 For Authors: August 16, 2017 Issue [#8436] |
  For Authors
This week: Promote Your Book Yourself Edited by: Vivian  
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Before writers have books to promote, they need to build an interest in themselves, according to Joan Steward,
The Publicity Hound [blog and various email Tips of the Week]; Brian Feinblum [The Writer, September 2017, page 16-19,
“Promotional Pitfalls”]; Kirkus Reviews [kirkusreviews.com]; Author Unlimited [authorunlimited.com]; and Brad Phillips @MrMediaTraining.
Allow me to share some of the tips the sources above have given, mixed with a few ideas and thoughts of my own.
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Promote Your Book Yourself
Before authors promote a book, they should promote themselves. Of course, if a writer hasn't promoted herself yet, doing so can occur after the book, but promotion should first be about the author.
Often writers wait too late to promote themselves. Joan Steward says authors should become "experts" and build a personal base before promoting a book. Nonfiction writers have a built-in topic about which to write articles or present workshops: the theme or sub-themes of the future nonfiction book. However, fiction writers can also be experts, if they have researched information for their books correctly. For example, research for a book dealing with kidnapped children can create an author who is an expert on the aftereffects of being kidnapped on the children and families; what steps to take to find kidnapped children; or how to survive being kidnapped or having a child kidnapped.
Authors who have studied and developed their own writing expertise can share their knowledge of writing and become an expert on writing. But, that expert level should probably come after proving through being published that they know the subject. To gain more knowledge about writing, a person can attend classes, workshops, and conferences about writing. He/she can read articles and books about writing, keeping the knowledge that usable and deleting the rest.
Another way authors can promote themselves and create themselves as experts is to create cheat sheets and checklists. Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound, states the following: "Readers love chunks of information they can digest easily in just a minute or two. That's why they're wild about cheat sheets and checklists. These powerful one-page PDFs are like digital crow bars that can pry an email address out of a website visitor faster than any other lead magnet you might offer." She goes on to say:
Checklist/cheat sheets can be released before the book for promotion or used in a the appendix of a book or both. These lists don’t have to be about serious topics. Be helpful and have fun.
Five examples:
1. Create a checklist of advice from your main character on how to overcome a challenge or solve a problem mentioned in the book.
2. Offer a cheat sheet for tourists who want to visit the city, state, region or country where your novel takes place. If your book is about Venice, your cheat sheet could be titled, “Favorite Foodie Hideaways to Explore in Venice.”
3. Do your sci-fi characters have their own language? Create a cheat sheet of words and their definitions.
4. Create a checklist of “7 Most Romantic Places to Propose” that ties into your romance novel.
5. Does your children’s book include a fairy as one of the main characters? Create a cheat sheet of “What the 5 Most Famous Fairies Can Teach Your Child.” (The Tooth Fairy, Tinkerbell, etc.)
Include a short blurb about your book at the end, with a link to the sales page.
Writers need to become familiar names on social media, familiar in a good way. They can post encouraging comments on other people's blogs, social media posts, etc. They can post reviews of other authors' books on their blogs and the other authors' blogs. Posting bits of information on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, and other media helps to build interest in the writer and in his/her topic. The more readers are interested in a writer as a person, the more they will be interested in reading the writer's book.
I hope to share more tips about promoting and marketing in the future.
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Words from Our Readers
My last newsletter gave information from the publisher's point of view.
Sally 
Thank you for this newsletter; it is really interesting to read a publisher's role. You certainly do it for love! Great information, thank you!
I'm glad you enjoyed the post.
StephBee 
Vivian, thanks so much for sharing your perspective. I am so appreciative of the fact you've given my children's stories a good home. I do my best to market my books, but I know it's not easy. I am challenged by, of all things, time. I run out of time. I'll keep trying though.
Thanks, Steph. We do our best to get books released, and we have the same problem: We run out of time.
Quick-Quill 
This was quite an interesting look at publishing. While I figure my process will be a bit shorter, time wise, I think given the fact the publishers don't seem to be making ANY money at publishing, it would be better to bypass them and go straight to the people myself.
Even though I had a publisher, I did most of the promoting work and sold MOST of the books on my own. I was told by the publisher they had the most activity on this book than any of the other Indi publishers at the conferences they went to. You can do it if you write a good book.
A publisher does many things for an author, and even the BiG publishers require authors to promote their own books. If James Patterson has to promote his books, as important an author he is, less important authors certainly must. Too many self-published authors put out poorly written, poorly edited, poorly designed books, which hurt all authors.
Azrael Tseng
Thanks for sharing the publisher's point of view, as well as the list of resources to consult regarding getting your work published. It's all very valuable information!
I hope you find more to help you in this issue, too.
Dandelion Man 
Great article. Loved the explanation of what really happens in the publishing world. Thanks
You are most welcomed.
Thank you for joining me this issue of For the Author newsletter.
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