Book Done Now What.....

[Rod Hope]

Book done now what? It’s time for a marketing strategy and all that depends on the end result you envision. Some people write books just for family and friends some want to be professional authors but most people are just writers and claim to be authors. My philosophy until it’s a fulltime job your just a writer because true authors understand once you complete a book you're basically a business owner and you have to understand your niche market and in addition nowhere your target market resides and have a plan to reach them and yes it will require some investment on your part.

The more I work in this industry the more I meet people who don’t have a clue. I think self-publishing is creating a lot of writers but not authors. We are in the, (do it yourself age) with the internet and there’s nothing wrong with that but when it comes to business, ask around, do some research, there aren’t any business owners out there that don’t have a marketing budget and allocate a certain amount of funds to reach their market segment, most of these self-published authors don’t have a clue, if you're short on money and that’s quite understandable; get a second job or work overtime and reinvest that extra money into the marketing of your book.

The problem with some of these writers; they are so full of themselves they’re producing what I call (IBook’s); why do I say that.. Because here’s what they do; write the book, do the book cover, do the video, do their own reviews and the end result they’re the only one interested in reading the book. “Hello,” you’re writing a book not just for yourself. I think the downfall of a lot of these self-published writers; they think their book is the best thing since sliced bread but when the dust settles and the pages of their books (they have sit-in in inventory) starts looking like sea scrolls then they start coming to the realization; the IBook is not selling. A lady asked me the other day, “Is there any advice you can give me in regards to selling more books? I said, “Well you’re going to need a video and a sound marketing plan because audio and visual aids help reinforce the message. She said, “well I can do the video myself it will help me save some time and money.” So in essence, she not only saved herself some time and money, she did everybody else the same favor; her book is still collecting dust.

My suggestion have a marketing plan and stick to it for at least six months, in most instances you should have a clue who your audience is, as you construct your book (at least somewhat of a clue) but a lot of the writers are sticking to the same concept; you need a unique niche. Moreover, if you want the same result just keep doing the same thing; I’m being sarcastic.

There are many more great resources out there for marketing your book, but don’t get so overwhelmed with options that you do nothing. Choose a few things and focus on them. Double down on what’s working.

So, you’ve written a great book. Don’t deluding yourself into thinking that by uploading your book to Amazon, Createspace or Lulu, that you’re going to top the New York Times best-seller list by the end of the month, it’s a bit more complicated than that. First of all, think about which networks you should be on? Most of our resources focus on Twitter and Facebook because that’s where the people are, with that being said, if you have a niche book, think about niche communities you can reach out to.

Now that you have written and published your book, the hardest part is selling it. With more than 500,000 titles published in 2009, and now the explosion of ebooks, your marketing efforts have to be extraordinary even if you believe you have written a bestseller.

Register as an author on the online book sharing sites like Goodreads.com, Scribd.com, weRead.com and Shelfari. Visitors see your book, may purchase it and post reviews. Furthermore use your book cover as your avatar or personal photo. If your cover is well done and looks interesting it may peak their curiosity enough to investigate your book and purchase it. Work the social networking sites consistently with a strategy in mind once you have chosen the sites best suited to your interests and your book subject, you must participate on the sites for social networking to work. I understand some of this is very time consuming that’s why you always have the option to hire someone to facilitate the strategy and continue to feed the networks Concept Visual Inc. is a great option for strategy marketing. Furthermore; you have to create content that attracts your audience and remember your blog is the hub of your content. The blog is aggregating everything together; engaging, listening and getting input from clients.

How to contribute to the conversation is important as well. Start at the place you’re the most comfortable first, then understand the tools, then you will find which one fits under your marketing niche. Because you’re particular niche has a favorite platform.

Understand the need for great content, share visual snapshot of your likes; public and personal.  Content is an important part of the sell. Sales and marketing generate a single revenue content it’s the fuel that drives the education of the product and turns a lead into a sale opportunity. There are lots of stages of content; the buying cycle; early, mid and late, they are very relevant before the client gets ready to make a purchase remember content allows you to build relationships. And Emotions have a big play; using emotions to influence the decisions and brand appeal makes all the difference in the world.

[Leona Olson]

Good article. This method can be used in almost any business.

[Liz Davis]

Thanks so much for the great advice.

[Rod Hope]

Your welcome,

Check out my site Minoritie' Report I always do my best to try an provide helpful tips to self publishing authors.

[Yvonne Mikell]

Hello Rod, thanks for asking me to be a friend. I read your article, and you are right. To be successful you have to treat it like a business, which is exactly what I have been doing. Right now I am setting up all my social networking sites. I am a freelance writer with an online magazine. I originally thought about using that existing database, but soon realize that too much information from two different sources were jumbled up together. So I spent the day, establishing separate entities for my book.

Funny you mention Goodreads,I did open an account, but that website is really tricky--won't let me update my profile. I have been in contact with teh support, apparently something is broken. I am quickly realizing that I will have to spend money to make money. In the end it will all payoff, question is how ln will be the waiting period.

By the way, what do you think of Author's Den and Book Daily?

 

[Rod Hope]

Hi Yvonne,

Thanks for connecting. My thoughts; I like Author's Den, Not very familiar with Book Daily but I think we have different purposes; reason why I'm saying that because all these different platforms are beneficial if that's where your specific target market resides. Send me a link to your work then maybe I can steer you in the right direction. Here's a link to an article I wrote that might help. 7 ways to market your self published book. http://tinyurl.com/d2jchn8

[Yvonne Mikell]

You can read the first four chapters--the cast of characters--on blog www.yvonnemikell.blogspot.com. This story has multiple angles. And I checked out a few of your articles last night. Looking forward to hearing from you.

[Irina Shapiro]

Thanks, Rod.  That's very helpful advice.  No one ever thinks of marketing strategies when writing a book, do they?  It certainly helps to think of selling your book as a business. 

 

Irina Shapiro

www.irinashapiro.com

 

[Rod Hope]

Hi Irina,

You're welcome. Yes your book is your business considering the atmosphere it's so competitive you have to have something that stands out from the rest of the authors. Furthermore, most real creative people aren't very business minded so if your mindset is more entrepreneurial, then you have an advantage. Marketing is just like gambling you take a chance and see what works there's nothing wrong with investing money in your work who better to invest in as long as there's a purpose, a strategy and a return on the investment.