Gaining a new perspective brings things into focus when it comes to understanding the throngs of authorship. Building on my last blog about clarity, I’m realizing there’s more to discuss.

Like helping school children understand their eye sight issues by volunteering at a Kiwanis vision screening recently, I soon realized that focusing in on the right lines gives perspective as to where I am in this journey.

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As things come into focus, ideas that were once blurry or unclear are now becoming clear as I attend more and more online summits. Slowly, marketing becomes easier to understand after being in a period of confusion.

That confusion is understandable since, as authors, we are thrown so much information that it’s no wonder there are gremlins lurking in the shadows, promising to give us piece of mind. For a sizeable fee, they promise to do the work for us by vowing to make our lives easier.

The DIY instinct in me tells me to keep trudging through the throngs of information to gain the clarity needed. But after taking pages and pages of notes, I’ve realized I have to actually take some action in order to make any headway.

The thing is, that headway needs to come into focus in order to make any sense and do any good in the marketing realm.

Along with attending summits, a market research and competitor analysis done recently on my book “Mission Possible” brings further clarity. The target audience for the book is important: Christian readers who enjoy faith-based, true-life missionary stories. These readers can be found in Bible study groups and readers of Christian biographies.

The target age range is 35-70 years and the gender is 70 percent female and 30 percent male (though I think more males would be interested in it for the adventure alone). Buyer demographic also pinpoints education being college educated, with ministry backgrounds.

The decision makers are church and ministry leaders, Christian bookstores and book clubs, mission organizations and seminaries, Christian influencers and bloggers and women’s fellowship groups.

Oh, so the half dozen cold emails I get daily asking me to pay to get involved in their smutty book clubs aren’t bringing any focus? Obviously, I told myself. What I need to do is find a book club that would actually enjoy my book and thus leave numerous reviews needed before actual launches can take place.

Where did I find such a club? I simply asked ChatGPT and contacted a group suggested after first researching them online. I asked them to consider my book as a selection, knowing it’s a privilege for them to have a well-written, thought-provoking and action-inspired read they would enjoy, with Q and A sessions with me as the author. No money has to come into play when it’s genuine and collaboration is in focus.

Day 3 of the Best Sellers Secrets Summit is filled with author interviews on the very topic of collaboration. As Derek Doepker interviews Cary Richards, the need to leverage other people’s audiences for author collaboration is emphasized.

Sometimes, a cold outreach, short and to the point is what’s needed, Richards said. He noted that you could say “I love your stuff, I’m putting together a bundle and I’m checking to see if you’re interested.” Mention how it would benefit them and comment on a blog post they did to get on their radar.

While this may seem manipulative, it isn’t if it’s genuine. And the more they see your name pop up in social media and other places like Substack, the more trust can be built.

And speaking of trust, using AI for grunt work isn’t such a bad idea, Richards said. While he doesn’t proport using AI for writing a book, he said in author space, it’s invaluable. If you’re not using it, “you will be left behind” was the message touted.

You simply tell AI who it needs to be, Richards said. “Tell it not to lie to you and cross check everything,” he said.

As a former reporter, cross checking is not new for me. I would spend the time needed to do so if I wanted to remain a trusted news source.

Time is always of essence, whether one is a reporter or an author. Putting together outlines and organizing material are time eaters. So, the idea of using AI as a prompt engine is ingenious. By telling it what you want it to create for you, you save hours. It can provide links to articles and site sources to real stories.

Another expert being interviewed on day 3, Thomas Umstattd Jr., spoke on AI optimization: how to get ChatGPT and other programs to recommend your book. Umstattd said many are searching on various places in addition to Google nowadays. Just as search engine optimization works in Google, AI can be influenced on these other programs as well. AI systems like Grok and Rufus can be search influenced once they are informed.

Having a website to navigate these sites to is important, Umstattd added. The more information on your website, the better, because AI will search the metadata. Making sure your site is allowing bots to search it is a good idea, too. The way to do that is to type in: your website address/robots.txt. I found out mine (nlhastingsauthor.com) allowed optimization and I was able to find all kinds of good data on my book.

So, even though taking summit information shared into account may take some time, the effort spent is not effort wasted.

Like the little first grader who listened on how to read the letters to me during the vision screening at school, I’m learning that with a clear path to follow, coming into focus is a matter of perspective.

Understanding a situation clearly depends on your point of view and how you choose to look at it. Shifting your perspective can change your perception of a situation from negative to positive, or from overwhelming to manageable, by changing what you focus on, whether it’s the big picture or the fine details.

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