Do
you have a product that people want that’s priced right, that delivers as
advertised? Can you spend many hours
promoting and marketing it to a targeted group, assuming you have the
knowledge, skills, and resources to do so?
If
you answer yes to all of the above, you should be a successful writer. But many authors produce a book that doesn’t
sell and fails to change the world – or even the life of the writer. What can you do to avoid failure and position
yourself to reach reasonable goals or modest dreams?
Authors
need to operate out of a frame of mind that, on the one hand, is filled with
confidence, enthusiasm, and optimism. He/she
needs to feel opportunistic and ready to experience success. He has to put himself out there to be in a
position to come across opportunities – and he has to look to carve out his own
chances to excel.
On
the other hand, the ego needs to be controlled so that wild dreams are put in
check and delusions of grandeur don’t lead the way. It takes hard work,
strategy, luck, connections, timing, and courage to really get a book into the
hands of the media, influencers, and book buyers.
So I
would approach authorhood with multiple strategies. First, plan out and organize what you are
going to do and when such action is scheduled to occur. Fully factor in details and don’t
underestimate the time, costs, or effort involved.
Second,
identify what won’t get done – whether because you lack the skills, time, energy
or desire to execute them – and determine who you can hire to help out.
Third,
remain edgy and proud of your work but go at this with sleeves rolled up and a
farmer’s work ethic. Get up early, do
the heavy lifting, and realize sometimes you don’t get the crops you seeded
for.
Fourth,
really look at the competition closely.
What can you model and what should you avoid? Where is there an opportunity to exploit and
where is the playing field too crowded to bother? Find your niche.
Fifth,
don’t act as if you are entitled to success. Nothing will be handed to you and
your assumptions may be nothing more than wrong guesses. You have to push from all sides and corners everyday in order to get some traction and momentum to build on.
Sixth,
set a goal that’s both achievable but scalable, one that’s not easy to reach
but not impossible either. Always look
to do one more thing and try something new.
You never know what it will take to breakthrough, other than to keep
chipping away at things.
Seven,
act with a hunger and desire like a person driven because he knows people will
live better, feel better, or act kinder once they read your book. Help others live to their potential.
In
everything you do, look at the ideal, the reality, and the bare minimum – which
goal are you serving? Sometimes you need to pursue the ideal, sometimes you
just deal with the reality of things and other times you merely look to do the
least required even if it means a low return on your action.
Being
an author is not easy. You want to
write, maybe even read, but unlikely desire marketing. But it’s the marketing that gives an audience
to your thoughts. You need paying
customers to sustain your writings. You
need adulation and rewards, to let you know your writing really is good and
worthy. You need to secure media to give
voice to your words. And all that
marketing takes time and mindshare away from your writing and daydreaming,
researching, and creating. But it’s
necessary – if you want to be a successful author.
How
do you make your dream come true?
Hard
work and dedication.
Or
change the dream.
DON”T MISS THESE!!!
Great advice for all book publicists and
authors
The Secret To Really Getting
Breakthrough Book Publicity
12 key things authors must do to promote
books successfully
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diet
The 15 ways authors can promote a book
Big Marketing Lessons From My All-Time
Top 10 Blog Posts
Enjoy New 2018 Author Book Marketing
& PR Toolkit -- 7th annual edition just released
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