A Playlist for Your Novel?

Every writer has probably thought about creating a playlist for their novel. I did it once a long time ago, for a book I subsequently unpublished (I reworked it into a novella), but the truth is, once I began my stroll down novella lane, I didn't think those stories were fat enough to warrant a playlist.

That changed with Running From Herself, which at almost 115,000 words was definitely ripe for a playlist all its own. And, of course, the story centers around a small-town singer who finally gets her chance at stardom, so ~ no-brainer.

I'll say at the outset that having a playlist for your novel isn't going to be a sales driver, but if we're talking about marketing methods that don't work, it definitely ranks higher than a book trailer that no one will find. Everyone likes music! I also needed more content for my author site, so once I created my playlist I embedded it in my "News" section.

Things to consider if you decide to go with a dedicated playlist:

1. Regardless of your novel's theme, you can find appropriate music. Think mood. In Running From Herself, Leah spends a good chunk of the story feeling lost, and many songs exist that convey that emotion; they don't have to be titled, "Lost".  
2. If you're writing, say, an epic, sample some movie soundtracks to find dramatic tracks. This would work for a thriller, too. Historical fiction, depending on the era, lends itself to a playlist, whether classical music if we're in the 1700's or big band for the World War II era, etc.
3. Consider chronology. I imagined my (hypothetical) reader listening as he/she is reading the book, so I tried to arrange the tracks in the order of what's happening in the story.
4. A playlist doesn't have to be static. You can add tracks to it all the time, and if you've got an interested listener/reader, let them know about the additions via your website or social media or your (ahem!) newsletter. You can also ask for suggestions, which might lead to engagement. (Remember, everyone likes music!)
5. You don't have to be a Spotify user, but Spotify is by far the most popular streaming service. There's also Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube Music, and others. I don't have any experience with those services, so I'm concentrating today on Spotify. 
6. You also don't need to purchase a Spotify subscription. You can create playlists with a free plan, but the tracks will be interrupted by ads.

Some of the nuts and bolts of creating your novel's Spotify playlist: 

1. Description: You can't add a link to your book (or any kind of link) in a Spotify playlist's description unless you're a verified artist or a record company. I'm guessing most of us are neither of those things. It's a drawback, for sure, but you can include the buy page's address and hope that someone is interested enough to paste it into their browser.
2. Other than a link to your book, you can certainly provide a short blurb to inspire interest. Spotify has a limit of 300 characters. 
3. I used my book's cover for the playlist photo. 
4. If, like me, you add tracks as you think of them (or find them via a Google search), but you don't like the chronology, it's a simple drag and drop maneuver to reorder them.
5. Sharing is easy. Click on the three dots on the line beneath your playlist's header and find "share" in the dropdown. You can either copy the link or the embed code. 

With Running From Herself's playlist, I figured I should stick with female tracks almost exclusively, though I would never create a playlist like that for my own listening enjoyment ~ I prefer a mix. I did throw in a male/female duet and a Rascal Flatts track (which is sort of like a female singer. 😉) 

Free marketing is free marketing. Maybe a novel playlist will hook somebody. As we know, we authors have to try things.

Here's my playlist: