BookMarketingBuzzBlog

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

The Author As Entrepreneur: 17 Tips & Resources

Authors to be successful, simply need to see themselves as a business, and their books as products. So how can authors be more productive and efficient at turning a profit from their writing venture?

1. Find Your Niche

Know who your book appeals to. Find out where your readers live, hang, or go. Which organizations do they belong to? Where do they congregate? What blogs or podcasts do they consume? From where do they get their book recommendations?

2. Meet A Need/Desire

Do people need your book to solve a problem or fill a void? Do people desire a book like yours so they can escape their lives? Find out what drives a purchase and deliver a message that invites people to feel they found something to fill a need or quench a desire.

3. Remove Self-Imposed Rules

Don’t play by rules that really don’t exist. We all too often burden ourselves with standards or expectations that we unfairly place upon ourselves. Why? Just do what is legal and not what others think you should do – or what you convince yourself should be done in a certain way.

4. Play Up To Strengths, Forget Weaknesses

Do what you do best. Forget the rest.

5. Don’t Overprepare

Too often you wait for just the right moment to take action. You prepare, pontificate, and research. Reverse course. Act now. Then see what could be fixed or redirected. Otherwise, the timing rarely seems right to initiate an action.

6. Don’t Ask For Permission To Succeed

You don’t need to ask anyone for permission to succeed. Be bold and do what you feel is necessary. If you make a mistake or need to apologize for something, so be it, but do not raise your hand to see if someone will allow you to do great things.

7. Set Goals & Keep Raising The Bar

What gets measured, gets improved. Setting goals gravitates your mind and body towards them. When you meet your goals, put them in the rearview mirror and set higher ones.

8. Be SEO Savvy

All of your online content – tweets, web site, blog posts – needs to be written in a keyword savvy way. Consult www.wordtracker.com, www.tools.seobook.com, and www.adwords.google.com/select/leywordtoolexternal.

9. Use An Email Service

Check out www.mailchimp.com.

10. Get Others To Sell For You

There are many affiliate programs that you can list your book with. Others will sell your book for a small commission. You only pay upon a sale – so there is no risk! Check these affiliates out:

www.clickbank.com

www.shareasale.com

www.affiliate-program.amazon.com

www.partnernetwork.ebay.com

www.affiliates.fiverr.com

www.cj.com

You can also register on these sites to sell the products of others and earn a commission.

11. Check Competitive Site Traffic

Do you want to see how much site traffic other authors are getting and who is looking at them?

See: www.alexa.com

12. Link With A Charity

People like to buy from those who give back. See this site to find a charity that you can donate books to – or some proceeds from your book sales: www.networkforgood.com Mention your charitable affiliation in everything that you say or do. This relationship is now part of your brand essence.

13. Get Help

Find a virtual assistant to help you: Upwork, The Concierge VA, Fiverr, or Va Va Virtual.

14. Be Seen As An Expert In The Media

Check out www.expertclick.com, www.helpareporter.com, and www.service.prweb.com.

15. Dictation Help

Need something typed up? Dictate it for cheap to www.copytalk.com.

16. Join Organizations

Network by joining professional groups such as a local business association, a writers association, or a group based on identity – religion, race, or gender – or a hobby.

17. Use Technology Wisely

Need a free conference line? See www.nocostconference.com

Need to record a phone call? See www.hotrecorder.com

Need to record and capture actions on your screen for video tutorials? See www.vimeo.com or www.capterra.com/training/free-list

Now that you see yourself as Author Inc. – and not just a writer – think of formulating a business plan and growing your operation. You can be more than you are now. Go for it!

Need Book PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, 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 30 years of experience in helping thousands of authors in all genres.

Catch Up With These Posts

How Should Authors Spend Their Book Marketing Dollars?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2021/07/how-should-authors-spend-their-book.html

Top 100 Book PR Blog Posts

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-best-100-book-marketing-pr-blog.html

How Do Authors Recharge A Stalled Book Marketing Campaign?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2021/07/how-do-authors-recharge-stalled-book.html

How Will You Manage Your Book Marketing To Do List?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2021/07/how-will-you-manage-your-book-marketing.html

Will You Send 25 Book Marketing Emails Today?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2021/07/did-you-send-25-book-marketing-emails.html

How Should Authors Spend Their Book Marketing Dollars?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2021/07/how-should-authors-spend-their-book.html

Why Great Writing Doesn’t Get You A Book Deal, But Great Marketing Does

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2021/06/why-great-writing-doesnt-get-you-book.html

Can You Get Other People To Sell Your book? https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2018/05/can-you-get-other-people-to-sell-your.html

Great Book Marketing Podcast Interview With Savvy Book PR Pro Brian Feinblum

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2021/04/great-book-marketing-podcast-interview.html

About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2021. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent. This 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 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Can Authors Market Books From A Messy Room?

My wife always knows when I am avoiding a task, like preparing documents for my accountant during tax time. She will see me organizing a room or cleaning the garage.

I derive clarity from taking ownership of what I can control and where I can literally see immediate results. It is a win-win situation.

I am not a neat freak nor do I have OCD. If anything, my urge to purge is a reflexive response to stress and procrastination.

I offer my services to my kids and wife, begging them to straighten out their bedrooms, her home office, or the kitchen.
They usually resist, but eventually cave in.

They thank me profusely afterwards, realizing how cathartic it was to go through all of their possessions. They then proceed to gradually crap it up again, as if nothing was learned from our exercise of seeking order and neatness.

They didn’t clean to placate me. No, they too realized an intervention was needed. But all clean-ups are temporary and picture-worthy for a day. Then it is back to the same lazy, thoughtless, disorganized habits that launched these mountains of mess in the first place.

Can authors operate in a chaotic environment?

Some may even thrive in it, but most would benefit from going Marie Kondo on their living space and office. Call it a writing Feng Shui.

So what is the first step?

To take a first step.

Try this:

*Commit the time and mental faculties to clean up.

*Simply start by reclaiming land, the surface real estate: your floor. Then look at shelf space and tables and desks. Wherever shit rests, attack, inch by inch.

*Break your room up into quadrants and take on one at a time so it doesn’t overwhelm or scatterbrain you.

Look at each and every object to honestly assess if it is time to:

*Donate things you no longer use. It may have once served a purpose or you bought it with good intentions and never used it. Regardless, move on.

*Toss what you don’t use or is not usable. Think of stained, broken or cheaply made things as qualifying. Missing pieces? Toss it!

*Store away things you think you will use down the road. Label boxes and remember that these things exist.

*Stash away memory collectors that you remain emotionally attached to but simply don’t need to display or have a present-day use for.

*Use it and keep nearby in a place that invites functionality and is not buried in a draw, stack, or closet. Arranging usable things in a way that you can see or easily access them, grouped in a logical way, helps you make use of them.

Make your donations, store items away, toss the garbage, and reflect on a job well done.

Next, actually clean surfaces that live in dust. Now let’s organize your papers.

Try these steps:

*File stuff in a logical manner.
*Use folders.
*Put the folders in a divider, drawers, or filing cabinets. Combine relevant files. Toss or store irrelevant ones. Label things accordingly. By rediscovering and reordering things, you get back in touch with old ideas, past practices, and get reminded of people to reconnect with. It is a wonderful exercise.

Next up: To Do lists.

We all make them — and ignore them. We have a calendar, too, but we forget to put things in it or to check it. No worries. Don’t give up. Stay at it.

Prioritize your To Do list items. Reflect on them often. Assign times of the day to each task, leaving room for delays, surprises, or new needs. Get help — outsource some things. Determine if something is really necessary or needed for today. Is there a way to do something more efficiently? Can you unburden yourself from the perfection trap, where you think everything must be done a certain way?

Once you feel you decluttered, got better organized, and determine some best practices to employ, you are ready to attack your writing and book marketing. You will feel empowered, armed with a renewed vision, and a commitment to succeed.

As time passes, maintenance will be needed, including periodic reviews and cleanups. And of course a need to make room for new junk will present itself.

It is your choice: live like Oscar Madison or Felix Unger — or somewhere sanely between a neat freak and a slob.