Authors who are new to self-publishing can have a hard time understanding how all the parts of this puzzle fit together:
- Do I need 2 ISBNs?
- Should I print digital or offset?
- Can I publish ebooks and print books at the same time?
Hey, that’s understandable, because book publishing is an industry caught between centuries-old traditions, practices and ways of making books, and the onrush of new technology that’s changing all of that at the exact same time.
So I guess it’s no surprise that book marketing seems to be just another piece you have to “figure out” and then just get it done, another to-do item on the path to publication.
But book marketing means so much more than that. In this 12:52 video, you’ll learn about what I call the book marketing continuum, a kind of amazing loop of success that you can travel with your book throughout its history.
It brings into play social media, book launches, repurposing your content and a whole lot more.
Have a look and let me know what you think.
Here’s an audio version if your prefer to listen, but then you’ll miss out on all my whiteboard drawing:
Photo by OliverN5
I found your article very helpful. It was clear, precise and gave me a clear understanding of how to get started. It provides me with new insight to building a presence instead of just publishing a book and telling all my friends that my book is published, This is a real job. That’s great!
Thank you for the step by step starting before you finish writing. I’m in the before stage. This was really helpful;I bookmarked your site.
Thanks for directing me to your new video on “marketing.” That’s a user-friendly way to look at it. I’d heard some of it before, actually am in the process of doing some of it, but it gave me a new way of looking at it. Great stuff! Thanks.
Hi Joel,
Thank you – this was extremely helpful and put forward in such a clear and concise way. I’m learning the whole time as I go along and I hope to incorporate more of your suggestions into my current book marketing and for future books. It’s a relief to see the marketing continuum set out in such a straightforward and structured way … thank you for sharing this valuable information.
Jules
Joel,
I’ve helped authors as an editor and printer, and now I’ve written my own book. Your advice will help not only me as a writer and self publisher, but to better help my clients. What you said about marketing being a continuum is like a pebble thrown into a pond; each action creates more movement and extends the possibilities outward. Thank you for this series and the wisdom you share. It has been invaluable.
Thanks, Kathryn, much appreciated.
So helpful, especially the idea of the continuum. Jut drawn up the marketing plan for my upcoming book and it seems like a lot of effort! However, viewed as building a network from which I can launch not only this but future books, it seems like a positive investment.
Also, it’s good to remember you are probably only going to “launch” each book once, so it makes more sense to make the most of it. I’m not sure that launches lead directly to sales, but they do help to get the book into a lot of people’s hands, and that’s half the battle.
Joel, thanks for this excellent video. I’m in the process of sending out ARC’s in the hopes of having reviews up on Amazon before my launch. This is the most exciting – and scary – time of the whole process, but thanks for covering the post launch activities. So many think if their launch is a flop, they’ve missed their only chance to market their book. Not so.
Loved the illustration of continuum for those of us wanting to turn book publishing into a successful career :-)
Joel –
Great insight, fantastic video. You’ve taken a difficult to complex topic, the book marketing loop, and made it very accessible. Thanks for what you do for authors!
Thanks, Tim. What’s happening with your NetMinds team-building project? Would love to hear more about it.
Joel:
Another great post, and I hate to bust in like this, but I emailed you about something else that we’d discussed before (via email) and have not heard back. Just wanted to make sure you got my email and if not, let me know and I’ll send it again.
Maggie
Love your videos, Joel! So informative. This is a great approach towards marketing. Makes it more doable, definable, and even fun! Thanks so much for sharing this!
Thanks, Yeseinia, I love making these videos and will likely be doing more of them in the future, so it’s good to know. And by the way, if there’s a specific subject you’d like to see covered more, let me know.
Thanks, Joel! I’ll definitely keep that in mind as I approach the publishing stage.
Great video, Joel. I’ve started my “Explaining Heath Tips A-Z” on my Explaining Health Facebook page, and when I’m done I’m going to turn it into an e-book. Thanks for that little. nudge to keep going.
Marcia
Hey, that’s great Marcia. You should make sure to check out Nina Amer’s new book about creating a book from your blog, she has the whole process laid out.
Excellent presentation! You packed a lot of valuable info into a video I could watch over my coffee break. :)
I’m running a free promo on my first book, More Precious Than Gold, to celebrate the anniversary of its publication. I’m already working on details for a promo for the sequel–a story about how old hurts and hard times conspire to destroy one couple’s relationship. Because people, generally, love to share something significant and readers, particularly, often dream of writing themselves, I’ll launch the second book with a give-away that will give readers a chance to share about a real-life relationship (theirs, their grandparents’, whatever) that survived hard times to emerge stronger.
Your presentation gave me many ideas for building on this theme. Thanks!
Joel, I really enjoyed your video on the bookmarketing continuum. It was informative and motivating. Your delivery was very easy to follow. I appreciate that you fit so many specific ideas for action into the talk, and that you showed how it all builds together. I’m working to finish my novel, The Toymaker Apprentice, and launch it in December. Seeing the continuum laid out on the board helped me to see where I am headed and how there is sustained value in all of the little steps I’m taking along the way. The big picture. Thanks.
-Scot C. Morgan
writer of short stories and the novel, The Toymaker Apprentice, due out December 2012.
scotcmorgan.com
That’s great, Scot, and good luck with your book.
This is the best! Clear, straightforward, informative and delivered with enthusiasm. It’s great that you remind authors, especially new ones, that marketing can be fun instead of scary drudgery. Good job!
Thank you for taking the time to put this together. As a fiction author, I do almost everything on the chart, but I’ve never seen such an excellent overview of marketing. It is indeed a living continuing process rather than a simple “grocery list” of things to do.
Thanks, Dani. As I mentioned, I really see book marketing more as a mindset or orientation to the world rather than as a list of stuff to “get done,” and I think taking that approach makes all the difference.
I published my novel in May of 2011. Then, I began reading the chapters on Book Island in Second Life (a virtual world).
Since the novel deals with Global Peace, the next step was organizing discussion groups on Book Island about issues from the book.
Now, we have a website that helps expand the discussion…
The tricky part is scheduling the writing of the second book in the series :-)
You’ve offered so many great ideas!!! Your overall marketing continuum philosophy is excellent – it makes so much sense, and you’ve delivered your message in an inspiring and memorable way! Thank you so much!!!
Brillant!
I always follow your work. The presentation is very clear and objective. It would be nice to put subtitles in Portuguese.
Thanks, Fernando. Someday Google or someone else will figure out a way to offer translations in the language of your choice in real-time, and that will be great. Thanks for your feedback.
I just got your feed (at work), and will be watching this tonight at home. Thanks.