How Authors Can Make Sure Their Book Marketing Is on the Right Path

EPISODE TWO

Whether you're just starting out or you're well into the process of marketing your book, Jenn and Marcus recommend the first action that authors should take to keep your marketing on track.

Links

3 Time-Saving Tips for Busy Authors

Transcript

JENN: I'm Jenn de Paula, and this is the Book Marketing Simplified podcast.

MARCUS: And I'm Marcus DePaula and last time we asked you to do three things. Set a goal was the first thing. Then we asked you to identify your ideal reader with very specific attributes. And then the third step was to just pick one platform to focus your time on, to start getting set up on.

So on this episode, I figured we could dive a little bit deeper into that first thing we asked you to do last week: setting a goal. 

JENN: Yeah. I think that the setting of the goal is really the roadmap that helps us to create a plan and a to do list so that we can achieve those goals. And I must admit, I used to give the world's greatest eye-roll when I was like, "Oh, god... setting a goal." You know? It was just - it didn't seem necessary to me, but when I really started to do it, I found out that it was less overwhelming because I was giving myself the steps to take, and I clearly knew what I needed to do. So the first thing that you need to do is we start with that big goal.

It's like, what is. The thing that you want to accomplish, whether it is just finishing your manuscript. And whether it's getting your marketing plan in place. Whether it's getting a publishing deal, if that is something that you want to accomplish. So you have that big goal, and so now you need to take steps back so you know, okay, these are the four things that I need to do to accomplish that big goal. So these steps might be smaller goals that you can look at. Let's use the publishing deal as an example. That's our big goal. We need to know, okay, what are publishers looking for? It's not just having a book. You know? But you also have to have an agent.

There are some publishing houses that don't take unsolicited manuscripts. So thinking about, okay, how do I go about getting an agent? How do I go about connecting with these people? So the first step would be getting an agent. The second step would be. I need to build my social media platform because that is one of the biggest things that publishers, agents, they want to know, okay, what is the author doing to connect with their readers?

What do they have to stand on? 

MARCUS: And at the same time that you're thinking about that, you have to be thinking about your website. Because if you have a social media presence going on without a website, then it's not... And we can talk more about that in another episode. 

JENN: But it's thinking through the steps that you have to take to accomplish that goal.

MARCUS: Right. So I know for me as a perfectionist, I have a hard time setting goals because what if I can't reach that goal? You know - then I'm setting myself up for failure and I don't want to be a failure. So I stall. What happens if I set a goal and I don't reach it? 

JENN: That goal, like if it's reaching a bestsellers list or something like that with your first book, it doesn't mean that it's a failure.

It just didn't happen yet. If it doesn't happen the first time around, still keep that as your goal. And look at, okay, what did I do with this release? What are things that I can adjust and it's not looking at it as a failure. It's looking at it as, I just haven't reached it yet." It's not focusing on what did I do wrong, but thinking about, okay, what did I do right that I can amplify? Or what are some things that I can adjust? It's not a bad thing. 

MARCUS: Well, and how many times in life do we have something in mind that we're... If we're going on a trip on a vacation and our whole thing is let's get there and I want to see this, this, and this. I want to go to this museum and go to this beach.

But then the best parts of the trip ended up being a restaurant that we hadn't planned on seeing that we just stumbled across, or a bookstore or someplace that we had... Or meeting some new people and making new friends that become lifelong friends. So. It's not just actually about the goal itself, it's about what happens along the way, but we can't experience these growth moments, and grow our business in this case, if we weren't headed in that specific direction.

So ultimately, I guess it's not really about the goal itself. It's about what happens along the way, but we have to have a direction that we're headed in. 

JENN: Yes. If you also think about like if we were going to take a trip to Hawaii, we wouldn't just pack up and head to the airport. 

MARCUS: Or just start walking.

JENN: Yes. You don't do that. It would cost us thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars more. And the same is with writing your book or you know, promoting it. It's just like planning a trip to Hawaii. You can't just throw it together at the last minute. You have to know, okay, I need to buy tickets. I need to...

MARCUS: Find a hotel. Rent a car. 

JENN: Find a hotel. Yes, I need to know how much this is going to cost. But if you do everything last minute, it's 10 times more expensive than if you were to plan. On the front end. So like with the trip, my goal is to get to Hawaii. You make plans on how to get there. 

The same goes with your book marketing. If you have a goal, you'll know the questions to ask in order to reach that goal. Cause I think that that's one of the big things - they don't know what to ask. And they don't know what it takes to get there.

MARCUS: So then the next question is, where do we go to find the answers to the questions that we are now coming up with. 

JENN: That's why I think it's so important to be involved in some sort of community of other authors, or like we have our private Facebook group that authors can be a part of and they ask questions. And it's a safe place where there are people who have already been where you are. Or there are other people there that are looking too. And they need help as well in those areas and knowing that there are other people that has gone through a bad book cover designer experience or...

MARCUS: Or website.

JENN: Or website or an editor and learning from them saying, "okay, this was a disaster so this is what I did next." And so being a part of a community is one of the most important things that an author can do. And I know that it can be intimidating. Being an author is isolating. It's something that you're doing by yourself, but it's such a warm community and people just want to help. So I think asking those questions and learning from other authors is so important. 

MARCUS: And obviously if you can afford to, you can hire someone like us and pay them to help you navigate how to get to your goal, but you still need to go to them with at least somewhat of a goal in mind, and they can at least help refine that for you.

But if you go in with a better understanding through engaging with the community and doing your own research online, digging through our blog, just kind of seeing some of the things that are being talked about so that you can go in asking the right questions when you hire a professional, that's going to save you time which is also going to save you money. And it's also going to make you a good client for them, and they're going to want to, you know, if you're a good client, they're more likely to kind of engage with you a little bit more and offer you more. 

JENN: Absolutely. But you have to know what you want to accomplish.

And even if you have different goals for different categories. Like a goal for your social media. A goal for your book sales. A goal for your website. It's focusing on, "okay, what do I want to accomplish?" It makes you more successful with your efforts that you're putting behind it, but it also breaks everything down into more manageable chunks.

MARCUS: So there's this mindset going around nowadays that puts me off so much. That's this, "Just get started! Just go out and just start doing something!" And there's something to that, you know, taking action.

But the reason why I get irritated when I hear that is because I'm reminded of the times over my varied career where I was working with people, working for people, that took the "ready, fire, aim approach." And to me, this goal setting up front, kind of having an idea of which direction you're heading in even, that helps keep you from getting into the ready fire, aim situation. And in my experience, when you go in "ready, fire, aim" without any kind of clear plan, and you go "let me just start doing this," you end up wasting so much time on the backend. You feel like, okay, I'm getting stuff done up front, but if you don't go in with a plan, some of the stuff you ended up doing upfront ends up being completely useless because it was sending you in the wrong direction. 

JENN: When you have that goal and you can be intentional, you can still accomplish so much. Even if your book isn't done, even if your website isn't quite done yet, the goal helps you at least get started.

MARCUS: So it's kind of in between my tendency of the perfectionism shutdown of "I don't have all these other elements planned out, so on just have to wait." And between the other end of the spectrum which is, "just throw something out there and see what happens."

JENN: It's moderation. It is the balance, and it absolutely can be done. 

MARCUS: And that goal is the first action step. Finding which direction to step in. 

JENN: Yes. And I can't overemphasize how having those goals really simplifies the book marketing process because then you can ask yourself, is this going to help me accomplish my goal? And if the answer is yes, then add it to your plan. And if it doesn't, then ignore it. You can push it to the side. It helps you to be intentional and to spend your time wisely. 

MARCUS: Yep. Time is the most valuable resource we have.

So Jenn came up with this idea of the "make it happen moment" that we've used in some of our online resources. What is the make it happen moment for this episode? 

JENN: So the make it happen moment is to actually set a goal, sit down and really think about what is it that you want to accomplish. And it's not just something that's just kind of floating around in your head. Write it down. 

So do that this week. And in the comment section, share it with us. What is your goal? What is it that you want to accomplish? And there might be others in this community that might people to answer some questions for you. 

MARCUS: This podcast is for you. So we want to hear from you. We want to hear what kind of goals you're coming up with, but also if you have any questions along the way. So where can people reach out to us? 

JENN: They can go to bookmarketingsimplified.com and they can leave a comment there. 

MARCUS: And on that website, besides the comments, there's also links to the social media and you can see what discussions are going on on your favorite social media platform. And you can always email us. 

JENN: Yes, absolutely. But be sure to leave a comment and let us know because we want to hear from you and we want to know what you're working on. Be sure to leave questions. Share with us what you're struggling with. Let us know how we can help you. 

MARCUS: I'm Marcus dePaula.

JENN: And I'm Jenn dePaula, and we will see you next time.