Are you the author of more than one book in more than one genre or topic? It makes the tough job of book promotion even tougher, doesn’t it?
Some of us with multiple book topics/genres have multiple blogs, twitter accounts, Google alerts accounts, websites, and so forth. We promote to different audiences in different ways for our different books. And sometimes we have trouble keeping up with it all.
I mean, how in the world can you do justice to promoting a young adult fantasy and a business book at the same time? I have trouble maintaining two blog sites. In fact, the reason why this post is going up so late in the day is because I decided to post on my Catscapades blog today, as well. Have you visited my cat-related blog? I established it in order to help promote my book of cat stories, Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats. See the book here: http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html
Visit my Catscapades blog here:
http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades
How do I handle promotion for books related to publishing, cat books and local history books, for example? Not very well. For me—especially since I also run a full-time editorial business, I’m the executive director of SPAWN (another nearly full-time position) and I am writing another book—I must make choices and establish priorities.
After 25 years of promoting my local history books, I pretty much let them sell themselves now. My website and Amazon.com attract those buyers who are looking for something on the history of the Ojai Valley. And the museum is my outlet for tourists and other walk-ins.
I rely almost totally on the Catscapades blog and word of mouth to sell copies of the Catscapades ebook and comb-bound print book.
And this leaves the majority of my promotional time and energy for my writing/publishing-related books, which I promote via this blog, articles in numerous appropriate magazines, speaking engagements, word of mouth and so forth.
It doesn’t seem to me that it is humanly possible to do a really proper job of promoting two or more books on different topics and in different genres, unless those two books are your absolute total focus. This means no family interaction or commitments, no friends, no extracurricular hobbies or interests, no household obligations or responsibilities…no life outside of promoting your books. Don’t even think about having a job.
I have learned my lesson a couple of times about the dangers of trying to juggle two or more books on diverse topics. It’s darn hard work and it tends to create a failure out of at least one of them. That’s why I recommend to anyone who is contemplating a second book project, to produce a book similar to the one they are already promoting—at least for the first five or ten years of its shelf life. If you have a nonfiction book and you want to try writing a novel, at least try to use the same theme as your nonfiction book. For example, maybe your nonfiction book is about stamp collecting. Write your novel around a philatelic (stamp collector). Maybe your nonfiction book features short-cuts for dog groomers. The main character of your novel could be a dog groomer.
My point today is to think before you act when it comes to your publishing decisions. Think with your head instead of your heart. If you truly understand what is expected of you—what your responsibilities as a published author are—before you get involved, you’re more likely to make the right choices.
Another good reason for staying within your genre or subject when coming out with a new title, for example, is that you’ll have a better opportunity to build your platform. It’s tricky to establish a perceived expertise in more than one area. What is a platform comprised of, anyway?
• Recognition.
• Trust.
• Connections.
Doesn’t it make sense to focus all of your promotional efforts in one area?
Be sure to purchase your copy of The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book now, while you’re thinking about it and while you have that $20 in your pocket. This book will teach you more than you can even imagine that you need to know as a published author. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html