Guest blog written by Nina Eggens
You have finally taken the plunge to start writing your very own book, and you can’t wait to have it published. Congratulations! And you can already picture it: a beautiful shiny cover with your name on it, the smell of fresh pages…it is a dream come true. Only, who is going to buy it? This is where marketing comes in. Yup, you can’t get around that one. But it doesn’t have to be a chore, or a huge uphill struggle, and you certainly don’t need to hire a PR company. As a creative business coach Nina Eggens helps many entrepreneurs to do marketing in a more joyful and authentic way, that feels good and is effective. She offers six tips to market your book without losing the plot. In this blog she shares some top tips for authors like you.
Marketing is fun for some, but a real headache for many creatives. A lot of them shoot randomly from the hip, don’t have a strategy, and feel rather lost and overwhelmed. Some think that, just because they run a certain type of business, they should only talk about what they offer, creating a stream of pretty boring, and impersonal posts of their products and offers. Or they do the complete opposite; they hate being ‘pushy’, don’t want to constantly bother their followers, so they never try and sell to them. What’s the answer?
1. Your own story…is your best marketing tool
Get personal. If you want to get people to get excited about your upcoming book, you got to let them into your life a little. You don’t have to share all the family secrets, but people generally warm much more to a person if you let down your guard and show them your human and imperfect side. Be open, authentic, and share things that are personal but still relevant to the topic of your work: how did you get where you are? What is your big WHY in life and business? What struggles did you overcome? What makes you tick? Talk about yourself and your own back story in videos, reels, photos and written posts. You will see that people love this type of content, and are much more likely to stick around.
2. Start creating a buzz from page 1
Don’t wait until the end, start talking about your book from the moment you decide to write it. Take your audience on the journey with you, talk about the topic, the chapters, the revelations and ideas you are having along the way. Make even the process of your book writing a page turner! What is she going to reveal next? What is she writing this week? What was hard today, and who did she meet? The closer you get to launch date, the more exciting you can get in your content. Share snippets of your book, post behind-the-scenes photos or anecdotes of any meetings you have, talk about graphic design decisions you need to make. Build up the buzz, and get everyone excited to celebrate the birth of your book! Most people will never write a book in their lives, so sharing fun posts about all that is involved to become a published author will be very interesting and entertaining for many.
3. Choose your platform wisely
The first thing you need to ask yourself is: who is my book for? Then decide what type of content would resonate with this type of audience. Written blog articles, funny short videos, or perhaps even a podcast? Whatever you do, don’t spread yourself too thin by being everywhere. Who has time for that? You should be where your ideal customer hangs out. If you are writing a book for teenagers and young adults, Tik Tok is probably a good bet, or perhaps Instagram and Youtube. If you are writing a book for managers in the corporate world, LinkedIn is likely where you’ll get most traction. Building an email list is always a good idea, because that way you own your list of contacts, whereas you don’t own your followers on social media.
4. Do what comes natural to you
Choose something that comes natural to you, and which you find enjoyable to create. That way it all flows much more easily, and can even become a creative outlet in itself. If you churn out great blog posts like a machine, then stick to that. If quick videos are your second nature, do plenty of those. Whatever type of platform and tool you choose, one thing is important: commitment! Post consistently, with a good mix of personal stories, excitement about your upcoming book, and anything else that is of value to your ideal customer/reader. People generally like to learn something new, get inspired, have a good laugh, and be surprised when it comes to content. If you help readers with a specific problem in your book, try and talk often about this need, so you attract the right audience who recognise themselves in what you share.
5. There is a world outside social media
Sometimes we forget that marketing does not just happen online. Making yourself visible in the real world can also help you greatly to market your book. Go to networking meetings, offer yourself as a speaker at relevant events, and don’t forget to tell everyone about your upcoming publication. This does not only help to spread the word, but also gives you excellent practice to start calling yourself an ‘author’, which you may still feel a little bit insecure about. The more you show up as the author you want to be, the more comfortable you feel in those new shoes.
6. Be a guest on someone else’s podcast
Being a guest on a podcast, Facebook group, or Instagram Live is a great way to tap into someone else’s existing audience. Do a bit of research and make a list of podcasts that would reach the right audience for your book. Approach the podcast maker, and see if they can interview you. Make sure you have a clear message, and how your topic would be of interest to the show host. Besides podcasts, you can also try and get into someone else’s Facebook Group, or membership, if the audience is right. Entrepreneurs and coaches who run these types of things, often need external experts to create interesting content for their subscribers, so they will be pleased to have you, if you can offer something that is of value to them.
Nina Eggens is an international business coach who helps creative and conscious entrepreneurs feel more confident and get better at marketing, so they can earn more money doing what they love. You can find out more about working with her on www.thecreativebusiness.coach
Many thanks goes out to Nina Eggens for sharing some practical tips to market your book.
Check out my programs about the writing process here.
