After several years of unsuccessfully hiring book marketing experts, I realized I had two choices. The first was to not do any book promotion. The other was to do it myself.
With great reticence, I decided to do it myself. I did this knowing it would detract from my writing and reduce my output.
I looked at the conventional book promotion strategies of traditional book publishers, all the while suspecting that much of it no longer applies in today’s rapidly changing publishing landscape.
I made a list.
Next, I added what leading indie-published authors were doing. Some of the items seem doable and others turned my stomach; just thinking about them made me nauseous.
Then I divided the list into three categories: the yes list, the maybe list, and the no list.
My yes list included all the marketing I was open to do. The second list of maybe items contained activities I was willing to do if needed. And the final list, which contained my no tasks, were things I was unwilling to do, my non negotiables.
With clarity in place, I set about developing a book marketing strategy that would tap into my yes list and avoid my no list. It’s what works for me, and it may work for you.
Takeaway
Do the marketing activities you’re willing to do and avoid the ones that suck the life out of you. This won’t maximize sales, but it will keep you moving forward in a healthy way for the long term.
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Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is a full-time, career author. He’s published scores of books, hundreds of articles, and thousands of blog posts, with experience as a publisher, editor, and commercial freelance writer. A passionate wordsmith, his goal is to change the world one word at a time. Learn more at PeterLyleDeHaan.com.
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