Marketing Tips

Nurturing Friendships with Other Authors

While writing a book may be a solitary task, publishing a book is truly a team effort. Every published author recognizes that it takes the collaboration of a group of experts ranging from editors to publicists to make a book successful. And that's why authors who know the ropes understand how important it is to nurture every relationship.

This is never more true than when meeting fellow authors. Writers are your professional peers, and forming friendships and joining forces with other authors is just as important as nurturing any other relationship on your publishing team.

Each author's goal is to ultimately sell books, but you can't do this without creating the necessary buzz that allows readers to find you. Rather than thinking every author is your competition, think about how you can learn from another author and help each other out. Pool your resources with fellow writers to help build a bestseller. When you meet another author you admire, introduce yourself:

• Reach out and share with them what you know about promoting a book.
• Exchange information on contacts and media opportunities.
• Invite them to be a guest on your blog if the topic is fitting.
• Ask them for advice and be sure to offer yours if asked.

Forming collaborative relationships will create win-win situations for everyone involved.

The Importance of Marketing Research

Know your audience. This is tried and true business advice, and it's just as important in publishing as it is in any other field. You may think you have a great idea and the expertise needed to put your ideas on paper and write a best selling book. But have you asked yourself this:

• Will the reader find my book essential?
• Will my book grab the reader's attention—both its presentation and topic?
• Is my book on a topical and useful subject matter?

If you haven't asked yourself these hard questions, you need to. In fact, you need to conduct your own market research to help you determine the best path forward before you devote hours finalizing your book.

Publishing a book is about more than just writing. You need to create a product that hits a homerun in every area––cover design, content, and layout. With this goal in mind, get as much feedback as possible by conducting consumer research for all aspects of your book. This is easier than it sounds, simply ask for input from those around you. This includes:

• Writers groups
• Peers and colleagues
• Professional networks
• Graphic designers
• Local book clubs
• Family and friends
• Friends of friends

Your next step is to listen. Listen to all the criticism you receive, even if it's against what you personally believe and love. You don't have to make changes for every comment received, but remember that all feedback is constructive. Even if you decide not to take someone's advice, their input is worth thinking about, and may help you shape other parts of your book.

Too much is at stake to simply move ahead without conducting some type of consumer research. You don't have to pay professionals or hire focus groups––consumers are all around you so ask for their input! Remember your goal: Delight Your Reader!

Delivering Value to Your Readers

We're back from Book Expo America 2010 and still riding high from the excitement and energy of this premier book publishing event. While in New York for BEA, I had the pleasure of attending the Independent Book Publishers Association Publishing University, and there was one clear message:

The Customer is King

As writers and publishers, we simply replace the word customer with reader :

The Reader is King

Too often, people develop products and authors write books without keeping their end user in mind. While the story you have to tell or information you want to deliver is important to you, you must keep asking yourself, “Is it important to my reader?”

Your content must be in alignment with what your reader wants. To determine if you are on the right track, ask yourself these three questions:

• Is my book working for my audience?
• Is my book useful for my audience?
• Is my book powerful for my audience?

If you answer no to the above questions, then you probably aren't delivering your readers the value they are seeking. If you aren't delivering them value, then you need to revisit your manuscript to address the gaps.

Know Your Target Audience

Whenever I ask someone, “Who is your target audience?” and they respond, “ Everyone will like my book,” I know they are going to have trouble selling it. Saying you wrote your book for everyone is the kiss of death. No book is written for everyone, and making such a broad statement will prevent you from reaching the actual audience that will buy your book. I suggest thinking about who is most likely to buy your book and why, and creating a reader profile based on your answers.

As you begin writing your book, be clear about who you are writing it for. Create an avatar of your ideal reader. Be able to describe them demographically—

• Age
• Education
• Nationality
• Income, etc.

And psychographically—

• Personality
• Attitudes
• Aspirations
• Values
• Interests
• Lifestyles, etc.

Creating a reader profile based on these attributes will enable you to better target your marketing efforts. For example, if you are writing a children's book, having a book signing in a retirement home is not going to be effective. But targeting school librarians might be a critical part of your overall strategy.

Identifying your ideal reader helps you identify your target audience and is one of the first steps in creating your book marketing plan. Taking the time to think about and write down answers to these questions will help you determine who is most likely to read your book and how your book is different than everything else on the bookstore shelf. Doing this now will help you in the critical process of selling your book later.

The Importance of a Marketing Plan

“What should I be doing to market my book?”

I get asked this question all the time from self-published authors who are frustrated with the sales of their book. My first question back to them is, “Do you have a marketing plan?” I've yet to ask this question and get a definitive, “yes.” They may have a website, dabbled in blogging or have a Facebook page, but… They don't have a plan!

When you plan a vacation, you know your destination and use a map (or GPS device) to help you reach it. Think of a marketing plan as the GPS device to help you reach your sales goal (your destination). Without a plan, you aren't going to get ‘there.'

Developing a marketing plan takes into consideration the following factors:

• Your Time
• Your Money
• Your Manpower
• Your Energy

We can all develop an incredible plan, but will yours be realistic given your constraints (time, money, manpower, and energy)? Effective marketing planning takes into consideration your constraints when developing your goals and actual marketing tactics.

Marketing is so much more than having a social media presence or appearing at a book signing event. It is about having a clear strategy so that you can develop a roadmap that best meets your needs and overall objectives. I was just checking out a few of the self-publisher websites, and frankly I'm shocked at what they are offering for their marketing services. Some offer nothing at all. Some offer advice. Others offer a smorgasbord of marketing services, from which you can pick and choose. But very few of them offer you a strategy or “roadmap” to help you achieve your sales goals.

While you are finishing up your manuscript and preparing it for submission to any publisher, make sure you're prepared to answer these three questions:

• “What are my goals?”
• “How am I going to reach them?”
• “Will my publisher develop my Marketing Plan?”

Your answers may just help you determine which publisher you choose.

What is Marketing?

Most authors equate marketing to simply selling their book or getting publicity. Marketing is so much more than that. It's an all-encompassing process that involves:

• creating the best product (their book)
• communicating the value of the book (why someone will want to read it), and
• delivering it in formats that are accessible to your readers

Delivering the best product (book) requires a minimum of four professional edits (substantive/content, copy, typeset and proofread), as well as effective design and use of the front and back covers.

Pricing is another essential element to marketing a book. Pricing must be determined on what the market will bear, and not necessarily how you can recoup your costs.

Distribution is also a component of marketing. Each book must be made available in a variety of formats (paper, eBook, audio, etc.) to where your readers can access it. Retail (bricks & mortar) stores, online stores, and libraries are all essential channels of distribution. However, in order to gain distribution in retail stores and libraries, you must go through one of the major book distributors.

The last element of marketing is promotion. This includes advertising, publicity, sales, bookstore events, websites, blogging, virtual book tours, video book trailers, and a host of other online activities.

So the next time someone asks what you are doing to market your book, make sure you understand that it is a multi-faceted process that includes creating the best product, pricing, distribution through the correct channels, and promoting it through a variety of media.