Are you published or mentioned in other books as an expert? When you begin to receive requests from other authors to be quoted or mentioned in their books, does this mean you’ve arrived? Well, maybe at a new plateau.
I don’t know how many books, outside of my own, I’ve been in. Sometimes you aren’t even notified that you’ve been included. You just come across the book one day and find yourself in the index.
In recent months, I discovered that I was referenced in half dozen published books and I was asked to submit a few paragraphs to another book earlier this year. Frequently, I’m mentioned in the acknowledgements page as the book’s editor. But I’m also noted fairly regularly as an expert in the publishing field.
How do you manage to be included as an expert in books related to your field? By making yourself known. Publish books, submit articles to appropriate publications, go out and speak on your topic, participate in forums and discussion groups on the topic, establish an organization, circulate a newsletter, create a blog and post regularly and get involved in social media.
You should also keep your finger on the pulse of the industry. Communicate and even partner with other professionals in your field. Invite them to be a guest blogger, involve them in a project, send congrats when they come out with a new book, and so forth. Offer articles for their newsletters, join their discussion groups, send them a copy of your book. If you visit their blog, read their newsletters and frequent their website, you know when they are planning a new book. Offer to send them something of value for the book—an anecdote, excerpt from your book or an article, for example.
Whether your expertise is in the area of cats, real estate, finances, writing, aviation, retirement or health and fitness, you can increase your visibility by piggybacking with others in your field. And there are many ways to do this. Aside from those I mentioned above, consider piggyback marketing. Either purchase a quantity of the other author’s books and bundle them at a special price with your own. Or exchange promotional material to send with your respective shipments of books. You might also arrange to conduct a seminar or workshops together in order to attract a larger audience.
If you are an expert in your field and you have a book to prove it, don’t rest on your laurels. Connect with other experts in order to get even more exposure for yourself and your book.
For more great ideas for attaining greater recognition and selling more copies of your book, read my book this week: Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. Order it in print or Kindle at: http://amzn.to/oe56Ia