The fundamentals of turning your book into a business largely stem from systematizing everything you do, paying attention to what doesn’t work, and making long-term plans that will keep your marketing efforts always in gear.
In this feature, we take a quick look at how these three elements can help make your book a success.
Repeat After Me… Systematize!
Whether you’re in book launch or long-term book marketing mode, if you develop templates and protocols that you can use repeatedly, your successes will not only come easier with time but with better results as you narrow your focus on what’s efficient and effective for your topic and audience.
More...
At Raise a Dream, anything we do repeatedly becomes a system. If you listen to our Turning Collaborations to Cash webinar, you'll get free tips on how to maximize your time and innovative ways to build your speaking and/or book business.
You Can Avoid This Major Book Marketing Mistake:
While many authors use different systems to market their books, there’s one marketing mistake that applies to ALL writing ventures. There is a tendency for authors to release and launch their books, then stop marketing.
For example, authors often plan active social media and news or print media releases leading up to and during the launch. Then, once the book is “out in the wild,” some authors are on to their next project.
Without consistent and planned marketing aimed at months (and even years) after your release date, your book will not sell well, and it is hard to make it a business. You can avoid this issue by keeping marketing efforts on your planning calendar.
3 Easy Book Marketing Solutions You Can Systematize:
Keeping the previous two tips in mind, these ideas will help keep your marketing efforts moving forward.
Make it a protocol that when you’re developing your marketing memes and posts, you always create two versions. Create one set of book promo posts that include dates and “live” content for the initial buzz (or book tour) and a second set that's “evergreen” that you can recycle. Repurpose your memes and social media posts that you used during your launch so that you have daily social media going on around your book.
Continue to seek out media, guest bloggers, and podcast opportunities. See if you can schedule periodic interviews that will continue to generate interest in your publication long after the initial push. If you appoint a day in your calendar each week or month that’s dedicated to interview prospecting, you’ll find it easier to have bookings that keep your book in the limelight.
Dedicate days in your calendar to circle back to people you know have read your book and ask them to review it on Amazon and/or to post a recommendation about you and your book on LinkedIn. The more traffic you have on Amazon, the better. When you get reviews from others, create steps for capturing those testimonials and acknowledging the reviewers. Determine your steps for sharing the book reviews and recommendations on your social media platforms, blogs, and articles.
Not only is it possible to turn your book into a business, there is endless potential when you use the power of collaboration and sponsorship in your approach.
If you’d like to learn more about sponsorship for authors and how to sell more books, be sure to register for the Speaker NetNews Teleseminar: Sell Beaucoup Books with Sponsorship.