a part of the anthology ‘Long and Short of It’ by Indireads.