How to Simplify your Book Marketing and Write More
Being a successful author these days, regardless of how you are published, means marketing your work. Tweets, Instagram posts, YouTube videos, blog tours, conferences, launch parties and press kits: it’s enough to make anyone go mad. Almost daily we are presented with new book marketing tools, techniques and trends. On top of this is the highlight reel of social media reminding us that we could be doing it better. It’s enough to make even the most persistent author feel like giving up. Many authors reach out to me, sick of their perpetual state of overwhelm, wanting to know if there is a way they can succeed without being wrung dry by their book marketing efforts. Having to tweet, blog and set out Instagram flat lays is eating into their precious writing time. Surely there is a better way to juggle it all. Fortunately, there is and it can be summed up in one word: Simplicity. Effective book marketing is simple. It’s about eliminating the non-essentials, honing in on your ideal reader and doing away with what isn’t working. It’s about ignoring overly complicated marketing approaches, establishing a straight-forward plan that fits your needs and building genuine relationships with your readers. Keen to dial back on excess marketing and spend more time writing? Here are some pointers to get you started.
It’s About Your Readers
Your book marketing revolves around your readers. Know who your ideal reader is, where they are found (online and off) and what content interests them. Produce content that offers your readers value. The better you know the mind of your readers and how you can fulfill their needs the more successful your book marketing will be.
Action Steps: Try this easy exercise for identifying your ideal reader. Based on your findings, review how you are reaching your readers. Is this in a way that works for them? Assess your marketing content. Do your book marketing activities offer your readers value? Consider what marketing material you could produce for long-term engagement.
Don’t Do It All
Trying to do everything is a sure-fire way to stress yourself out and achieve very little. Eliminate any ineffective actions you are currently taking and focus on what is working. Not getting much love from Twitter or feeling like your Facebook group is a ghost town? Time to ditch it and move on. Much like Hemmingway’s policy for eliminating excess words, effective marketing is about cutting away the excess. This means regularly assessing what is and isn’t working and remaining flexible in your approach. Focus on a few key social media platforms, namely those where your readers are likely to be found and that you enjoy using. For regularly carried out activities, such as welcoming new readers to your email list or posting to social media, consider where you can implement systems and automation to streamline the process. Free tools, such as Buffer and Hootsuite, can help you plan out and synchronize your scheduling and post in advance, saving time and stress.
Action Steps: Examine your book marketing strategy, if you don’t have one take a look at what you have been doing up to now. Try to gauge what is and isn’t working. Which actions are achieving the best results? Look over your analytics to see how readers are finding your work and interacting with you. Are you spending time on promotional efforts that are failing to deliver? Which regularly performed actions can be automated, without detracting from the reader experience?
Concentrate on Doing You
Identify your unique selling points as an author. What do you offer your readers? How do you differ from other authors in your niche? What do you do well? Try to sum this up in a few words. In an oversaturated market your unique selling point is your way to differentiate your work. Avoid comparison triggers (put down that phone and stop scrolling through social media). Focus on what you do best. Book marketing is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. What works well for one author, might not be a suitable fit for you. How you reach your readers, keep them engaged and the metrics you use to measure effectiveness should be based on your own strengths.
Action Steps: Is your marketing based around showing your readers your unique strengths? Can they easily see what you have to offer? Could a reader visiting your website or coming across your social media platforms quickly get an idea of what your work is about?
Make it Sustainable
Many authors are under the illusion that they have to spend hours on marketing every day in order to be effective. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Like writing, the key to marketing is consistency. Too many authors approach book marketing with a sudden burst of activity, posting four times a day, then find this isn’t sustainable and drop off the radar a month or two later. Although every new tool and trend promises overnight fame, book marketing is a long-term strategy where quality and consistency count. Pace yourself and make it manageable.
Action Steps: Use a journal, online program or app to plan out your book marketing activities. Develop a content calendar to set out your posts in advance. Set a schedule with small, regular efforts that you can sustain long-term. It’s better to write a quality blog post once a month than four hurriedly written weekly posts followed by nothing at all.
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Above All, Keep It Simple
Keeping your book marketing simple means concentrating on activities that are in line with your goals. It means eliminating the unnecessary and focusing your attention where it counts, avoiding distractions and planning for consistency. Ultimately simple book marketing results in a more efficient use of resources, increased productivity, a streamlined approach, less time-wasting and more engaged readers. Leaving you with more time to write and, after all, what author doesn’t want that.
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