How Do Authors Transform Into Marketers?

 

How can a writer, who has resisted marketing his or her books, become successful at actively promoting their writings?

Here are 13 major areas to explore:

1. Attitude Adjustment
Take ownership of your marketing. If you won’t do it, it won’t get done.  Stop resisting what you know is needed.  Acknowledge that you current approach fails you.  Admit doing nothing gets you just that.

2. Identify Possibilities

Know what could be done to market a book. Narrow down your choices to things that have a higher probability of yielding benefits. Commit to doing some specific things.

3. Find Help

You can’t do this alone. It takes a village. You will do what you are capable of doing and what you have time to do. The rest either gets done by friends and relatives as a favor or because someone will barter with you. Otherwise, you need to outsource certain tasks to PR experts and marketing professionals. 

4. Schedule It

You can research, discuss, analyze, network, and brainstorm, but without a plan to take action, you won’t go far. Any plan requires action steps to be scheduled, with real deadlines along the way. 

5. Work Hard

This goes without saying: work hard. This means investing the time and effort to succeed. Work overtime. Do stuff even when you feel tired or not in the mood. Do stuff even when you have doubts or suffered a setback. Do what is needed to get the job done. Laziness has no rewards.

6. Act To Get Lucky

Luck sometimes finds people who seek it out. In other words, the more you are out there trying to make something happen, asking questions, seeking help, and showing up, the better chance you have of catching a lucky break. 

7. Find A Model

You need to make a marketing plan based on something. Look for a model. Maybe you look at the website of a successful writer in your genre and see what they are saying and doing. Can you replicate any of that while still being unique?

8. Get A Mentor

Everyone needs advice and guidance — and for inspiration and motivation to kick in. Having a mentor can provide you with all of that. You may find one on a teacher, fellow writer, or someone at a writer’s association.

9. Read Up

You will learn what to do from great book marketing resources, whether from books, news articles, websites, or blogs like mine: www.bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com.

10. Take Risks

There are smart risks and dumb risks. There are risks in love, bodily harm risks, financial risks, and all kinds of risk. For writers, they risk their writing career by not being active with marketing their books. Take a chance on a new approach or a stranger when it comes to marketing your book. You need to step out of your comfort zone.

11. Experiment

Diversify your actions and experiment with various marketing tools and approaches. Stick with what works; eliminate what doesn’t. Determine what percentage of your resources and efforts will go into things like social media, blogging, seeking news media attention, email blasts, getting book reviews, advertising, submitting to book awards, public speaking, having a website, etc.

12. Brainstorm

Think, then act. Then, think some more. Do not get paralysis by analysis, but don’t just act without thinking first. Brainstorm with others and then meditate and ruminate on your own about which path to seek.

13. Network

Who you meet can get you to the next step in your book marketing evolution. Everyone holds value. They know something or someone who can help you. Meet more of the right people and you will be able to step-ladder those relationships and monetize your affiliations. 

Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with 3.6 million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.6 million pageviews. With 4,800+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.