by Penny Sansevieri
To many authors, book promotion is a necessary evil. When I put my author hat on, I totally get this. Why can’t you just spend all day writing? Why does this whole book-promotion thing get in the way of your real passion? But then we suck it up and try our best. Some of us figured out what works, and some of us still try to find our groove. For those in the latter category, I want to encourage you to talk those who figured it out. Think of it as author therapy. You can most definitely learn by talking through your book-promotion struggles and listening when others share their successes.
The Author Group Factor
A lot of authors got on board with author groups and local or regional author and writer associations, but a vast majority haven’t. Not only do these groups provide great book-promotion resources, including events where you get access to book-promotion and publishing professionals, they’re also an excellent opportunity to network with authors on your level.
Author and writing groups also provide a challenge in a supportive environment. You’ll notice your writing deadlines become easier to meet. You’ll also find you have a captive audience to discuss really new, and possibly scary to present to your audience, concepts and storylines. Last but not least, your writing will improve. Listening to what others do and sharing your milestones and getting candid feedback are excellent tools to take your writing to the next level while ensuring you’re following themes and concepts your genre is into at the moment.
Where do you find an author group? Most cities have them. If not, your state certainly will, or your region at minimum. Writers and Publishers Network is a terrific place to begin!
The Mentor Factor
Too few authors have writing mentors. I think it’s a combination of a lot of factors. Sometimes it’s an ego thing, sometimes people are too shy to ask, and a lot of times I think authors just don’t know how to go about finding one. Writing mentors are ideally authors in your genre a few steps up the ladder from you. Not so far that they’ve lost insight into where you are in your progress as a writer, but not so close that it turns into more of a mini-author group rather than a true mentorship. Writing mentors are also great resources for book-promotion ideas. If they’ve seen more success than you, I assure you they’ve made some smart decisions and they’ve figured out what works for them, and what works in your genre.
Book promotion is a broad term that includes a lot of strategies that work across multiple genres, but it’s finessing those strategies to your specific reader market that makes your efforts successful. This is where a lot of authors fall short. They read about book-promotion strategies and just follow the steps blindly without taking into consideration the details that make or break your success. A mentor will likely have first-hand experience with long-standing genre preferences, new themes and concepts that start to show up in bestsellers, how fans of your genre like to be reached (are they engaging more with their favorite authors on Facebook or Instagram?), and key search terms and phrases that really speak to and pull in the people you want reading your books.
Here are some potential candidates for your consideration:
- An old teacher or professor
- A member of your writer’s group or book club
- An editor of your acquaintance
- A coworker who understands storytelling
- A spiritual or religious leader
- A writer you admire
If you don’t have any potential options in your current network or if you’re interested in a more structured relationship with a mentor, consider applying for the Writer to Writer Mentorship Program from the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP).
The Book Professional Factor
Book-promotion professionals are another piece to this puzzle. I do author coaching and consulting, and a lot of other super-smart, super-savvy book-marketing powerhouses do so as well. So how do you decide which book-marketing company to go to? Well, first you need to figure out what you need to address. Asking any book-promotion professional, “How do I sell more books?” isn’t going to go over well. That’s too broad.
If you know you need help with social media, find someone who’s been super-successful on social media and has a lot of great training programs available. I personally focus a lot of time on Amazon research and understanding how to work the Amazon system, so people struggling with book promotion on Amazon tend to reach out to me, and I love that.
But what if you’re unsure of where you need book-promotion help? What if you really just want to know how to sell more books? There are ways to address broader issues with more specific discussion points. It’s just about knowing where to start the discussion, how to ferret out key areas that affect your bottom line and figure out how to improve on those.
Here are some of my favorite topics for coaching when I’m working with my clients; I feel they address book-promotion issues that are relevant to most authors:
- What are you, the author doing? I love going over this in detail and giving feedback; remember this is a GREAT opportunity to get super candid; don’t be afraid to share what you’re doing, even if you think it’s small (or non-existent).
- Most authors don’t know what to blog about, and this is a GREAT time to brainstorm ideas.
- Let’s talk about what’s getting traction for you on social media and what isn’t, and brainstorm new directions for you to test.
- We should discuss your elevator pitch and unique selling points. Most authors think they have this nailed, but usually they don’t.
- Your Amazon presence. If you don’t have a few different Amazon packages with us, let’s talk about what YOU need to do better. You can send all the traffic to your book page that you want, but if it’s terrible, you won’t convert shoppers to buyers
Like so many things in life, book promotion is easier with the support of other people as you navigate your own individual journey. Finding a writers’ group, a mentor, and an experienced book professional makes all the difference, and you’ll feel amazed at the satisfyingly positive effect these individuals have on both the artistic and commercial success of your work.
Good luck!
Penny Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. (AME) and an adjunct professor at NYU, is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns.
