Progress Markers for Authors: Beyond Getting Discovered
All authors enjoy writing. Some authors enjoy marketing their writing. Even fewer develop and stick to a comprehensive plan. Why? Many times, it's because the end goal of marketing our work is not clearly defined. To sell more books? To gain a following?
A following who does what, exactly?
Er…buys more books? Tells their friends how awesome our books are? Sure, those things are great! Have you listed them both as goals in your marketing plan? Maybe not. Maybe you're scared because it feels like you might be jinxing yourself. Like you're getting too big for your britches. "I'm so awesome, my readers will stand up and shout, 'This is awesome!'" To your grandmother's dismay, now you're completely devoid of humility.
Let's take the sexy out of this and engage the left brain a little. Rather than list out a marketing plan like we're used to: 1) create a Facebook page, 2) write a news release, etc. let's shoot a little broader. That way when we fail to actually do those things--and we will--we feel a little better about ourselves because we've got this bigger picture.
Let's be marketers. We're marketing ourselves. Our writing. Our books. We have a product. We have a market. What? Yes, both. And marketers use a decidedly unsexy formula to do their work: discover, engage, advocate. Rather than making a list of items to "do," I find it much easier to follow guidelines, or rules which move me toward the ultimate end goal: that "following" who become an advocate for both me AND my product.
Discover
So when potential buyers/readers are surfing the internet on Friday night in front of the TV, or playing on social media at the baseball game, can they find you? And when they find you and decide to investigate you either there or a little more elsewhere, is there sufficient material available for them to do it? This kind of advice is something you're already familiar with: Have a blog. Have social media accounts and be active. Google yourself. Fill out all the "About the Author" and "About this Book" forms you can find on Amazon, Goodreads, etc. Participate in giveaways and book discussions.
STEP #1: Be discover-able and make it easy for readers to investigate and research you and your work.
Engage
This is the tricky stage. This is when your writing and/or your persona better be up to snuff or you will lose those discoverers and they might not come back. Modern readers are both fickle and have short attention spans. They will formulate an opinion of you which YOU CAN INFLUENCE. So don't f**k it up. Blank slate, authors. If their reaction is negative, can you turn it around? (Of course you can, that's a trick question). The good news is, once someone's point of view is set, it can be hard to change. Wait, that's GOOD news? Think of your friends and acquaintances who will 1) read anything by a certain author even when some of it STINKS, 2) watch sequels of movies they love even when they STINK, or 3) stay in a friendship/relationship even when they are treated badly and their partner STINKS. We are all such optimists. We give the benefit of the doubt over and over. Use that human weakness, I mean human tendency, to your advantage. Why? Because readers are social creatures, and they SHARE.
STEP #2: Lead readers into forming an opinion about you because they share that opinion.
Advocate
The one everyone forgets about. Or doesn't know about. This is the one that feels a little uncomfortable to (mostly introverted) authors. Help those readers go beyond sharing. Let them be your voice! Does J.K. Rowling go out online and hawk her own books? Heck no. We all—and I do mean WE ALL—do it for her. Even the STINKY books. Okay, you're saying. So besides continually putting out work and engaging with them, is there another way to keep readers advocating for us? I was hoping you would ask. Marketers know this. JKR knows this too. And I'd bet you never thought about it: let readers co-create our work. JKR has a website for just that. I ate more chips this year because I submitted a test flavor idea. It was "orange chicken" which didn't get picked. But I thought "biscuits and gravy" rocked so I bought it twice.
STEP #3: Let readers be your voice and help with paragraphs, endings, titles, naming your dog, whatever!
Lastly, I want you to know that Fortune 500 companies pay a lot of money for people to tell them this stuff, and here you are getting it for free. You don't have to follow it. I'm not so good at following it either, but knowing the ultimate goal and how my readers will get there, I can at least make the tweaks and edits and additions as I get the opportunity. In the end, it all counts, and I'm not locked into a rigid checklist which never stops growing and whose impact on my success is difficult to measure. Book sales are easy to measure, but I can't answer how many people didn't see my name online or how many people advocate for my writing. Can you?
A following who does what, exactly?
Er…buys more books? Tells their friends how awesome our books are? Sure, those things are great! Have you listed them both as goals in your marketing plan? Maybe not. Maybe you're scared because it feels like you might be jinxing yourself. Like you're getting too big for your britches. "I'm so awesome, my readers will stand up and shout, 'This is awesome!'" To your grandmother's dismay, now you're completely devoid of humility.
Let's take the sexy out of this and engage the left brain a little. Rather than list out a marketing plan like we're used to: 1) create a Facebook page, 2) write a news release, etc. let's shoot a little broader. That way when we fail to actually do those things--and we will--we feel a little better about ourselves because we've got this bigger picture.
Let's be marketers. We're marketing ourselves. Our writing. Our books. We have a product. We have a market. What? Yes, both. And marketers use a decidedly unsexy formula to do their work: discover, engage, advocate. Rather than making a list of items to "do," I find it much easier to follow guidelines, or rules which move me toward the ultimate end goal: that "following" who become an advocate for both me AND my product.
Discover
So when potential buyers/readers are surfing the internet on Friday night in front of the TV, or playing on social media at the baseball game, can they find you? And when they find you and decide to investigate you either there or a little more elsewhere, is there sufficient material available for them to do it? This kind of advice is something you're already familiar with: Have a blog. Have social media accounts and be active. Google yourself. Fill out all the "About the Author" and "About this Book" forms you can find on Amazon, Goodreads, etc. Participate in giveaways and book discussions.
STEP #1: Be discover-able and make it easy for readers to investigate and research you and your work.
Engage
This is the tricky stage. This is when your writing and/or your persona better be up to snuff or you will lose those discoverers and they might not come back. Modern readers are both fickle and have short attention spans. They will formulate an opinion of you which YOU CAN INFLUENCE. So don't f**k it up. Blank slate, authors. If their reaction is negative, can you turn it around? (Of course you can, that's a trick question). The good news is, once someone's point of view is set, it can be hard to change. Wait, that's GOOD news? Think of your friends and acquaintances who will 1) read anything by a certain author even when some of it STINKS, 2) watch sequels of movies they love even when they STINK, or 3) stay in a friendship/relationship even when they are treated badly and their partner STINKS. We are all such optimists. We give the benefit of the doubt over and over. Use that human weakness, I mean human tendency, to your advantage. Why? Because readers are social creatures, and they SHARE.
STEP #2: Lead readers into forming an opinion about you because they share that opinion.
Advocate
The one everyone forgets about. Or doesn't know about. This is the one that feels a little uncomfortable to (mostly introverted) authors. Help those readers go beyond sharing. Let them be your voice! Does J.K. Rowling go out online and hawk her own books? Heck no. We all—and I do mean WE ALL—do it for her. Even the STINKY books. Okay, you're saying. So besides continually putting out work and engaging with them, is there another way to keep readers advocating for us? I was hoping you would ask. Marketers know this. JKR knows this too. And I'd bet you never thought about it: let readers co-create our work. JKR has a website for just that. I ate more chips this year because I submitted a test flavor idea. It was "orange chicken" which didn't get picked. But I thought "biscuits and gravy" rocked so I bought it twice.
STEP #3: Let readers be your voice and help with paragraphs, endings, titles, naming your dog, whatever!
Lastly, I want you to know that Fortune 500 companies pay a lot of money for people to tell them this stuff, and here you are getting it for free. You don't have to follow it. I'm not so good at following it either, but knowing the ultimate goal and how my readers will get there, I can at least make the tweaks and edits and additions as I get the opportunity. In the end, it all counts, and I'm not locked into a rigid checklist which never stops growing and whose impact on my success is difficult to measure. Book sales are easy to measure, but I can't answer how many people didn't see my name online or how many people advocate for my writing. Can you?
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