Dear Fellow Writer,
Earlier this week we talked about powerhouse marketing resolutions for getting your book noticed.
There are five more resolutions you should really know about … five that rise above the rest. Not only as marketing resolutions for authors, but as general habits worth developing, especially if you want your author experience to be long-lasting.
Marketing Resolutions for Authors: The 5 Most Important Steps You Can Take
1) Constantly hone your writing ability. Marketing is worth mastering, but readers only clamor for more if your work is worth reading in the first place. Even if you already have a book published — or five — there is always more to learn. Commit to learning something new about the craft of writing at least once a week, if not daily. Practice your writing regularly, even if you’re not actively penning a book. Seek feedback from industry experts. Aim to improve every day. Your readers will thank you. (And they’ll buy more of your work!)
2) Learn more about marketing. Marketing is like anything else in life. The better you understand it, the more likely you are to do it. Remember, without marketing, you’re just a writer with a book. With marketing savvy, you can be an author with a following. You can build your own brand. You can align your writing pursuits with the needs of your readers. And you can sell a lot more. So if any element of marketing is still a headscratcher, sit down and figure it out. Tell me in the comments below what you want to know more about. Buy a book on marketing. There’s that saying, “What you put in is what you get back.” Very true here. So true.
3) Devote more time to marketing. If it’s not already part of your daily process, it should be. If readers seem to be falling into your lap, that’s great … but you want to ensure it doesn’t taper off. Build on that momentum and make marketing a daily habit. I don’t recommend making it a weekly habit because if you miss that one day a week just two times, you’re behind by half a month. Besides, the more you do it, the easier it gets, and the more you understand it. All of those things will help you enjoy marketing more … or at the very least, you’ll enjoy the benefits you get as you start to see your book sales climb.
4) Evaluate what’s working and what’s not. There’s little point to marketing if you’re not assessing what works and what doesn’t. Many authors hesitate to invest in their marketing because they don’t know if it’s even working. If you only have a haphazard view of which efforts bring you readers, you’ll be haphazardly throwing money at marketing efforts without any real strategy to speak of.
You can track your marketing results in loads of different ways. Your website’s analytics tools can show you which marketing campaigns attract readers. A spreadsheet of where and when your sales increased can help you pinpoint what built buzz, whether it was a giveaway, a blog post, an interview, or a sale. Even asking readers how they heard about your book can show you where your marketing is most fruitful.
5) Learn the art of persuasive writing. The power of persuasive writing can’t be underscored enough. It’s the art of getting those interested in your work to convert to those who’ve bought your work, and those who will read your work. It’s the skill of building relationships and trust. It’s the tactful ability to build profits from your writing without appearing too much like a money-grubbing author. I’ve seen too many author promotions that basically say, “Buy my book! It’s the best!” Which is an immediate turn-off. I wind up thinking, “How about you give me a reason why I should buy your book? How about you tell me who thinks it’s the best, and why?” In fact, an author whose books I once enjoyed took this approach so many times on social media … I’ve stopped buying all her new releases. She turned my buyer button straight to OFF.
But if you can wed tact with skillful persuasion … you’ll not only earn the trust of potential readers … you’ll also build a legion of lifelong fans who become evangelists for your author brand.
Imagine that!
To your brand-building success,
