For
authors to promote their brand and books successfully they will need to have a
keen understanding of what they are doing, why they should do what they do, a
positive, persevering attitude, resources, and the ability to evaluate the
choices in front of them. So how will
you weigh your options – and execute a winning game plan?
The
first step in this whole process is to first have a clear understanding of:
·
What
are you seeking to accomplish with your book – and the marketing of it? Set your goals.
·
What
options are available to utilize to promote your voice? Identify which
tools and a approaches can be employed.
·
What
resources – time, money, skills, connections, ideas – do you have that can be
applied here?
Next,
you need to come up with a marketing plan, one that includes small, incremental
steps over a sustained period of time that can be both evaluated and built upon
to maximize results. You need to commit
to a plan – but allow for a reasonable flexibility, depending on the
circumstances, to change it where needed.
Do
you understand the challenges, pitfalls and potential problems you will face in
pursuing your plan? Do you have a Plan B
when things don’t work out as well as you’d hoped?
Are
you ready to commit your mind, body, soul, and schedule to making your book a
success?
Ok,
so once there is a plan in place, and you are properly educated, rested, and
motivated to succeed, the next step is to determine how you will make solid
book marketing choices along the way.
You can’t just wing it – you need a certain frame of mind to approach
this, otherwise every day you are merely reactionary or subject to whim.
For
instance, will you be guided primarily by one of these things: ego, greed, fear, knowledge, experience,
hope? Or will your approach reflect
blended motivations? Be aware of what
really tugs at you and rules your decision-making process. You need some type of system or structure to
classify, analyze, and act upon the book marketing methods and opportunities
circulating about us.
We
don’t want to operate out of confusion, chaos, ignorance, or something other
than the facts. You must pace yourself
each day to act with urgency, but not desperation, an to distinguish what truly
is a time-sensitive priority vs. a convenient desire. So determine, for any task, when you will do
it, if it needs to be done at all, or if someone can be delegated to do it.
Early
on in the process of marketing a book you must evaluate your strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT).
Be honest and list everything, confront who you really are and what the
landscape for marketing your book actually looks like.
Book
marketing is something you need to embrace.
You must acknowledge there’s no avoiding it. The odds are highly in favor of your book
going nowhere if you don’t attempt to execute a marketing campaign. So step one really is this: Commit to a book marketing campaign of some
shape, size, or form – or commit to not doing one and make the decision that
you choose to not support your book.
Book
marketing can work for an author, especially when one’s goals are reasonable
and moderate. We, statistically, can’t
all be best-sellers or sell a million copies of our book or turn our novels
into movies, so if your demand or expectation is for a lofty goal, that’s okay,
but put it into perspective. You’ll need
to work that much harder, longer, and smarter to have a chance at striking
gold. But the payoff is worth it and if
you truly believe in your book and have surveyed your competition with open
eyes, go for it!
To
make good decisions about book marketing you’ll need to establish a foundation
for making tough choices. What values,
mission statement, or standard will you set as a barometer to weigh your
decisions upon? For instance, what will
you absolutely not do and what will you be willing to try, provided the
potential outcome leads you towards whatever goals you set?
To
make wise decisions we need reliable information. Gather the facts and dismiss the hype and
uncover the half-truths. Be sure to
analyze and weigh things vs. appealing to hope and passion. We cloud our judgment when emotion competes
with reason, and when we operate from a disadvantaged standpoint.
The
four things you’ll need to rely on to execute your book marketing plan
efficiently will be awareness, attitude, aptitude, and assertiveness.
You need to be aware of the possible paths to follow and resources needed to follow them. You most certainly need a positive, resilient and open attitude. Your aptitude is your skills, knowledge, and experiences. If they are lacking, you’ll need to hire help. Lastly, you’ll need to be assertive in your actions. No waiting around for a lucky break or giving people two weeks to respond to your outreach. Get out there and get in front of people.
You need to be aware of the possible paths to follow and resources needed to follow them. You most certainly need a positive, resilient and open attitude. Your aptitude is your skills, knowledge, and experiences. If they are lacking, you’ll need to hire help. Lastly, you’ll need to be assertive in your actions. No waiting around for a lucky break or giving people two weeks to respond to your outreach. Get out there and get in front of people.
Everything
you do needs a quick cost-benefits analysis:
·
Is
what you're doing the best use of your time and resources?
·
What
is the potential payoff -- if successful?
·
What
are the odds of success for a task vs. odds of success for other tasks?
·
Am
I doing the right thing, but choosing the wrong method?
·
Are
you pursuing the right goal and prioritizing them properly?
Some
decisions get simplified if you start to dismiss options. It’s
hard to choose from eight things. Narrow it down to three.
Once
you make a decision and pursue a course of action and you find the results fall
short of expectations, evaluate if you should:
·
Continue
as is and hope things change.
·
Throw
in the towel and shut it down.
·
Change
expectations to align with results.
·
Do
something to change what you are doing.
Should
you want to tinker with things look into these areas:
·
Personnel
– change who you use for help.
·
Materials
– add in or switch out resources.
·
Reduce/Expand
– do more or less of something.
·
Reverse
– just do the complete opposite of what’s been done.
Can
you think outside the box? When
does it make sense to stay in the box?
Often
we make decisions without really having all of the facts, properly
understanding them, evaluating them. Many people are risk-averse or lack
confidence in the unknowns of book marketing.
Know what is knowable, make a choice, and move on.
Sometimes
you need to make no decision simply because the stakes are high and you doubt
your options. Sleep on it. But don’t think making no decision is a game
plan long term. By not making a choice,
you have chosen.
When
you make decisions, think of the immediate present, near future, and long-term
to act accordingly. You must figure out
what will help you – by when and why.
All of your decisions have consequences and each one impacts other
choices you made or will soon make.
Sometimes
our judgement is clouded. We see what we
want to see or simply haven’t exposed ourselves to other ideas, people or situations,
leaving us to make decisions based on bias.
How often
do we feel forced into a decision, simply because we procrastinated or suddenly
feel urgency? How often do others look
to pressure us to decide on something faster than we feel comfortable in
doing? Where possible, don’t feel boxed
in. Explore your options and look beyond
what’s in front of you.
Of
course all of our decisions are made based on our understanding of reality
(perception and interpretation), our emotional state, our needs (physical,
financial, health, relationships), our desires and fantasies, and what we know
of the choices out there and our ability to properly evaluate them.
We
also make decisions based on expectations, hopes, and dreams. How realistic are they? Further, do you understand the risks,
dangers, payoffs, and pitfalls ahead of you?
You must be able to weigh the totality of what you plan to do.
Sometimes
we follow our gut, instinct, or intuition in making a decision. Other times we let facts and numbers purely
dictate us. But mixed in there are your
past successes and failures, your childhood, your circle of family and friends,
and your deep desires all whispering in your car.
So
what kind of mistakes can undermine your ability to make smart and effective
book marketing decisions?
·
Making
an incorrect assumption.
·
Not
looking at alternative options.
·
Lacking
the knowledge to properly evaluate options.
·
Dismissing
or liking things for the wrong reasons.
·
Bad
mindset, intoxicated, sick, tired, angry, or depressed when making a choice.
·
Not
knowing the things to look for.
·
Appealing,
disproportionately to something (status, lust, hungry, fearful) that is not the
factor by which you should judge upon.
·
Following
habit for no reason other than comfort and familiarity.
·
Seeking
perfection unreasonably.
·
Not
planning for disasters or a rainy day.
·
Relying
on faith over knowledge.
·
Trusting
a single person, source, product, or service too much.
·
Failing
to rely on others to contribute.
·
Not
being willing to get needed coaching, training, or support to help carry out a
wise decision.
·
Being
too much of any of these things – or not enough: emotional reaction,
analytical, critical thinking, optimism, ideation, or structured, big-picture
thinking.
·
Obsessing
over price, speed, availability – and not enough on overall results.
·
Making
moral judgments or philosophical claims when you simply just need to weigh
efficiencies and opportunities first.
In
the end, we try to simplify our decisions, even avoid making some, and defer to
others to help us. To promote your book,
you’ll need to make choices such as:
- · What
should I do today?
- ·
What
are my goals and how will I reach them?
- ·
What’s
my budget of money, time, and resources?
- What should I outsource?
- ·
Who
should I hire?
- · What will not get done?
- ·
How
will I write while marketing my book and brand?
Maybe
you’ll just shut down, overwhelmed by things.
Or you’ll let something as simple as a coin flip or random only story or
service review tip your hand.
Maybe you’ll just follow some familiar formula or path or you’ll purposely take the road untaken. You might do things cautiously and slowly – or you’ll go for broke and be all in now.
Maybe you’ll just follow some familiar formula or path or you’ll purposely take the road untaken. You might do things cautiously and slowly – or you’ll go for broke and be all in now.
It’s not easy to promote a book or make tough decisions. But you can do it. You have to. Your book deserves to be discovered and your writing warrants a chance to live another day. So buckle down and take a wild ride on the road of book marketing.
“Your library is your
paradise.”
--Erasmus
“All philosophy is
based on two things only: curiosity and
poor eyesight.”
--Bernard
Le Bovier de Fontenelle
“Act as if what you
do makes a difference. It does.”
--William
James
“To teach is to learn
twice.”
--Joseph
Joubert
DON”T MISS THESE!!!
The Book
Marketing Strategies Of Best-Sellers
How
Authors Can Sell More Books
No. 1
Book Publicity Resource: 2019 Toolkit For Authors -- FREE
How
Authors Get Bulk Sales Now
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