Over the past few weeks I’ve been conducting a series of Book Marketing Masterminds. These are in-depth conversations with book marketing professionals who have a wide range of experience, both online and offline, marketing their own or other people’s books.
While editing I got to review them in the space of a couple of days, and it really made the similarities in the interviews stand out.
Each of the people I spoke to has a different background and plays a different role in bringing indie books to market. Yet it was striking how many similarities there were.
Having this almost meta- view of book marketing showed me the 6 tips that stood out the most. Here they are:
6 Meta Tips From Book Marketing Masterminds
- Effective marketing takes planning—Whether you’re planning a book launch that you’ll be writing dozens of guest posts for, or arranging the conversion of your e-book files, you have to be planning in advance. Some of these books were in development for over a year, and keeping the whole project together takes systems and attention.
- Your book has to stand out—Fiction or nonfiction, you’ve got to put in the time, effort and money to produce a quality book. With the sheer quantity of books being publishing you need to rise above the rest and a good book, well produced will take you far.
- Passion fuels your engine—There’s something that drives you to write, and whatever it is will help you do the regular tasks that are called for over time in marketing your book. We need to be strong advocates for our own books, and you can’t be bashful about it.
- Where you end up may not be where you think—You can’t tell where your efforts will take you, but opportunities present themselves and it’s up to us to be ready to take advantage of them. As you understand your field better, and you meet more people, your focus may evolve.
- Be in it for the long haul—Many of the strategies these marketers are using today will take years to come to fruition. Book marketing is a marathon, not a sprint, and involves lots of other activities like branding and building a platform.
- What’s your next book?—It’s much easier to achieve success at book publishing if you have more products to sell. It’s critical to be open to the development of new books and other products that can be developed from the same content. Then it becomes a business.
A lot of food for thought. Although I’ve been working pretty steadily on training products, there are at least 2 solid book ideas I’ve been wanting to pursue, but haven’t. It’s good to be reminded.
Is there something you would add from your own experience?
Photo by lorda
