I watched a YouTube video a while back titled “Your Book’s Coming Out. Are You Ready to Rock?”, which is no longer available, but it really hit home.
It featured an author talking to his agent on the phone about the release of his new book. The agent asked the author how he planned to publicize his book. Oprah? “No. No, Oprah hasn’t called yet.” Reviews? “No. No reviews.” Book tours? “No. No tour.” You can imagine the frustration of the agent on the other end of the line. Soooo? “What am I doing?” the author says. “Yes, that’s a good question. Ah…well, my neighbor has a book club.”
This is too funny. And too sad.
Many authors do not plan ahead for the release of their books, a major reason why their books fail.
Do you have all your ducks in a row?
What if by some miracle, an agent says “Yes, I want to represent you,” and then a publisher says, “Yes. Yes. Yes.” Would you be ready to promote your own book?
If you think family and friends will come to the rescue, think again.
It’s you, baby. It’s you, you, you. You have to increase your own audience, cause a stir, make your own waves. And if you succeed, watch agents and publishers come along for a ride. When it comes to getting published, a platform is as important as the quality of your work.
Oh, and by the way, a platform doesn’t develop overnight. Word is, you need to start promoting your book three years before it’s published. It takes time (and patience) to build a readership and cause a stir.
A good place to start is by setting up a blog. Spread the word to people you’ll never meet, places you’ll never go. Potential readers, agents, and the media can see what you have to offer, twenty-four hours a day, at no inconvenience to you.
Sure, blogging takes time. A lot of it. But it also keeps you writing and interacting with other professionals in the field. As an extra bonus, you’ll gain more confidence in your writing and communicating skills. Ideas for posts will start popping into your head and, if you’re lucky, you’ll find yourself anxious to write them down and share them with the world.
Two books to help get you started with your platform and marketing plan are:
- Get Known before the Book Deal. Christina Katz defines platform and shows you how to build one.
- Guerrilla Marketing for Writers. Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman, and Michael Larsen give you 100 weapons for selling your work–a battle that begins before your book even hits the shelves.
As always, thanks for stopping by,
oh lovely!It helped me a lot..keep writing stuffs like this 🙂
I'm so glad, Umapoems. I'm just trying to spread the word.
You are so right! I know a lot of published authors who, have to work their butts off to promote. In order to get the word out on your book, to get people to buy it, and then give reviews, that aren't always nice, you have to really promote, promote and do it again. Books don't sell themselves, especially int his economy.
Oh, and I'll see you in a bit….
Like with parenting, an author's work just begins with the birth of his or her creative work. It takes guidance, love, and plan old hard work to successfully launch a book into the world. Who's going to read it if they don't even know it exists?
Sitting here talking to Margaret, working on blogs…
Yes! You finally got through, Natalia. It just takes persistence.
Excellent information to consider. These days it seems like a good idea to take advantage of the companies that set up Blog Tours. I have reviewed several books on my blog set up by one of these agencies and have even given the authors space for a guest post.
Hi SquirrelQueen. I've heard of Blog Tours, but have never looked into them. Time to do so. Thanks for the information.