Many times, I am asked how I managed to write twelve books in ten years.
WAYS TO MARKET AUTHORS IN 2021
I had found it rather conventional that, upon first beginning in 2008 with my initial publication, there are more means for authors now than there ever were before. I had always thought: “If I write it, it will sell.” This is not purposeful or true. Many of my books have laid dormant on Amazon, untouched even by myself. I cannot say I am a successful author, but I am darned sure a successful marketer, businessman, and entrepreneur. With that said, writing is hard.
TIME AND TIME AGAIN I HAVE SEEN…
But when you have the means to go from manuscript to Amazon Kindle within a day, you are teetering the boundary of grandeur’s competitive grasp. Now, first thing is first: writing the book itself is actually not the hardest part of the process. In fact, I have found that the biggest weakness among authors is a lack of preparation for marketing. Books do not sell themselves, and an effective pre-launch campaign must be designed.
WHAT COMES NEXT IN THE PROCESS?
Many authors write a book, then format it for paperback (which Amazon KDP provides), then use Kindle’s own program to author the book in digitized format. Five years ago, I recall how painstaking this process was. Now, it can take as little as an hour (possibly less) to get your book from manuscript to market. The problem is, everyone is doing it already! 2,700 books are released a day. Yes, within a day, almost 3,000 new books appear on Amazon’s website.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO AUTHORS
Competition is higher than ever. If you do not have the budget to market the book, seeing it as less of an art form and more of a product, you will not succeed. So, what is the solution? Marketing. People underestimate how fundamental marketing is with a book, especially one you uploaded and maintained yourself. If a publisher is not backing you with marketing budgets and book tours, you are leveraging failure. You will find your books lost in a cloud of others just like it. No matter how original your work may be, the marketing of it should be over half the equation.
THE FIRST STEP IS NOT WRITING!
It is free to publish a book. Yes, free. You will get royalties and pay Amazon a fee, but the process of actually writing quality material is step one. However, before you even get to step one, you need to figure out who your demographic is. If a self-help book, market to that audience. If a digital design book, market to that audience. That is simple mathematics. Once up, do not launch. Do not do so until you have written the even more essential craft: your marketing plan!
PLANS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE
A marketing plan delineates everything from your ad budget to how you plan to sell the book. We actually offer these services, and wish for you to check them out. I honestly feel that unless you are fiction-oriented, all books need a marketing plan before they are even written. Know your competition and what they may have not done, rather than what they did to succeed. This lets you break free of the chains. Put out a press release; advertise on GoodReads.com; look for clever ways to design and implement your marketing strategy. It is then that you launch!
TO CONCLUDE THE CONCLUSION
Writing a book is actually not very hard, at least for seasoned authors.
But the one missing piece of the puzzle that many authors make is, simply: they forget to write two things. One is the book, yes, but the other is the marketing plan. Contact us if you want to see how we can assist in your journey!