Write His Answer

Develop a Unique
Marketing Plan
for Your Book

Why you need it
and how a mentor could help

By Karen Whiting

Why is a Marketing Strategy Important?

I just finished edits on a book with Zonderkidz this week and sent a note to my editor that I love the finished project and mentioned a few ideas on promoting it. She quickly responded that she wants a list of my ideas and mentioned that such a list could help me secure another contract. Marketing is important and getting more important for authors who want contracts.

Self-published authors need to promote their book since they have no team behind them. They must do it all.

There are lots of choices on marketing from speaking and media to social networking and blogging. What works and what doesn’t work? The answer is that it depends on the audience, your abilities, and the book.

I’ve helped dozens of people find and develop a strategy that fits their book, audience, and personality strengths. One woman I mentored with a children’s picture book had a price too high because of her choice in self-publishing. So I helped her design materials that added value and made the book a great deal. 

I mentored another woman with a fiction book that tied into Alzheimer’s. Solutions she showed in the story came from her own struggle and after publication scientific studies reinforced her methods. So, I helped her find places to write articles on how science collided with fiction. She then used the articles to connect with audiences on how to deal with Alzheimer’s and to set herself up as an expert.

It’s not enough to say, “I’m willing to be on radio and TV if you get me booked.” You must be proactive and understand how to pitch yourself to media, how to post effectively on social networks, and where to network. It comes down to the details and building on success.

The right article and strategy can become a building tool of a marketing plan.

When Should a Marketing Plan Be Developed?

As soon as a writer has a book idea they should be noting marketing ideas. And marketing continues until the book is out of print and there’s no new book on that topic. Thus, marketing should happen all the time.

At this point before sending a proposal out or putting a nickel into self-publishing an author needs a plan that will help sell the books. A book that is printed and never read or sold doesn’t get the message out or help anyone.

Gathering ideas and then sorting them out, choosing the best, and developing the details to carry each idea out is part of the strategy. The more concrete a plan the easier it is for an editor to sell the book concept to the publishing team and get a contract. The more plans laid down and developed the easier it is to launch the book and start the sales going.

How Does a Marketing Mentoring Clinic Work?

With a group of writers I first discover each person’s book topic, passion, and strengths. I start showing each person how they would apply each type of marketing to their book. We draw the best out of the ideas to develop a plan and a strategy. The plan shows what to do in upcoming months. We develop a strategy where one success can become a tool for more, such as getting on one radio show to use the recording to garner more radio interviews.

Just following all the ideas on how to market a book, and there are thousands of ideas, mentoring lets an outside person who is experienced give advice on what ideas could work best.

In mentoring we get specific. Instead of just suggesting that you use twitter or some other social network, we’ll talk about what types of posts to develop and which network to work on. A book on gardening would be great for Pinterest where many gardeners like to follow boards with pictures and gardening tips. It can also be good for twitter if the author can give quick tips throughout the year that help indoor and outdoor gardeners. Handouts can be good, and a gardening book might be a great match for bookmarks that provide a list of the best indoor plants or tips on having a green thumb. It’s thinking of ideas that work and than planning when to work on each that builds the strategy. 

I’d be first in line for Karen Whiting’s clinic if I wasn’t directing the conference! In decades of working as an author in addition to directing two writers’ conferences, hands down Karen is the best idea person I’ve ever met. If you want to be one of the ten writers in Karen’s “Develop a Unique Marketing Plan for Your Book” Clinic, you need to apply online no later than July 15. (That’s an extension of five days because I’m getting this out during a holiday weekend.) For more info and the application go to http://philadelphia.writehisanswer.com/clinics