THREE TIPS FOR MARKETING YOUR BOOK

THREE TIPS FOR MARKETING YOUR BOOK

Oh, you’re a Writer! Have you thought about how you’re going to make money? (Possibly my favorite Progressive commercial) So you have written the next seven-book series that’s going to take the world by storm, but now things are at a standstill and you’re staring down the daunting task of Marketing. Don’t worry we have Three Tips for Marketing your Book.

AUTHOR WEBSITE

https://cyleyoung.com/

It’s one thing to have a great book, but do you really think people are going to find it if they can’t even find you? Your author website is your first point of contact with readers. It needs to be professional and provide the right information in an easy-to-use manner so that people can find you when they’re looking for new books to read!
When you self-publish, it is important for your website to reflect the high standards of professionalism that are expected. Your site should have an aesthetically pleasing design and be well organized so readers can find what they’re looking for easily, but more importantly, is that you have the site so that you have that digital presence (even if the site doesn’t look professional done).

At Serious Writer, we stress how vital good publishing practices are in order not just to produce a book but also to market one effectively too! You may believe all this work has been done already though when actually there’s plenty more left ahead – which could lead people down false paths. Word Press is a great tool that we recommend and use for creating your online website.

LEVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA

One of the best ways to get a conversation started is by using social media. But authors often neglect their own platforms in favor of more traditional forms like letters or face-to-face interactions—which can leave them missing out on opportunities! You should be posting regularly, staying active, and engaging with readers who may not always look at what you post but still want information from your account because it’s there waiting just about anywhere someone might find themselves scrolling downlinks without thinking too hard.
It’s about creating a fire and then keeping it stoked. You would be amazed at quickly a following can grow with a daily 30-second video. The key isn’t necessarily how many followers one has though, it’s carving out their space while building up an army of readers who are passionate enough about your writing to bring you more attention than ever before! Check out what Bethany Jett has to say about this subject on the Serious Writer Podcast.

PRE-ORDERS

Often writers underestimate the power or don’t even think of preorders in their marketing strategy. It is important to get your audience excited about your book before it launches. Pre-ordering has been shown in studies as an effective marketing strategy for self-published authors because they have more control over when customers will be able to access content like copies or even review copies if ordered early enough–and this also gives them an incentive not only to gain momentum but establish themselves well within certain genres by being seen among other popular titles on Amazon’s ranking lists (for example “bestseller”).

As we said earlier Marketing is a daunting and feared task, but the key is not to get discouraged. There are plenty of resources and people that can help you get started in the right direction. And for more Marketing, Writing, and Publishing tips checkout Cyle Young and Bethany Jett on the Serious Writer Podcast, available on Android and iOS.

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Serious Writer Podcast Ep.2 Overview – Serious Writer

7 Tips for Freelance Writers – Serious Writer

Cyle Insight on Childrens Writing – Serious Writer

LeadPages Classes to Help you Get More Readers and Clients

LeadPages Classes to Help you Get More Readers and Clients

At Serious Writer, we’re huge fans of LeadPages. They can help business owners get their businesses off the ground and authors to expand their readership.

LeadPages is now offering free classes for people who want to know how to target more customers, and in the writing world, that means more readers.

Here’s a little bit more about the classes:

As a coach or consultant, you’re an expert in what you do.

But we often hear that managing the business side of things is a bit of a headache. The reasons are almost always the same: good clients are hard to come by, programs always need tweaking, and revenue is unpredictable.

Leadpages is hosting a free event called Converted Series: Seal the deal, and we think it’s going to help you overcome some of those challenges. They’re providing on-demand training that you watch first, and then attend the live workshops (Oct 21-23) where you’ll learn how to:

– Avoid low-commitment leads and star winning high-ticket clients

– Create short programs that help you redefine your offer and build your brand

– Generate passive income by creating a digital product that serves more people, 24/7

We like this format because it’s actionable and doesn’t take up a huge chunk of time.

You can book your spot for the event here.

Leadpages will then provide you with the free training material right away and send you a few reminders before the live workshops.

Brew & Ink Podcast – Interbrews 9 – Cody Morehead

Brew & Ink Podcast – Interbrews 9 – Cody Morehead

What does an author – or any small business or artist – need to know about art design and marketing? Cody Morehead caught the graphic design bug a few years ago, and after learning from some major companies, he started his own business PubZoo to help writers, non-profits, and companies define their brand. But what does that mean? Listen to the great conversation with Cody about art design and marketing for authors.

Listen here:

In this episode:

How Cody got involved in graphic design and Serious Writer.

What is branding?

Why is branding important for an author or business?

What are some of the common mistakes authors or writers make with graphic design?

Why is listening and paying attention to the market important for marketing?

Why is it important to realize we sell who we are more than the product?

 

Links:

www.brewandink.com

www.mbmooney.com

www.facebook.com/brewandink

www.billhawkinswriter.com

www.codymorehead.com

www.facebook.com/pubzoocreative

www.facebook.com/mrcody501

www.instagram.com/codymorehead

www.instagram.com/pubzoocreative

 

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Platform vs. Writing Ability

As a literary agent, I routinely get asked which is more important platform or the quality of the writing?

For writers who are looking to get published, this is an important question to debate. It may be the most important question.

The correct answer is not as easy as it may seem. The winner of this important debate between platform and writing ability can change more frequently than the tide. For the purposes of this post, I will look at this great debate from a traditional publishing perspective as it pertains to unpublished authors. For self-publishers, a third-party candidate weighs into the equation—marketing/networking.

Unpublished Authors

I have looked at a great number of submissions from first-time/unpublished authors and wanted to scream because their work was sooo good, but they had zero platform. Zilch, nada, nothing.

No website. No Twitter. Not even Facebook.

Sure these are extreme examples, but I can’t sell books written by authors who have no platform. It’s very difficult to sell books by authors with a small platform—many times near impossible.

If you have an excellent book and no platform, some agent may be able to sell your book, but your success rate will be low and that path will be paved with a lot of rejection.

Writing is a Business

You have to remember, your book is your business. It’s a marketable and sellable product. To sell your book you need to have influence enough to convince potential buyers to purchase your product. And you have to understand that a real-world business with no influence doesn’t get sales, because it has no platform.

If you owned a small business with no buyer influence, would you risk going on the television show Shark Tank and attempting to get billionaire investors?

No, of course not.

Those billionaires would tell you that you had no proof of concept. No sales potential.

It’s the same way with most publishers. They want to see that the book has sales potential to an audience or fan base that you are already connected with. Maybe through speaking, YouTube, instructional classes, blogging, etc. and at the bare minimum they want to see that you understand platform and you are actively working on growing your writer’s platform.

As an unpublished writer, if you want to sell your manuscript to a traditional publisher, you need to spend 60%+ of your time and effort building your platform. If it’s not your passion, learn to love it. Learn to make platform-building part of your passion.

There is only one winner in the debate between platform and writing ability as it pertains to an unpublished author—platform.

What percentage of your writing time do you spend working on platform? How can you make platform your passion?