There
are scores of things an author can, should, and wants to do to promote his or her book and market their brand. In no particular order, here are a mere nine things
one should mull over – and then implement:
1. Create,
update, and maintain a web site. I still
meet too many authors who unwisely don’t have a web site, have a crappy site
with dead links, poor visuals, lousy navigation, missing items and uninspiring
copy, or who fail to update and maintain what was a decent site. Listen, this is your calling card, storefront, and is a starting point for any author seeking to turn their book or writing
career into something of value.
2. Get on social media, focus on one or two platforms, and make an effort not to ignore an inexpensive way to reach lots of people. Twitter and Facebook are the combo most should follow. Add in Linked In for professionals. You Tube is great for videos. Some prefer to be on Pinterest or Instagram. Good. Pick a few of these, post quality stuff regularly, interact with others, and set goals to build up followership and connection numbers. Don’t get lost with the endless crap being shared online – but don’t stand on the sidelines while everyone shops, talks, and lives online.
3. Have a long-term marketing plan that extends months and years out. You can always alter it but have a working plan regarding your branding and books. Write often and market even more often.
4. Determine what you can’t do, don’t like to do, won’t have time to do, or even things you are great at but know others can do better and outsource that stuff. Pay a pro and live your life’s priorities and passions while they do stuff to help you.
5. Always give something for free away. This gets people’s attention. Give something away on your site and you build up your list of connections. Give books away if it gets you testimonials, reviews, or other favors and introductions. Give your time away for workshops, teleseminars, or book signing appearances. Free is your friend.
6.. Partner with other authors or businesses or service providers and figure out how to sell all of your stuff as a package deal or to share lists with each other, or to co-market in some way.
7. Ask more favors of more people. Don’t be shy, reserved, fearful, embarrassed, or any other excuse for not getting what you want. Ask family, friends, colleagues, co-workers, ex-lovers, neighbors, church members, or the counter person at Starbucks to help you. Ask for something specific or just ask for help by telling them what you are trying to accomplish, and see what they suggest they can do for you. They can do something. Take them up on it.
8. Get ideas from your competition, which includes authors in and out if your genre – or other products relevant to the subject matter that you cover. See how they advertise, what they do on social media, and what kind of media coverage they garnered. What can you copy from their website? How about their look or messaging – anything you want to adopt as yours?
9. Think opportunistically. See everyone, every situation, and every moment of your life as some type of opportunity. Few will come to you and place a great opportunity in your lap -- you need to come up with an idea, push it, and go out of your way to shake things up. You have to also really pay attention to what people tell you, even about unrelated things, to see how you can capitalize on the situation. You don’t need to be a genius – just open-minded and observant.
2. Get on social media, focus on one or two platforms, and make an effort not to ignore an inexpensive way to reach lots of people. Twitter and Facebook are the combo most should follow. Add in Linked In for professionals. You Tube is great for videos. Some prefer to be on Pinterest or Instagram. Good. Pick a few of these, post quality stuff regularly, interact with others, and set goals to build up followership and connection numbers. Don’t get lost with the endless crap being shared online – but don’t stand on the sidelines while everyone shops, talks, and lives online.
3. Have a long-term marketing plan that extends months and years out. You can always alter it but have a working plan regarding your branding and books. Write often and market even more often.
4. Determine what you can’t do, don’t like to do, won’t have time to do, or even things you are great at but know others can do better and outsource that stuff. Pay a pro and live your life’s priorities and passions while they do stuff to help you.
5. Always give something for free away. This gets people’s attention. Give something away on your site and you build up your list of connections. Give books away if it gets you testimonials, reviews, or other favors and introductions. Give your time away for workshops, teleseminars, or book signing appearances. Free is your friend.
6.. Partner with other authors or businesses or service providers and figure out how to sell all of your stuff as a package deal or to share lists with each other, or to co-market in some way.
7. Ask more favors of more people. Don’t be shy, reserved, fearful, embarrassed, or any other excuse for not getting what you want. Ask family, friends, colleagues, co-workers, ex-lovers, neighbors, church members, or the counter person at Starbucks to help you. Ask for something specific or just ask for help by telling them what you are trying to accomplish, and see what they suggest they can do for you. They can do something. Take them up on it.
8. Get ideas from your competition, which includes authors in and out if your genre – or other products relevant to the subject matter that you cover. See how they advertise, what they do on social media, and what kind of media coverage they garnered. What can you copy from their website? How about their look or messaging – anything you want to adopt as yours?
9. Think opportunistically. See everyone, every situation, and every moment of your life as some type of opportunity. Few will come to you and place a great opportunity in your lap -- you need to come up with an idea, push it, and go out of your way to shake things up. You have to also really pay attention to what people tell you, even about unrelated things, to see how you can capitalize on the situation. You don’t need to be a genius – just open-minded and observant.
You
can surely do some of these nine items – and by doing so you will be moving
closer to having a great year and becoming a success!
DON”T MISS THESE!!!
New Year's Resolutions
For Every Author
Free 2020 Book Marketing Toolkit for Authors
17 Book PR Strategies
That Work
The Author Publicity
Priority List
Brian
Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas
expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or
anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and
email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when
discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog
©2020. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His
writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.
This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the
top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best
resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America.
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