The biggest mistake I made with my first book is that I believed the old movie line “if you build it they will come.” Well, this ain’t the Field of Dreams baby, and people won’t buy your book if they don’t know it exists!
Think about it. What if I made a really cool lawn ornament and stuck it on my front lawn. My family would see it, the mailman, the neighbors, the trick-or-treaters. How is a stay-at-home mom from Paris to know about my lawn ornament? What if her life could have been changed by it? Okay, so that’s far-fetched, but you get what I mean. People need to know about your book in order to want to buy it and read it.
Why do you think that after all these years McDonalds still has ads on television? And Coke and Pepsi? Do you honestly think there are that many people on this planet who haven’t heard of them? Marketing is about being seen and heard and staying top of mind at all times. Now, what do you do as an author starting out that doesn’t have McDonald’s multi-million dollar marketing budget?
Let’s get social!
Start some branded social media accounts. A Facebook page, a twitter account, and an Instagram account are a good place to start promoting your future book. I prefer using my name instead of my book’s name as I intend to write more than one book. Start a blog and post consistently in order to create a following and you can then share the blog posts on your social media accounts. Start gathering email addresses in order to have people to announce your book to once it’s published. You can use a free platform like Mail Chimp and send out monthly newsletters with samples of your writing as teasers and updates on your progress.
My favorite book on this topic is Platform by Michael Hyatt.
I’ll let you in on a little secret…
The side-effect of promoting before you finish your book is the public accountability that helps motivate you to finish your book. There’s nothing like telling others you’re going to do something and having them ask you how it’s coming along to get you to finish! Just like having a great critique partner or an accountability circle (which I highly recommend), letting the everyday people in your life know that you have the goal of publishing a book one day helps with motivation doldrums.
We all know what it’s like when life gets in the way, especially if you are a writer. You’re also probably quite familiar with the inner critic that constantly throws up obstacles in your writing schedule. I’ve tackled that problem for you! Download your FREE eBook – How to Write When Life Gets in the Way!