What Successful Authors Do Differently (That You Can Start Doing Today)
EPISODE EIGHTY THREE
Is it luck? Timing? Maybe. But when you peel back the curtain on authors who consistently sell books and grow an audience, you’ll find they’re playing a different game entirely.
In this episode, we’re breaking down the 5 habits that separate successful authors from the ones still spinning their wheels (and no, it’s not just about being good at Instagram).
You’ll learn:
Why showing up (even when you don’t feel like it) matters more than you think
How to actually connect with your ideal readers
The power of partnerships (and how to start one even if you’re new)
Why talking less about your book might help you sell more
And how one small mindset shift could unlock long-term results
Ready to make one small shift that could change everything? Tune in now and walk away with something you can put into action this week.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Marcus dePaula: Jenn, for the authors that you see having success, do you see them doing one thing in particular that you think authors should be considering?
Jenn Hanson-dePaula: Most authors think that there is this silver bullet, this one thing that they should be doing or that they could be doing to see increased book sales or to reach their goals as authors. In my experience, it's not a perfect cookie-cutter approach. It's not one thing that they should be doing. It's actually a collection of little things or what might be perceived as little things that add up to really help them reach those goals and to see increased sales.
Marcus: It sounds like it's different for every author. Are there some common habits that you see authors having that might help them?
Jenn: Yes. Also, to preface this by saying this isn't something that a lot of authors just automatically do with the first book, this is something that is learned over time and with experience and with just maturing in their author career that they learn. There are five habits that I see authors who have seen success put into practice that I think every author should at least consider doing. The first one, it's partially mindset, but it's also action-based, is it's just showing up.
When an author thinks that once they write the book, they submit it, they put it up for sale that it's just going to sell on its own, or if they expect the publisher to fully do the marketing for them, or they assume that that's what's going to happen, all the time they're met with disappointment. When we show up consistently, this doesn't mean that you have to show up with mounds of energy every single day. It's just being consistent on showing up even when you don't necessarily feel like it.
When you don't feel like making that social media post or when you don't feel like going out and doing that book event or something like that, they show up anyway because they know that, A, they need that consistency to continue to be in front of people and to continue to talk about their book, even though they might be sick of talking about it. They need to show up for people who are just hearing about it for the first time, and to continue to really give their book that exposure that it needs to continue on with its sales. It's not that you have to have everything perfect all the time.
It's not that you have to even be on a certain outlet every single day or spend a majority of your time there. It's really about thinking, how can I show up even for just five minutes, or how can I talk about my book today in a way that maybe I haven't done before? Maybe it is going to my local library and handing the librarian a book, or seeing what writer events or what reader events that I can participate in. It's thinking about how can I show up and how can I put that effort towards talking about my book or giving my book that added exposure.
Marcus: One of the things that might help in getting the motivation to be able to show up is having in mind that person that you're trying to engage with or you're trying to connect with on a deeper level.
Jenn: Absolutely. That's actually the second point is that we have to know who we are talking to. When we just assume that anyone and everyone will love our book or that we're just talking to the masses, I always say that when you're talking to everyone, you're actually talking to no one. When we can identify who it is that we want to reach, it makes it so much easier to connect with them. For example, I wouldn't go to a science fiction event to talk about a romantic comedy book that I wrote, even though that's an obvious example.
When we go into rooms or when we talk to people that aren't necessarily interested in our genre or in our book, it doesn't mean that you have a bad book or that your book isn't going to sell. You just aren't getting in front of the right people. Even if you don't have a clear market analysis or you don't have to have these deep analytics to know who it is that you as an author want to talk to or who you want to connect with, even if that's just in your mind, this is the person that I want to talk to is going to help you communicate in a way that they will respond to.
Marcus: I've heard you give good advice about trying to treat it as if it's like an in-person experience. If I think about the times that I'm having a conversation with someone face-to-face instead of through a computer, I'm not always just going to talk about what I'm working on. I'm going to talk about some of my personal interests and that sort of stuff.
Jenn: Absolutely. That's the third part is that when we are only talking about our book or when we are only talking about our writing or things that are within the book publishing world, yes, of course, we want to connect with people on that. When we don't connect with others as a fellow human being or as someone that you would want to be friends with, you wouldn't just talk about yourself or your book. You would engage in a conversation. That's when we say engagement. It's not just you talking at people. It's talking with people.
When we can share something that we are interested in, like gardening, or you love talking about technical things, or I'll talk about cooking or something like that, you connect with people in a different way and in a different layer. Authors that do see success, they are themselves. They talk about other things that they're interested in, and they aren't only just focused on driving that sale or only talking about your book because that can be very one-tone. We want to make sure that we add the different layers because you are not a one-tone person. You have many layers. Don't be afraid to share that.
Marcus: Along with that human connection, it's not just seeing the person on the receiving end of what you're posting as a purchaser, as a figure, as a data point. It's seeing them as a human being and trying to find the things that you have in common with them.
Jenn: Absolutely. Anytime you meet someone where you find out that you have a similar interest or something in common with them, you fall in love with them. Not in a romantic way, but you're just like, "I really like this person."
Marcus: I want to spend time with them.
Jenn: Exactly. When we can really show our different interests and can connect with people on multiple levels, they'll not only like you as a person, but they'll be that much more interested in, "Oh, man, I wonder what her book is about or I wonder what he is writing about or how this would influence his perspective or influence his storytelling or his information."
Marcus: All right. To recap what we got so far, the habits that you see successful authors having that might be helpful to other authors are just showing up on a regular basis, no matter what, really understanding who you're talking to, and then making sure that you're not just talking about your book. What's the next habit that might be helpful for authors?
Jenn: The next thing is thinking about-- This might sound corporate, but it's not. It's the strategic partnerships. We both come from the music industry, and it's very natural and it's an automatic thing where you need to partner up with a bass player or a drummer or an engineer or a graphic artist. There is a collaboration. There is a group of people, and there is such beauty and such depth that can be added with other people's gifts, their talents and perspective, and experience. We as authors just want to hide in our little writing closet, which I totally get, and I'm right there with you, where it's something where you want to isolate.
It's comfortable and it's familiar. Going out and connecting with other people can feel scary, it can feel intimidating. The beauty of collaboration, whether it's just with another author, connecting with them and initiating that conversation and saying, "How can I support you or how can I help you first," rather than you asking, "Hey, can you share my book on your Instagram?" It's thinking about what can I give to them first. Then there's always reciprocation. It's thinking about, "Okay, are there other local collaborations that I can do? Are there writer meetups at my local library?
Is there an independent bookstore where I can reach out to the owner or to the manager? Maybe they have different events," and thinking about how you can connect with other people to not only broaden your circle and to make these other connections, but to see how can we help one another? How can I pour into them, but they'll also want to reciprocate to pour into me as well. Strategic connections. It's not a gross thing. You're not using people. It's this genuine approach of, "Okay, what can I do to help promote literacy, to help promote books, to help promote others and lift others up?" You know what? My book just might be added to that list as well.
Marcus: For those of us who are creating stuff, whether it's books or videos or music, whatever it is, that creative process in and of itself is an act of wanting to connect with other human beings, to have them read or hear or see what you're creating and respond to it, so there's connection. It's not just me in my room with my computer cranking stuff out. The most rewarding creative endeavors I've done have gone beyond what I had imagined because of the other people that I've been able to collaborate with. It is scary. Peopling is hard, as I like to say, but it can be so rewarding. If you don't take risks, then your rewards typically aren't going to be as good.
Jenn: Absolutely. It is that hump to get over. This is something, again, where it doesn't need to be a full-on dive into the deep end. It's taking small steps. You don't run a marathon right away. You take your time and you ramp up into it, thinking about, "Okay, what is one step that I can make?" Maybe it's something as simple as commenting on an author that you admire on their Instagram, saying, "I loved your book," or just reaching out, just to say, "Thank you for writing this."
Marcus: Even a DM that's more personal.
Jenn: Absolutely. Yes. It can be that simple.
Marcus: All right. What else can authors be doing to help with their success?
Jenn: This last habit is by and far the most important, and it's one that I don't say authors should consider, it's authors need to do this. It is to focus on the long game. This is really how authors who see the most longevity, the most success, actually reach these goals. Because they aren't just focused on those three months within the release of their book. They aren't just focused on the short-term result. Especially new authors, you don't know what you don't know. When they don't see their book fly off the shelves after the first week of its release, they think, "Oh, I did something wrong." No.
Marcus: It can be disheartening.
Jenn: Yes. You're in a great club because I guarantee you the majority of authors out there experience the same thing. The authors that you see who have massive success right now, you're seeing the blooms on the tree. You're not seeing the roots that go deep into the ground, and you don't see the experiences that they had or the time that they have put in. One of the most eye-opening things is to even just do a Google search to see-- One that really surprised me, it's an author named Kristin Hannah. She has a massive amount of success, but I think it was her 15th book or something like that-
Marcus: Wow.
Jenn: -where that is when she finally went into the stratosphere. It was not overnight success. When authors think that their first book is a failure, it's not. You just need to keep going. Because this is a career of passion, writing is a passion. When we really focus on the passion of writing, the joy of writing, whether it's fiction or nonfiction, if you cannot imagine not sharing this information or sharing this story, you need to do that. Success, especially within books, is something that it might not happen with the first book. In fact, a majority of the time, it doesn't happen with the first book.
There are those freak incidences where, yes, that first book is a runaway success, but that is not the norm. It's, again, focusing on how I can continue connecting with readers and connecting with other authors. It is a very long-term process. Don't get discouraged if your first book wasn't a runaway success or even your second book. That is totally fine. It's focusing on that long game and focusing on the long-term because that is what is going to sustain you and to help you through the ups and downs of writing books.
Marcus: Speaking of the ups, I see a lot of authors that reach that success and then they feel like they can just coast and let things on, and that's not thinking about the long game either.
Jenn: No, you don't reach the top of the mountain and then just stay there. It is definitely something where there are going to be peaks and valleys. If you're at the top, you think, "Okay, how can I continue this momentum? How can I continue on?" If you go down a little, it doesn't mean that you've lost everything. There are going to be ups and downs in any career. This isn't just within writing books. It is thinking about, "Okay, I haven't got there, quote unquote. How can I keep that momentum going?"
Marcus: That's why showing up, knowing who you're talking to, all the things that we've talked about, having those partnerships, you never know what's going to be around the next corner and what opportunities might develop with the people that you're connecting with.
Jenn: I've always found that when you feel like you're running into a big fat wall or that everything is falling apart, that's really when things start to go together. There's a story of a man during the gold rush. He came like a foot away from gold before he gave up, and then he sold all of his equipment. This guy went and started digging the same spot. He went a foot in and he struck gold. It's the same thing. When we feel like we just can't go another moment, that's usually when it's right around the corner.
Marcus: Yes. It helps to learn the stories of our fellow creators, our fellow authors, to see the struggles and get inspiration from them. Do you have an example of an author that you've seen experience something like that lately?
Jenn: Yes, an author, her name is Larissa. She called about a month or so after her book release, and she was very disappointed. She was signed with the Traditional Publishing House. She was really down with the number of books that she was selling, and she was just frazzled. She was a mom to two young kids. She had another book that she was working on. She was just at her wit's end. We set up a session where we talked through her process, what her bandwidth was, where she should show up, and where she found enjoyment in showing up.
What was great was that it gave her that clarity of, "Okay, I don't have to show up someplace where I don't feel like it. I don't have to show up in a way that is not aligned with who I am as a person and as an author." She really found her groove, and she decided to double down on certain things that she was doing that she enjoyed and that she saw a response in. Within 90 days, her sales tripled. She was so blown away by just these small changes and by really aligning her focus on-- Several of these things that we've talked about today, you don't have to do these huge monumental moves or these huge adjustments in order to start seeing success.
Just tiny little adjustments here and there is where you can see, "Okay, this is working or I'm in the right direction, so then I can just shush these other things aside and focus on this." Larissa, I always go back to her because she saw such a huge turnaround in a short amount of time by just doing a few of these things. She really was thrilled with how that worked out for her.
Marcus: It's not just one silver bullet thing. It was a combination of a few little mindset things that we've talked about. For the authors that are listening and watching right now, what's one little thing that they can take action to do this week based on what we've just talked about?
Jenn: I would say look at this list or consider this list and just pick one thing to do. It's not feeling like you have to do absolutely everything all within the next hour. It's really focusing on, "Okay, what is one thing that I can do," and just commit to doing it. When we talk about consistency, it's not doing it once and then just assuming that that's going to take care of it.
Marcus: Right, or it didn't work and I need to give up and try something different.
Jenn: Exactly. It is taking an amount of time. Let's say, trying it for a week or even a month, that's an even better goal, and thinking about how you can measure that. Looking at maybe reaching out to one author a week. That's a really great goal to set, or setting out to connect with one reader per week for the month. It's just these little things that can make a huge, huge difference.
Marcus: All right. To give you that list again, to get ideas of the one thing you can try this week is just showing up consistently, even when you don't feel like it, knowing who your reader is and making sure that you have that person in mind when you're communicating with them. Within that, not just talking about your book, talking about things that you might have in common with that ideal reader that you have in mind. Trying to look for strategic partnerships that you could either start or continue to develop that could help you as an author. Then making sure you're focusing on the long game by doing all these little things and being prepared for the next step, and not just what's right in front of your face right now.
Jenn: Exactly. If you want to share what it is that you are going to be doing over the next week or the next month, let us know in the comments. If you want to have more structure to your book marketing and are just getting started, and want to know how you can begin that process, we have our free book marketing blueprint that can help you do just that.
Marcus: You can find the episode notes, the book marketing blueprint, and other free resources that Jenn provides at jenndepaula.com. As always, thanks for listening. Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next time.
Jenn: Bye-bye.