I have worked in publishing since 2010 and have helped hundreds of authors over the years, from pre-publication writers to New York Times bestsellers. As a business manager and consultant for authors, I get asked a lot of questions about how best to publish, market a book, and run a business. The answer is almost always, “It depends.”
Because at the end of the day there is no one right way, no secret method, and no magic bullet that every writer can use to find success. (Bummer, I know!)
Sure, people will sell you these promises. For some authors they might even work, but they won’t work for everyone.
If there was only one piece of advice I could give to every author I met, it would be this: Find what works for YOU.
In my work, I find authors tend to lean one of two ways: they run forward without researching or making much of a plan (if they make one at all), or they spend all their time researching and listening to what other authors do, looking for the perfect plan, system, or tactic without implementing anything themselves.
My goal is to help authors find the middle ground. I work with them to research and make a plan, execute the plan, learn from the outcome, and then readjust the plan accordingly. You want to have enough knowledge to make educated decisions on what to test so you can work toward your goals, instead of being paralyzed by information overload or spinning your wheels without a system in place to measure what is right for you and your business.
To get started, here are five questions to ask yourself whenever you find a new marketing tactic or business strategy you’d like to try:
1. Has someone done this before?
If this has been done before, you should be able to gather some information to see if the tactic or strategy may be a good fit for you. If it hasn’t been done before, it may still be worth doing — skip to question #3!
2. If this has been done before, how similar or different is your situation to those who have done it?
Look at authors who have found success with this strategy, and consider what genre they write in, how many books they have published, and how they publish.
For example, an author writing in romance may offer “date night” coupons as swag for a preorder promotion (like this stretch goal bonus in Lilith Darville’s Kickstarter campaign, as an example), but a thriller author might need to think of a different swag option.
The number of books you’ve published can also be a huge factor in deciding which tactics are worthwhile. An author with a 10-book series is likely to get more out of a first-in-series free promotion than an author with one book: with only one book, there is nothing else for readers to buy, meaning the promotion won’t lead to income. With 10 books, there are nine other books readers can buy if they enjoy the first.
How a book is published can also matter. Getting into brick-and-mortar stores can be harder when indie publishing, often because the cost of print-on-demand books makes the profit margin too small for these stores to make enough profit. While this can occasionally be overcome with offset printing or networking with local booksellers, you then have to consider if the effort is worth the potential benefits.
3. Can I afford to lose what this will cost?
This is the most important thing to ask yourself. Think about cost in terms of money, but also time. If a new idea will take you a week to test and you are currently on a tight deadline, you might not want to test it at this time.
If you can’t afford to lose the money, then it’s not for you right now. Take a serious look at what are necessary expenses: housing, food, health care. Consider also what is needed for creating and publishing books: internet, cover design, interior design, editing. Nothing is guaranteed in publishing, so make sure you don’t spend money that you need for what is necessary on something new that may or may not pan out.
4. What’s my motivation?
Am I doing this because I want to, or because I’m afraid of missing out or I’m trying to meet others’ expectations of me?
This is a hard one. In a business like publishing where so much is unpredictable, fear can often sneak in and try to run things. Fear should not run our businesses. Nor should others’ expectations. Both are recipes for disaster.
5. What do I hope to get out of this?
It’s great if this is something you can measure, such as “10 new sales,” but some things won’t be as easy to quantify. That’s okay — you should still write down what you are hoping to achieve. This exercise will also help you determine if you are operating from a place of fear or others’ expectations instead of your own inner compass.
Assess and Repeat
Get in the habit of asking yourself these questions before you jump into trying something new. It will help you make sure the actions you are taking for your author business are well-thought-out and aligned with your needs.
After you have tried something new, there is one final question to ask yourself to see if you are still on track or need to readjust: Did the outcome fall short of, meet, or exceed your hopes? (What you wrote down for question #5 above.)
If the outcome fell short, consider why and if testing again is worthwhile. If the outcome met or exceeded expectations, consider whether you should add this to your regular business or marketing plan.
In the long run, practicing this habit of checking in with yourself and your goals will help you stay on track and stress less when trying new things.
