Publisher's Blog

When I think about how to inspire the people I work for, meaning my authors, I realize the barriers they see ahead can seem over whelming. The progression of motivation goes from optimistic and motivated to befuddled and fatigued. The period of time it takes for the first description to morph into the second description really depends on many factors, but most of all it depends on an author's understanding of the daily job required to breathe life into a book.

Most often, I see the joy go out the the eyes of authors who thought that somehow the book would sell itself. I see some decide to stop the process of bringing the book to the public because the work is unforgiving and demanding. But, most of all I see the disappointment, and feel it with my authors, when they do not see a way to reinvigorate themselves and their books.

Why? Well, there are three reasons why an author and ultimately the book both lose the energy to go forward.

1) The demands of making a living by other means shortens the time an author can devote to promoting his book and blurs the focus needed to promote a book.

2) The money it takes to keep reaching out, getting the interest of the reading public, even if the author does all the publicity work for himself, eventually runs out. Gas prices, food prices, clothing prices, the cost of living keep rising, and we all cut away things we think are luxuries. Promoting a book can fall easily into the category of luxury item.

3) But, most importantly, the author didn't work out a plan as to how the book would maintain a life. The author didn't start out with an idea of how to keep the book in front of buyers.

"What's the solution?" you ask.

1) Recognize that you must spend a certain amount of time every day working at the promotion of your book. Doing some portion of your marketing plan takes time and energy. Contacting newspapers, websites and sending informational emails is a constant task. Connecting with venues where you can talk about your book, such as libraries, schools, businesses, and organizations is essential as you release your book and afterward to keep it alive. These take time. Just an hour a day helps a lot! Carve it out of your busy schedule, set the time to be the same every day, and keep a log of what you do in that hour. Track your contacts, mailings, etc... this will show you what you're doing and give you a clear idea of what works and what doesn't work.

2) Develop and nurture a customer list. Every person who bought your book potentially will buy another one if you keep them in the know. The successful authors, the ones who actually make their living by selling their books, have extensive contact lists they have built over years. Your publisher has that information if they sell your books from a website store. Ask for a list. Sadly, you can't get a list of buyers from mainstream online stores. But, if people review your book, you can contact them.

3) Invent and re-invent your marketing approach. A simple mailer of one piece of paper with review blurbs, reader comments, your book cover image and a cheery note from the author inviting the recipient to buy the book is a tried and true technique. I respond to these myself when an author I know sends me an alert by mail (not email). I think that's because it's not a bill and it's not really junk mail. If I know the author's work, I am thrilled to get something personally from him or her.

4) WRITE ANOTHER BOOK! Once you have one book, you should write another. Every time you bring out a new book the former titles get a boost. When you make a habit of building your contact list and keeping in touch, people who loved the first book will want to read the second book...and so on.

So, it is time to begin --- or begin again --- to make your book's life long and fruitful.