One Thing That Will Break Your Book Marketing
EPISODE SEVENTY SEVEN
I can teach you all of the book marketing strategies and show you everything that you need to do to sell your books, but if you are struggling with this particular mindset, you won't see the success that you're looking for.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Jenn Hanson-dePaula: Hello, and welcome to the Book Marketing Simplified podcast. I'm Jenn Hanson-dePaula.
Marcus dePaula: I'm Marcus dePaula. There is one factor that you think is not discussed enough that actually has a bigger impact on book marketing than authors realize.
Jenn: I can teach and show authors and even do all of the strategies, all of the techniques, all of the ideas, all of the things to market a book, but there's one thing that we often dismiss as having an impact on our overall reach, our marketing in general, and our sales. That is our mindset, what it is that we are thinking and even projecting out through our words, through how we present ourselves, and just our overall strategy.
A comment that I hear over and over and over again, whether it's in my DMs or as comments on my posts, is authors almost belittling themselves or questioning why would a reader want to read my book, or that they're afraid to put themselves out there. They almost belittle themselves and talk themselves out of it before they even release their book. This is one of the biggest hurdles, especially for new authors. I even see very seasoned authors struggling with this, is questioning, should I be doing this or going into that negative mindset of why would anyone want to read my book?
With social media and everything being so public, it's very easy to compare ourselves. We start thinking, oh, I'm not as good as them, or I'm not in the same place as they are, or they just have all of these negative thoughts. We need to be as much of a champion of our books as anyone, because if we aren't a champion of our books, and if we don't believe, oh my gosh, this is a fantastic story, or this book is going to change someone's life, or this is going to really help someone, why would your readers and your audience feel that way if you don't believe in it as well?
Whenever an author comes to me with these thoughts and feelings, I always ask them, can you imagine your life without writing? Can you imagine not sharing this story or not sharing this information? Nearly every single time, an author says, no, I can't. I can't imagine my life without creating a story, or I can't imagine not sharing this information. I am a huge, huge, huge believer in the fact that you have that feeling for a reason. There's a reason that is there. We let so many outside voices and outside opinions and doubts water that feeling down and make us question those things.
When an author says, "Well, what can I do about it then?" One of the things I always suggest, especially within social media, is looking at what you're consuming. If you are going through your feed and you know that you compare yourself, this is something that I do that has helped dramatically, I either mute or unfollow certain accounts that I compare myself to that make me doubt myself or that put those negative thoughts in my mind. It's not that you're not supporting them. It's that you're protecting yourself and your mindset.
Marcus: It can be a distraction.
Jenn: It can be. Within what you consume, you have got to be aware of that. Even if you mute or just silence some accounts while you're writing or while you're in the marketing process, that is going to help you concentrate on what it is that you are trying to accomplish.
Marcus: I know people typically are listening to this podcast and reading your posts for the practical, executable tactics and advice that you provide for book marketing, but this is important because it undergirds all of our efforts that we're doing and it affects our productivity in general, not just in the book marketing, but in our writing itself.
Jenn: Absolutely. That is something that I think authors and writers and people, in general, dismiss as they categorize it as something completely different when it really does play an active part in everything that we do as a writer. Keeping in mind that purpose that you have, is it to share this story? Is it to entertain? Is it to help? Is it to inspire? Thinking about those people that you are going to be making an impact on, keeping that purpose in mind is always going to embolden, impassion, and drive you to present yourself and to present your book and your marketing and everything that you're doing in the best light possible.
When we have that mindset adjustment, and we just are even aware of what we're doing, we start making different choices and thinking, okay, if I am writing this for this person, if I'm writing this for my younger self, or myself 10 years ago, or for my daughter or whoever it is, when we keep that focus at the front of our mind, that not only helps us to present information better, but it helps us to give a passion and joy within what we're doing, and that greatly impacts everything that you're doing.
Marcus: I think that's great, focusing on the human connection aspect and the artistic purpose of what we're doing and those higher level things that aren't as self-centered and egotistic really helps. Just being aware of it, not beating ourselves up about it by any means, but just making sure that we're aware of, oh, there's that thought again.
Jenn: It's also if you are constantly thinking nobody's going to buy this, no one's going to follow me. Yes, if you have that attitude. This is where that tough love comes in. It's like, "Yes, if you keep thinking that, if you keep putting that out there, of course, that's what's going to happen."
Marcus: You've said that to me a lot.
Jenn: Yes.
Marcus: [laughs] Because I tend to have negative thinking.
Jenn: Yes. If you find yourself thinking, oh, nobody's going to buy this, or no one's going to follow me, or no one's going to do X, Y, and Z, become aware of those thoughts and then turn it around. Instead of saying, no one is going to buy this, everyone is going to buy this. Everyone is going to be impacted by this. Turn it to a positive. I want to empower you to have a better approach mentally to this because it impacts and it changes everything that you're doing, not only within your marketing but within your whole publishing journey. It makes it way more enjoyable and not so down in the dumps.
Marcus: One of the practical methodologies that I've heard from some of my clients who are expert psychologists, they say it helps to personify that negative internal voice-
Jenn: Oh, yes.
Marcus: -and externalize it so that you don't feel like that that's inside you and talk to it to put it in its place when it rears its head.
Jenn: Yes. I've had friends that have named their-- it's like grumpy gut or something like that. That's a really good point because it removes it. It's not making it you, it's something external. This is a conversation that I really just want to get started. This is something that I know, I know because I see you all in my DMs, I see you all in my comments talking about how you struggle with this.
Be sure to let us know what it is that one thing that you're going to change. Maybe it's becoming more aware of what it is that you're thinking about your writing, about your book, about your author platform, whatever it is. Think about one thing that you're going to change and let us know in the comments because that is going to help spark something. You don't have to do everything. You don't have to change everything overnight, this is a process, but just start. What is that one thing that you're going to change?
Marcus: Let us know some of the positive voices that you hear out there because it helps us to surround ourselves with more of the positive and uplifting fellow authors and other thought leaders in the space. I know, Jenn, a lot of people react positively to your reels and posts that are more encouraging. You tend to get a lot of response with that.
Jenn: Yes. It's because everyone needs it and you're not alone. It's a good thing to see, okay, I'm not the only one struggling with this. Let us know in the comments and we would love to hear what it is that you are going to be adjusting in your mindset.
Marcus: Thanks for listening.
Jenn: Talk to you soon.