Free Advertising

In the book marketing biz, sometimes an author just needs to take time to relax and breathe. Thus, yesterday I did something that had been in the back of my mind for a while ~ I created a Spotify playlist to accompany my novel. Really, my only intent was to have new content to add to my website. And the novel is about the music business, so what better tie-in than a curated playlist?

Granted, it wasn't my best effort. I've made tons of playlists for myself in the past, because I'm a very picky listener, and I want to hear only what I want to hear. Because my protagonist is a woman, I knew this playlist would only feature female tracks, which is honestly a bit boring. I like many female tracks, but I prefer a mixture, which is sonically better. I was a bit torn as to which songs to include, since any that are "too country" won't resonate with most readers, yet I chafed at including songs I don't like. So I tried to stick with the theme of the book.

There are only two real songs referenced in the novel (the rest are made-up titles), so including those was a no-brainer. Then I went with the themes of regret and longing, because Leah has a lot of both. It was difficult to represent superstar Paula Barnes, because she is only (very loosely) modeled after Reba McEntire in her look and stage presence. Reba doesn't have any songs that mirror Paula's personality, especially not any ballads that do, and I made a point of writing that Paula's specialty is ballads. Reba's ballads are generally too overwrought to fit. 

In the end, I matched my playlist to the overall vibe of the story.

Now comes the free advertising part. I replaced Spotify's playlist image of four artists with the cover of my book, and in the description I wrote that the playlist's purpose is to accompany the novel. Alas, links aren't allowed in the description, so I indicated that the novel is available on Amazon. I figure if anyone is actually interested, they can plug the title into the search bar and find a match to the book's cover if there are multiple novels with the same title. Oh, and the playlist's title is Running From Herself. 

Do I think it'll convince anyone to buy my book? No, but it was free. Better than social media, to be sure.

I'll probably play around with the tracks a bit; hone them. I didn't have a lot of time to devote to the project, and it's pretty impossible to think of songs off the top of my head. I mostly culled from my pre-existing playlists, along with a list of songs I found online. 

I realize that country music is a niche ~ people either like it or hate it, or they like so-called "modern" country, which isn't country at all. I refused to kowtow to the newer sound; number one, I'm unfamiliar with it; and two, I know I wouldn't like anything I sampled. 

So, there you go ~ a free advertising tip for authors. I certainly never read that in any marketing articles.