Book Marketing - Start Now

What a tacky title - Marketing is More Important Than the Book Itself. So it's not entirely true. Or is it?

When do you start marketing the book? Wow. There's a loaded question. The first thing you must consider is - are you serious about this book? Is the book something people will want to read? (You can only speculate on this one, but some ideas are not worth the time it takes to think them).

For the purposes of this Hub, I'm going to assume I'm writing to authors who stay the course and will finish their product (book). Learn to use business language with respect to your book. This is a business. Yes, we enjoy writing, but unless you are independently wealthy, getting some compensation for your efforts is important. (For those of you who are independently wealthy, why are you reading this? You can pay people to market for you.).

You should begin marketing your book as soon as you begin writing it. If you are going to court the big houses, I (and most anyone else who knows the business) will tell you to market the concept before you write, otherwise you may be wasting your time.

How should you market the book before it's written? Let me count the ways. Get a copy of John Kremer's 1001 Ways to Market Your Book. This book will keep you busy. The important thing to realize is marketing is a companion for as long as you are an author. Writing the book is the easy part. Marketing and promotion is 70% of the work.

Good places to start the marketing process. Social networks. If you don't have one built, start. Let people know you're writing a book. Mention, generally, the scope of the book - not all at once. Release tidbits in a personal way. Hard selling does not work online. People want to connect to YOU, not a businessman, not a product, but the person behind the book. Be candid. Be open, be honest. Have fun. The more people you attract to your social networks (FaceBook, Twitter, YouTube, Myspace, Plaxo, Linkedin, etc.), the more of a potential customer base you'll have.

Hub Pages is an excellent forum. Write articles for www.ezinearticles.com and other article depositories (Google article depositories for a list of others). These articles get picked up and published all over the place WITH YOUR BYLINE ATTACHED.

What good is a byline and exposure if you don't have a competent author website working for you? No good at all. You MUST have a website as an author. I say you MUST have an online business site as well. You make more money on your books if you sell them yourself. Over 70% of all books are sold on the internet. So where should you be?

Just in these past couple paragraphs I've given you enough to keep you busy for a while if you aren't doing them. Here's another marketing must - develop and maintain a dynamic blog site. This is probably more valuable than your website. Blogs are an informal way of driving potential customers to your website. Remember, hard selling DOES NOT WORK online. Your blog should be related topic-wise to your book. I have a book on fatherhood and a blog called Just for Dads. I post anything related to being a father there (although I've been a bad boy and haven't posted for awhile).

My book, Fatherhood 101: Bonding Tips for Building Loving Relationships primarily focuses on things dads can do to bond with their baby from pre-birth through eighteen months. Does this mean my blog is limited to that? No, and it shouldn't be. My blog may address the disparity of fathers getting child custody to mothers given that many good fathers lose custody to unfit mothers just on age-old biases. I can discuss what it's like to be a step-father and an adoptive father (both of which I am). I can address being the father of adult children and teenagers. The list is endless.

The key to blogs is this - dynamic (intersting, engaging) content and CONSISTENT POSTING. I can't guarantee you will write dynamic content (mainly because I don't know you), but I can guarantee you a simple, easy way to consistently post your content. Set up a 'blog day' the first of each month. I use the first Monday in each month. Write four or five blogs related to your topic all at once. Schedule one blog to post each Monday of the month. Poof! You now have consistent postings.

What if you come across something during the month that screams to be blogged? Go for it! All the better. There is nothing wrong with posting in between your scheduled posts. In fact, the more fresh content you create, the more people and search engines take note - hence more traffic to your author site and hopefully you business site.

This stuff takes time. I hear every day writers who don't want to take the time to market. Three words - It won't work. Books do not sell themselves. Authors actually do not sell books. Authors learn to sell themselves. If you connect with people and they like you, they will want your book. Period.

Which brings me to what is normally a writer's blanch moment - learn to speak in public. Sorry, this is a must. Every time I have a speaking engagement, I sell books. Most often, I sell enough to cover my expenses. I am not talking about book-signings. Book signings only work if you get many factors to line up for you. I'm speaking bonafide speaking engagements.

I've spoken on subjects like getting published, fatherhood, publishing and writing. I connected with my audience and I sell books. Toastmasters is a great place to start. I was petrified of public speaking when my first book came out. For a year I feared scheduling speaking engagements associated with fatherhood. Now, thanks to what I've learned at Toastmasters, I am a confident speaker.

I mentioned book signings. I was privileged to accompany a good friend, Jan Stamm to one of her early book signings. Her book on parenting, Guardians of the Gift struck a chord and she sold 28 copies before my very eyes. I was thrilled! I imagined myself doing the same thing. Here's what she did to make this book signing successful.

She scheduled the signing at Chic-fil-A on a Saturday. The place was swamped in mothers and children. She advertised it with fliers that the Chic-fil-A folks placed in bags and displayed on their bulletin board. She set up in a prominent place. She didn't say, "Here's my book, would you like a copy?", she spoke with each person that walked by her table. She didn't sit down unless she had to. She also had someone else there to collect the money so she could devote all her attention to whomever she spoke with.

Book signings need a lot of effort to work. You MUST get word out. You MUST hold the signing in a place that your 'target market' is going to be. You MUST be outgoing enough to start up conversations with strangers (this really is not as hard as you may fear). One thing you should not do is fear you won't be able to answer people's questions. You know what it took for you to write and produce your book. No one is better suited to field questions related to your book.

There are literally thousands of ways to market. John Kremer's book just touches on some, granted 1001 is quite a few. The biggest, hugest, (I know, that's not a word!), best thing you can do to market your book is take five swings a day at marketing. Find five things you can do to put your book, whether completed or not, in front of people each and every day.

Radio interviews, book reviews in magazines, newspapers (nationwide folks! How many newspapers are still up and running? Quite a few..), online book reviewers. Blogs, websites, tweets, FaceBook posts, YouTube readings of excerpts, MySpace posts, emails (collect as many emails as possible from friends, family, acquaintances, etc). Talk to people in line at grocery stores. If you have a book, always have a couple with you at all times. Business cards, ALWAYS have plenty with you.

These ideas are just a tip of the marketing iceberg. Revel in marketing. Networking face to face with people is huge. Word of mouth is still a great form of advertising. I can't tell you how many times I've sold books just off the question asked of me, "What do you do for a living?" I don't care what else you may do to bring in income. You are ALWAYS and author. ALWAYS! Take ownership of that fact. People continue to shock me when they ask for a copy of my book right there on the spot.

They give you their money, you autograph their book, and they go brag about meeting you and getting an autographed book! I love this business. Sometimes the people they brag to order books OFF THE BUSINESS CARD YOU GAVE THE ORIGINAL PERSON. Always think marketing without being pushy.

If a person wants your book, they'll ask. No sense pushing it on them. But if they ask, DO NOT HESITATE. Also, never give your work away. Many people (especially friends and family) want free copies. When you give it away for free, they don't appreciate it. It'll just gather dust somewhere in their house until it gets tossed out or donated to the library. You worked for your book, and you continue to work through marketing.

You should give away free books to reviewers or people who open doors for you to speaking engagements or other beneficial events. Don't be a cad. A free autographed copy to these people can pay off later in ways you could never imagine.

Dream up ways to promote your book. The key is - market every single day. Five things. You can often do these things in less than an hour. By doing five things a day, you create a snowball effect. Some of your efforts will not work. Some will. Over time you'll find you build up a head of steam. Just be ready.

Successful book marketing is not guaranteed for the best writers. It's the best marketers that sell books. That's a shame, but it's true. Become a strong marketer. Give your book the best shot possible.