I just not only survived but thrived in D'vorah Lanskey's 30 Day Book Marketing Challenge.
Anyone of my blog fans who is thinking about writing a book or has already written a book must check this program out. Writing a book is easy compared to the quick sand you get launched into upon publication of your book. The next questions after publication is always what do I do next? D'vorah's program answers this question with a wealth of information. The daily setup of the program helps you to stay focused and accomplish something each day, plus I have tons of ideas to fall back on when the ones I'm working on run out. In this program you get introduced to a whole network of supportive individuals who are all on the same path in their own way. Being an author can be lonely, as you toil away at home on your computer but here you have coworkers who understand your dilemmas and are happy to help. D'vorah has gathered knowledgeable individuals from all across the publishing and marketing world to not only present you with information but to personally answer questions. The whole atmosphere of the program is one of openness and family and I couldn't get enough.
I learned some great things along the way that I would like to share. In the first week, we worked on developing yourself as an author with a platform and how to utilize all the social media venues that are out there to support that goal. This really made me focus on who my ideal audience is and how I should reach them. We also learned that blogs are very important for authors. Blogs let your readers know who you are, what you are interested in and they increase visibility when you guest blog on other blogger sites as well. We also learned how important it is to set up your Amazon author profile. Amazon is a huge resource for book sales and any amount of personalization here goes a long way. Goodreads.com is another facet of Amazon that can not be overlooked. Goodreads.com has a huge market for book readers. It allows authors to easily connect on a personal level with their audience and Goodreads.com has some wonderful groups that you can join. Here you will find individuals interested in every genre of books. It's a great place to get to know your readers and what they like. Finally, the potential of finding quality reviewers on Goodreads.com that just love to read and give feedback is way better than Amazon where they may be reviewing all kinds of products besides books. While developing our platform, we also looked at Facebook and how important it is. It not only allows you to connect with readers but it also allows for you to maintain ongoing relationships with them. We learned how to host a Facebook party and although the food wasn't too great (lol!) the company was awesome. Finally, we looked at the importance of building and maintaining an email list to keep in constant contact.
For the next four days after that we focused on growing these lists and increasing our visibility. We learned about creating giveaways with your products to entice readers to stay interested in your product. I was a little concerned as a fictional novel writer that I would not have enough product to keep people engaged but I learned interesting tactics to make up for that. For example a fictional author can tell character side stories that only individuals who subscribe to the newsletter are privy to. We also learned about teleseminars and guest interviews as a way to increase visibility. I don't even like having my picture taken so I always shied away from this type of event but we learned how important they are when you want to tap into a group of people who have never seen your material before. Also, hosting the events yourself gives you access to a wealth of knowledge from professionals who are educated in the themes of your fictional novels. This definitely changed my outlook and I will be actively searching for these opportunities in the future.
After that we focused for about another week on how to maximize the profits of your book business with just one book. As a fictional author it gets tricky here. Fictional authors should take one or two themes from your book and research them extensively. Not only will it give you more material for your next book but it will give you the opportunity to talk on a professional level about those themes. The blogs that you produce on your given theme can also be re-purposed into additional books as well as the short stories about the characters that you write for your newsletter. These events may turn into coaching opportunities or online course opportunities to really make the subject clear to the reader. From here, there are a myriad of other ways books can be broken down and restructured in new ways to create income streams.
After that, we refocused on book marketing. We started this week with an overview of how to flood the market with your work. This was very exciting and boosted momentum on individual marketing efforts. We learned about contacting bloggers, engaging tweet teams, and getting word out to radio stations, tv stations and online media sources. Then we learned how to set clear goals for our efforts that can be measured for success. Sandra Beckwith gave us the do's and don'ts of marketing which are obvious but not, at the same time. Then, we learned how to put together a press release that really pops and why they should never be forgotten. Finally, we learned some great places to get reviews from other places than just Amazon, which can often be a shot in the dark.
We are finishing the last week now. We learned about Crowdfunding and how self published authors can get financing for future projects. Also, we are looking at how to go on virtual book tours so that you never need to get on a plane. Quite often you can gain more exposure this way because people can access the information when they want to not when your publicist has set up the date.
All in all this course is a must do for anyone in the publication world!
Sara F. Hathaway's tips for fictional author success:
Stay on top of Goodreads.com and social marketing - it not only generates business but it also gives you immediate feedback so you can stay motivated and get to know your audience.
Talk about your book with everyone you know and have contact with - I recently had knee surgery and the surgical staff were googling me before the procedure because I told them I was an author publishing my first book.
When you do a Goodreads.com giveaway send books to the winners but choose your own winners as well - Goodreads.com gives you the names of all the entrants and how many friends they have connections with. You can contact some of these entrants and see if they would like a free book in exchange for a review.
Learn more about D'Vorah's Programs at bookmarketingmadeeasy.com
Sara F. Hathaway
Sara F. Hathaway is the author of the The Changing Earth Series: Day After Disaster and Without Land. She also hosts The Changing Earth Podcast which blends her fictional stories with educational survival tips. Sara grew up in the country where she developed a profound interest in the natural world around her. After graduating with honors from The California State University of Sacramento with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, she launched into a career in business management. In her fictional novels her research and experience with survival techniques and forgotten life-sustaining methods of the generations past come to the forefront in a action packed adventures. She has used her background in business management to pave new roads for fictional authors to follow and she delights in helping other achieve the same success. She currently lives with her husband and two sons in California where she is at work on the sequel to her first two novels. For more information and a free copy of “The Go-Bag Essentials” featuring everything you need to have to leave your home in a disaster visit: www.authorsarafhathaway.com