Set Your Book Up to Succeed with a Marketing Plan, Part 3

By: Earma Brown
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:43:02
Print this article | Tell a friend | For publisher | Social Bookmarking
Rating:
 

Have you developed your book's promotion plan yet? You know now really is better than later. There are 2 facts to realize in developing your promotion plan. Realize it begins the day you conceive your book idea and never ends.

The other is the more you write the better you become at it. You need to begin building name recognition in your field. In other words, you want to begin developing your public image.

No I’m not suggesting you become a politician but I am saying you must get involved in your book’s promotion. After all, you are the one that cares the most for your project. Many authors and especially small business owners/authors dread book promotion like a plague. They say, "With all that I already do, I jumped the hurdle of writing and completing my book, now I have to promote it as well –arggh." Look at it this way; you have more to gain than anyone in the success of your book. Therefore, when developing your book marketing plan you should:

Examine Your Competition

Your first step in researching the competition is to visit a large book store locally or go online to http://www.amazon.com and look for similar books. Additionally, visit http://www.bn.com (Barnes & Nobles Online) and http://www.borders.com. Since you have already identified the problem you want to solve with your book, be sure to include using search engines like http://www.google.com to help find articles, reports and websites devoted to the problem.

Don’t depend on your memory of what you have seen. Make notes and combine your research into a single Word document. In your notes make a list, and write down this about each book or document you find:

• Title and author
• Year of publication
• Sales rank
• Reader reviews
• Who wrote the Foreword or Introduction
• Number of editions or printings

Don’t be intimidated if you find more than several books already written on the topic. The fact that there’s existing books shows that the topic is an active one. If you decide to go the traditional route of publishing, you will find publishers are more willing to invest money in a book on a topic with a track record.

I encourage you to buy one or two existing books just to read, noting the case studies and references they cite as well as the quality of information they provide. You should make a mental note at least of things like:

• Is the information presented in an easy to read, helpful way?
• Is the reading a pleasant chore or is it like wading through mud?
• Is the information timely and accurate?
• Do the books contain any reader engagement tools like check-list, worksheets or questions?

One of the reasons for examining your competition’s books is so that you will be able to describe in detail the strengths and weaknesses of existing books in your proposal. And the better your research, the better your proposal will be. Additionally, a good reason is because it lets you know where you can aim as far as positioning. When I was in the planning stage of several of my books, I took the steps just like I told you.

I researched to see what was already in the market and was pleasantly surprised. I saw lots of books on my chosen topic but the quality was not good. Every book I read I thought to myself, “I know I can do better than this.” Now my thinking was not in a negative way. It's just that I found it exciting and motivating to me that my competitive edge would be quality well-presented information.

The publishing world and our society have changed. Writing and publishing your book can still change your life. But now a book is not the be-all and end-all, it is simply a tool that allows you to become a more successful business person, taking the profitable road to success and destiny.

© Earma Brown, 11 year author and business owner helps small business owners and writers who want to write their best book now! Author of 'Write Your Best Book Now', she mentors other writers and business professionals through her monthly ezine 'iScribe' Subscribe now at iscribe@writetowin.org for FREE mini-course 'Jumpstart Writing Your Best Book' or visit How Write and Market a Book for more book marketing tips.

Article source: Expert Articles

Most Recent Articles in Book Marketing category

  • How to get rich by writing fiction - By: Sudhir Sharma
    Some of us write simply because we cannot not write. Ideas grab us, move us, and demand to be written. We strive to make it as real as we possibly can, to improve at our craft every day, hopefully to make it into the realm of literature as well as entertainment.
  • Book Marketing 101 - By: Jasmeet Kahlon
    For beginning authors, book promotion is the key to success. Whether an author self-publishes or is published by a major house, most often that author needs to market her book herself if she wants there to be any chance at all of it being successful.
  • The REAL TRUTH on How to Write an eBook - By: Diya Sood
    The hardest part of writing is the first sentence. When you look at the whole project, it seems like an impossible task. That's why you have to break it down into manageable tasks. Think of climbing a mountain.
  • Book Marketing - How Rich Authors Make Money - By: Bob Burnham
    Ever wonder how some authors seem to steal the limelight and the profits while others collect dust on bookstore shelves? Some of those really well off authors are not even that good. You read their books and think "I could write better than this."
  • How To Write A Book, 4 Simple Strategies - By: Bob Burnham
    Writing a book doesn't have to be complicated. The image of the frustrated writer sitting at their typewriter with piles of balled up paper at their feet is a myth. In fact, when you use a few simple strategies, writing a book can be accomplished quickly and professionally - no writer's block and no piles of balled up paper.
  • How To Get A Reporter's Attention For Your Book - By: Jitender Sharma
    Reporters are busy people. On any given day they are fielding dozens of phone calls, making calls of their own, reading stacks of newspapers and magazines and rushing to meet deadlines. So how do you break through all the noise to get a reporter or an editor on the phone to listen to your pitch?
  • Kick Off Your Brochure Marketing With These Simple Steps - By: Janice Jenkins
    Brochures are very effective tools to have when you want to grow your business. However, most brochure marketing campaigns need to be redesigned and restructured because they don’t get the results you expect from them. In order for your promotional efforts to be effective, designing brochures should be in order. Here’s how you can kick off your brochure marketing campaign with these steps.
  • Book Publicity: The New York Myth - By: Melissa Sandford
    While there are some exceptional book and literary publicists working straight out of The Big Apple, it should be noted that having a publicist located in New York does not automatically guarantee an author that their writing will reach readers.
  • Interviewing Tips for First Time Authors - By: Melissa Sandford
    As you prepare for your first or next interview, always remember the hardest part is over. You have already written 300+ pages, found an agent, a publicist and survived the excruciating editing process. Interviewing well is essential, however, it is also one of the easiest and most enjoyable aspects of publishing a book.
  • A Secret to Make your Book a Best Seller - By: Barry Sheppard
    There is a secret to writing your bestselling book. I would like to tell you about it, so that you can use it as I have.