Writing and Publishing News

1: Outline your most promising book promotion activities. By now you must be aware of the many book promotion activities you could engage in. Let’s start with those that make the most sense in light of your particular project and your proposed audience. As we discussed in yesterday’s blog post, consider who comprises your audience, where they shop, what programs/lectures they attend related to this topic or genre—in other words, which activities are most appropriate for this audience and what venues do they frequent?

Many authors stick strictly to those venues and activities that are most comfortable for them. Perhaps they’ve heard that social media is the best way to get word out about your book, and they put all of their energy into this channel. Is social media actually the best way to market? Probably not for all books and all category of reader. But I believe that it should be a part of most book marketing plans.

So which activities fit most realistically into a marketing plan for you and for your book? How can you reach the greatest number of your readers?

I suggest making a 3-tiered list:

• Priority activities that you believe are most conducive to promoting your particular book.
• Secondary activities you think will sell books. These might be activities you pursue occasionally—local book festivals, community auctions, radio and blog radio gigs, teaching a course at the local college, etc.
• Activities that might or might not work for you and your product, but are worth a try. This might include running a contest through your website, setting up your own workshops or a conference related to the theme of your book, going door-to-door with your book, having house parties to promote your book and so forth.

2: List the tasks necessary in pursuing each activity on your priority list and note how much time is involved. Maybe you want to go out and speak on behalf of your book. What are the steps to making this happen? What skills do you need in place? How far in advance do you need to start planning/taking action? First, do you need to learn or brush up on your public speaking skills? It might be necessary to join a Toastmasters club or a storytelling group a year in advance of your book launch in order to prepare for this important book promotion activity.

When you have a book in hand and some public speaking experience, most likely you’ll want to start by speaking to groups that meet regularly. Locate a list of appropriate clubs and organizations, begin contacting the program chairpersons, prepare a handful of speeches you can present and create promotional and informational materials to hand out. If you want to apply as a workshop leader for out of town meetings and conferences, there are also travel plans to take into consideration. And in either of these scenarios, publicity is an issue. Factor in each newspaper and radio station requirements for receiving press materials.

If you plan to sell books in the back-of-the-room when you speak, you will probably want to set up a merchant account system so you can accept credit cards. Many authors now use a credit card reader on their iPhones/iPads, etc.

Perhaps you also want to set up a website, contact your email list, start blogging, get book reviews and have your print book published in Kindle form. Use this plan-of-action formula: research each activity, consider the time-frame, gather materials and potential partners and then take appropriate action to implement the activity. Consider priorities. You’ll want to have a website before you start contacting reviewers and those on your massive email list. However, you can hold off on having the Kindle version of your book set up. When your book is on Kindle, this will give you another reason to promote to your massive email list.

3: Implement your plan. Once you have a plan in place that makes sense to you, implement it. But don’t get discouraged if you don’t sell as many books as you hoped, the turn-out was disappointing, your presentation seemed to fall flat, you’re not getting many reviews, people aren’t commenting at your blog site, and so forth. If you’re just starting out as a published author and you’re not accustomed to the task of marketing, there’s often a learning curve.

If you expect to sell a carton of books after speaking to the PTA of a small private school or during a signing at even a major bookstore, you’re probably going to be disappointed. But this does not mean that you failed in some way. This is not a sign that you should never speak in public or do a book signing again. This simply means that next time, you need to prepare more thoroughly, you should implement a more aggressive publicity plan and/or you should adopt more realistic expectations. On the other hand, maybe this activity isn’t the best way to sell your particular book. Give it one more try using different tactics and then decide.

Book promotion is not an exact science. It takes a keen understanding of your audience and a willingness to be flexible on their account. It also takes your full attention. Use this 3-tiered marketing plan and then keep doing what works and adjust those things that don’t meet your grandest expectations the first few times around.

As a reminder, Patricia Fry is the author of 45 books, including Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author (Allworth Press, 2012) and Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author (Allworth Press, 2011). Her next book, scheduled for launch in the fall of 2012 is Talk Up Your Book, How to Sell Your Book Through Public Speaking, Interviews, Signings, Festivals, Conferences and More. www.patriciafry.com and www.matilijapress.com. After 40 years of writing for publication—and supporting herself with her writing for most of this time—Patricia has produced her first novel series—the Klepto Cat Mystery series. Available at Amazon.com.

Most authors have fairly clear publishing goals. You know that you want to publish the book you’ve been working on for months (or years). You envision your book ranking high at Amazon.com and selling briskly at your website. But do you have a plan to make this happen?

I once had a newby, as yet unpublished, author tell me that promotion would not be necessary in his case because his book would sell itself. And this might be. Once people see this book, they might beg to buy it. Even in this unlikely scenario, however, someone will have to do something in order to bring the book to the potential customers’ attention. No one will buy a book they don’t know exists. Make sense?

Okay, now that we have that settled, what steps will you take in order to meet your book marketing goals? Are you still a tad overwhelmed by the concept of book promotion? Perhaps I can help. Consider this Three-Tiered Marketing Plan for Authors.

The Right Book for the Right Audience

First, let’s focus on the product. That’s right, your book. Have you written the right book for the right audience? Did you do the homework necessary to identify a valid need or desire for this particular book by a large enough target audience? Are you certain that your nonfiction book is different enough from other books on this topic—that it has benefits not available in other books? For fiction, have you chosen a genre that is selling? Have you read many other books in this genre so that you’re clear on the elements of a successful young adult fantasy, historical romance, thriller, etc.?

Do you have a realistic handle on the size of your target audience? Who is most likely to purchase your book and why? How many people are in this category? Where do they purchase books of this type? At Amazon.com for their Kindle? At specialty stores related to the theme of the book? At conferences and other presentations related to the business or other topic represented in your book?

These are the things you need to know before you publish a book, let alone start thinking about marketing it. In fact, book marketing and promotion are so closely entwined with the writing and publishing process that you should avoid making decisions about one without considering the other, especially during the writing stages of your project.

Once you are certain that you have developed a viable product with a large (or even a solid niche) audience, it is time to start setting goals. If you self-published or went with a pay-to-publish company, you may hope to earn your editorial and publishing expenses back within the year or even make a profit. You might have your mind set on selling a sufficient number of books to impress a traditional publisher enough to issue you a contract. Perhaps you just want to generate a steady part-time income you can count on while writing the second book in your series. Only you know the sales numbers you need to reach in order to meet your goals. You might be happy just putting your book into the hands of 500 satisfied customers or you may feel a need to sell thousands of copies.

Perhaps this 3-tiered plan will help you meet your personal and professional goals.

I’ll outline it in tomorrow’s blog post.