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Hi there everyone. I am honored to welcome writer Hayley Zelda onto my website today to discuss with you all the best tool for online promotion for any author of YA books and how to turn those books into a best-seller. Give her a warm welcome and enjoy this wonderful guest post.

These days, a YA book doesn’t turn into a bestseller just by its story alone. In many cases, much of the success can be attributed to promotion as well. Whether it’s an e-book, a paperback or a hardcover, there are many digital strategies you can use to help get your book out there.

Online marketing comes in many forms —there’s at least one option that can match your budget, skills, and specific marketing goals. Below are some ideas you can try online to YA novels.

The Sign-Up Form and the Mailing List

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you might have encountered those pop-ups asking for you to sign up or add your email address in exchange of a freebie. Sometimes, the sign-up form is also placed prominently on the top or bottom portions of a website. You may find them on sidebars, too.

This is an integral part of email marketing. Basically, the said strategy involves sending emails or newsletters to those who signed up (a.k.a. subscribers). With this, you can pique your subscribers’ interest by sending a sneak peek to your book or by announcing a book giveaway. To help you get started with your email marketing, you can use services like Constant Contact and MailChimp.

These days, many YA authors have their own websites where they have their own sign-up forms. Kelley Armstrong, author of Aftermath and The Masked Truth, has her sign-up form on the bottom of her website’s homepage while Broken Things author, Lauren Oliver, has it near the top.

The Author Interviews

Nothing can beat author interviews when it comes to putting the spotlight on you and your work. Even if you’re just debuting as a YA novelist, there are many magazines, organizations and bloggers out there who may consider featuring you.

For instance, Shannon Hale, well-known for her Princess Academy series, has been interviewed by AdLit.org and the Young Adult Library Services Association. You can prepare for magazine-style and video interviews like hers.

Meanwhile, the Hunter’s Moon author, O. R. Melling, had a radio interview posted on Mixcloud. If you like discussing your book over the phone, look for local radio stations or podcasters. As much as possible, choose platforms that teens and twenty somethings prefer as they are your target readers.

Smaller scale sites are great practice and can provide great niche exposure as well. Sites like Wired For Youth are much easier to land interviews on and can still drive some great exposure. Don’t just search for platforms with a great audience though. Make sure you also prepare for the questions and the way you present yourself.

Ann Brashers, the novelist behind The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, features her YouTube interviews on her own site. The Hunger Games series creator, Suzanne Collins, has featured an interview on how site as well. You can get the video links from your interviewer and include them on your platforms, too.

The Cross-promotion with Other YA Novelists (Or Any Other
Author for That Matter)

All writers get help from other writers. For most authors, it’s just inspiration. Promotion is another assistance that you can give and take. This can be a mere mention of another person’s work on social media. A recommendation through blog posts, vlogs, interviews and book
conventions is more favorable though.

Aside from inspiring people, John Green uses his influence to recommend books written by other writers. Sometimes he just give others positive reviews like when he stated that Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette as the funniest novel he had in years.

When you’re starting out though, don’t expect that you’ll get on the radar of popular authors right away. Instead of wishing for their attention, you can find those who are in a similar situation like yours. Join Discord servers and Facebook groups meant for writers. You can scan for chats or posts from those who are looking for someone to cross-promote with. When there are none, you can post one yourself.

Writing feedback for each other’s books and having them published in your respective works could help. Each of you can use your social media pages and mailing list for further co-promotions as well. As much as possible, choose to work with someone who have similar niche and range for your social media reach.

The Fanfictions (and Other Forms of Fan Labor)

On his blog, Neil Gaiman once responded to a fan who asked about his opinion on fanfictions. The author behind the award-winning The Graveyard Book said it didn’t bother him. However, there are authors out there who preferred not to have their works used as bases for such kind of
fan labor.

If you haven’t made a mark though, you might want to consider letting your readers make fan-fictions out of your characters, settings and/or plot. Platforms like Wattpad and Commaful are there for such pursuit. You can also allow them to create their own drawings or trailers based on your work.

Or, you can also get started by writing fanfiction yourself. Just remember not to exploit others’ works for commercial purposes. Make sure you’re not also lifting characters, settings and plots from the books of those who are against fanfictions.

Many writers have tried this out before they hit it big. Meg Cabot, the creative behind the Princess Diaries series, used to pen Star Wars fanfic. Even Gaiman admitted that he used Marv Wolfman’s horror plot for an essay he wrote when he was younger.

Conclusion

Just like the contents of your YA book, make sure you plan your promotion as well. Take some time in testing and revising your marketing campaigns accordingly.

About the Writer

Hayley Zelda is a writer and marketer at heart. She’s written on all the major writing platforms and worked with a number of self-published authors on marketing books to the YA audience.