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When I started working as a publisher with other writers I was shocked at how many people thought they could just turn their book over to a publisher and wait for the money to roll in. I learned that many writers focus on being good writers, but don't focus at all on the marketing, book promotion or publishing side of what they think they are doing.
There are very few writers on the planet who can write a book and just turn it over to a publisher. The important thing to remember is that while Dan Brown, J.K. Rowling and Stephen King may be in that category now, they did not start out there! This attitude that 'writers write and publishers publish' is every bit as out of date as 'get good grades so you can get a good job and have job security'.
Robert Kiyosaki, author of the very successful 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' series, points out "I'm not a best writing author, I'm a bestselling author". The difference is more than just semantics. You can be the World's Greatest Writer and if no one knows about you then no one will be able to enjoy your great writings.
Building Your Platform
Publishers don't really care if you are a great writer. In fact, in my opinion writing is about #9 on the list of important skills for an author. Publishers see your book as a product, and they only care that there is a very clear and reachable target market for that product. If this seems crass and commercial, well, it is, but it's also the reality of publishing whether you go with a big publisher or self publish.
Your platform is your depth of interaction with your target market. It's how many of your readers and fans know about you and your book and stay involved with what you're writing and teaching. If you've spent the last 5 years writing your masterpiece, but none of that time developing your platform then you will probably have very little value to a publisher.
There are, as usual, a very few notable exceptions, but usually those exceptions are misunderstood. Salman Rushdie took the world by storm with Satanic Verses in 1988. However, Satanic Verses was his 4th novel! His first novel, Grimus, is still generally unheard of. Dan Brown caused a storm of controversy with The Da Vinci Code, but before that his first 3 novels sold less than 10,000 copies each in their first printing.
Building your platform requires you to step out of the 'writer' mindset and into the world of book promotion. The sooner you learn to love book promotion the sooner you'll be successful at it. Below are some marketing concepts that need to be applied to your book as soon as possible.
Your Target Market - Who is your perfect reader. (Don't say everyone because it shows that you don't understand your book well enough to market it!) The important question here is 'Who?'. What does your target reader read? Where do they shop? What do they wear, drive, eat, watch on TV, spend time and money on, love, hate, etc, etc, and on and on. The more precise you can be the easier it will be for you to get in front of them.
Features of your book - Features are the things that you probably think make your book stand out. Here are some examples:
Hardcover - a feature that's important to collectors
Softcover - a feature that's important to those who actually carry a book around with them
Large Print - Easier to read
Exciting, Thrill a Moment Story - Which you may think is important
Technical knowledge of your subject
Personal knowledge of your subject
Benefits of your book - The Benefits are the things that are important to your readers. Most likely you'd be surprised at your reader feedback when they tell you what's important, most authors usually are. Here are some of the major benefits to successful books:
How the book makes the reader feel - Readers read because they want an experience. They want to identify (even in nonfiction) with the writer, the hero/heroine, or some aspect of the book that makes them feel good, enlightened, enlivened, educated, wise, artful, rich, etc again. If you can't identify how your reader should feel after reading your book then it's back to the drawing board for your marketing.
Your book fulfills a need - Does your book educate, entertain, inspire or encourage your reader? This goes hand in hand with the feeling from above. Psychologist Abraham Maslow laid out his Hierarchy of Needs in his 1954 book 'Motivation and Personality'. Joseph Campbell's definitive work 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' has influenced many of our most recognizable products. From 'Watership Down' through the movies of Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke to 'Star Wars', the story of the hero has been experienced by untold millions of viewers, most of whom had no idea there was a specific layout to the story. Even Disney animations such as 'Aladdin' and 'The Lion King' were specifically written with the Hero's Journey in mind.
Take the time to see how the works of Maslow and Campbell can apply to your book. I assure you that the more successful you become the more you'll see these concepts.
Only Scratching the Surface
Successful book promotion includes all the marketing required to get your book out in front of your target market. Blogs, websites, Search Engine Optimization, book signings, newsletters, article marketing, advertising, affiliate programs, book reviews and 1,001 other topics all depend upon your being able to have clear answers when your agent, publishing consultant or publisher ask "What's your target market, features and benefits?"
'Book Marketing 101 - Why Do You Need to Market Your Books?' is an excerpt from Robert Morgen's upcoming book "The Self Help Author"
Robert Morgen experienced a near-death kundalini awakening in 1992. He's a Reiki Master who holds a Black Belt in Hoshinjutsu and a Deputy Black Belt in Combat Hapkido.
He's the founder of The 1% for Inner Peace Campaign and the Inner Power Meditation Meetup Group, host of The Inner Power Radio Show and author of 4 books and 4 CD's on meditation and energy work. You can also download over an hour of free Guided Meditation MP3's at his website.
He's also the author of Awaken Your Inner Power! and The Spiritual Entrepreneur.
Visit his websites - The Inner Power Blog, The Spiritual Entrepreneur Project or The Self Help Authors Network.
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