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You know that saying: give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for life?
That’s kind of what we’re going to do here in lesson one…only without fish.
Marketing in general gets a bad rap. Scammers and charlatans rule the roost, resembling stereotypical used car salesmen rather than genuine helpers.
Would you want to hang with a slimy used car salesman-type? Me neither.
Exit: Sketchy Salesmen
Luckily, the tide is turning.
Flashy graphics and false promises have been replaced by community-building and connection-making.
This new era of authenticity and engagement applies perfectly to book marketing: your readers aren’t just blips on a sales chart, they’re real people. And the beauty of self-publishing is that you have the opportunity to connect with them like never before!
Think of it this way: would you be more likely to purchase that used car from a trusted friend or that sleazeball salesman?
That’s what I thought.
Enter: Adoring Authors
Shannon and I coined the term “reader-centered book marketing” to describe how this new wave of marketing enlightenment can be applied to help you sell more books and have more fun marketing than you ever thought possble — really!
But, before we can dive into the really good stuff, we need to lay the groundwork. You see, there’s no push-button, whiz-bang “system” for book marketing success.
It takes hard work and an understanding of why you’re doing the stuff we tell you to do.
3 Reasons Why Reader-Centered Book Marketing Rocks
So, the first couple of lessons are going to be a bit heavy in talky-talk and theory, but bear with me. It’s important to understand why this approach works to prepare for the action-oriented steps to come (and there’s still plenty of that here, too)!
If all of the below is new to you — no worries! By the end of this 4-week course they’ll be drilled into your memory (in the kindest way possible).
#1: You’ll break through the noise of a crowded market.
Spending any time on Twitter or cruising the aisles of your local bookstore makes one thing clear: the marketplace for fiction is crowded.
In 2009, over 62,000 novels were published.
Assuming the average author wrote 1.5 books that year (which would be rather high), you’re looking at a minimum of 41,000 other authors competing for the same eyeballs as you. Overwhelming, huh?
Old-school approches to gaining readers won’t work, especially for indie authors. You’re probably not going to have the backing of Oprah’s Book Club or premium space on the ‘New Releases’ table at your local Barnes and Noble.
What rocks about reader-centered book marketing is that you don’t have to have a leg-up like that to build a fanbase.
Using these techniques, you’ll break through the clutter and build a following of crazy-dedicated readers, one at a time.
Even better, they’ll stick with you long after they’ve finished your debut novel!
#2: You’ll spend less time promoting and more time working on your next book.
Do you loathe marketing because it takes up too much of your time, leaving your next great book idea gathering dust?
Reader-centered book marketing builds up excitement for your book before it is released, allowing you to hit your sales goals faster than you thought possible. You’ll spend less time begging for readers on Twitter and more time working on your next smash hit!
Even if you implement the principles to promote a book that has already been published, you’ll work more efficiently by focusing only on those activities that give you maximum results in minimal time!
#3: You’ll have a blast sharing your work.
Isn’t this whole book promotion thing supposed to be fun?
You’ve done something that makes other authors crazy-jealous: published your book without waiting for the dinosaur of traditional publishing to come to its senses. How cool is that?!
The problem is that it’s so easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of marketing and stressed out by lagging sales numbers that the excitement of releasing your book is stripped away.
We’ll get back to basics, and focusing on what’s awesome about indie publishing: connecting with your readers and sharing your work with the world!
Wrap-up & Discussion
Are you pumped up to begin this journey? I’m excited on your behalf — it’s going to be an awesome ride!
One of the principles we’ll be discussing in the next lesson is how, even though authors feel like they’re in competition with each other, much can be gained from strategic cooperation. Let’s jumpstart that cooperation by getting to know each other in the comments below!
I hate those awkward icebreakers, so let’s share something fun instead: tell me the #1 best moment in your indie author career so far.
I can’t wait to hear your responses!
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