Book marketing is seen by many Indie authors as a tedious, but necessary evil. Most artists I know dread the thought of feeling “salesy” and equate marketing to the sleazy used car salesman who aggressively pushes from every angle. As a result, marketing is usually the last thing they think about when it should be among the first.

Most writers don’t think of presentation the same way visual artists do, but books are viewed in a very similar manner. From the cover, to the author photo, to the blurbs on the jacket, your book is examined by the aesthetic eye long before the first word is read. If you want to truly promote your hard-earned and impassioned work, marketing should always be at the forefront of your efforts.

For me, I came to embrace the teaser trailer ideal, which really bloomed with Switch and helped me build a huge buzz during the pre-order campaign and ultimately expand my fanbase. When you think of a teaser trailer, you tend to think of big Hollywood movies, but a simple image with text as an ad or a promo piece can help generate interest. It’s a great conversation starter and it intrigues the reader by feeding them a tiny sliver of what’s in store for them within your pages.

The art of a good tease is a mix of mystery and anticipation. You draw the reader in with a powerful image, colors that evoke a mood, and words that reveal a taste of what makes your work compelling and unique. You don’t want to give it all away – you want to create a tension that makes your audience crave more.

Switch is a mystery/thriller about madness, though how that madness plays out between the main characters could go either way. To portray that, I used clear, iconic images with a frantic – almost Art Deco – color scheme, and posed questions that invited fans to demand answers. Once I turned it into a game and made the audience a direct participant, my whole concept of marketing changed. Think back to any great ad that stuck with you. Was it passionate, heartfelt, sexy, absurd? Now inhabit the mind of your potential readers and tease out what aspects of your work are best to showcase. Start small, keep it simple, constantly experiment. And have fun! Marketing can be a blast when you know what makes your work a feast for the senses.