To Promote or Not Promote...That is the Question

This is one of many amazing examples of what you will find by subscribing to Publishing Syndicates Wow Principles Newsletter. I can't stress enough how much great information these two make available to us writers every month. Dahlynn encouraged me to scroll through the archives to look for some of the information about getting published that may not be obvious. It wasn't long before hours had passed and I was reminded what a wealth of knowledge their archives are. Here is just one article from March of 2007. I couldn't bear to paraphrase so I am publishing this piece in its entirety (with permission, of course!). Visit Publishing Syndicate and get a whole lot more where this came from!

To Promote or Not Promote...That is the Question
Dahlynn McKowen, March 2007

During fall 2005, I was given just a few months to rewrite Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneur’s Soul. During that time, I approached sixty of the nation’s top CEOs and entrepreneurs, convincing nearly all of them to submit their start-up stories for this title. Many amazing entrepreneurs joined me, from Jim McCann of 1-800-flowers to Cookie Lee of Cookie Lee Designs to Tom Chappell of Tom’s of Maine.

Due to my requirement of a six-week or less turnaround on new copy,one person who couldn’t join me was Donald Trump. I asked for a story from him on “branding” oneself, which, regardless if you care for him or not (and I happen to like him), “The Donald” is the master of branding a name. In his book Trump: How to Get Rich (Random House, 2004), Trump talks about modesty and the importance of “tooting your own horn.” From Trump’s book: “…you better learn to speak up and announce your significant accomplishments to the world—nobody else will.”

This phrase has stuck with me since. Between Ken and myself, I’m the extrovert of the duo and marketing and media savvy is my forte. Though few people promote themselves in the grandiose way Trump mentions in his book, it’s important that you toot your own horn, and TOOT IT AS LOUD AND AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN!

How many times do you promote your accomplishments related to your writing? Selfpromotion is one of the primary keys to becoming a successful writer, and take it from us, you’re on your own when it comes to promotion; if you’re working with a publisher, your book will be the “flavor of the month” for the marketing department until their next book comes along. And if you’re self-published, marketing is a must.

It’s interesting to me that so many writers are afraid to promote their work. About a year ago, I was at a local children’s book writing event. As the open discussion ensued about myriad writing-related topics one woman sitting in the back row sheepishly asked, “I’m too scared to talk to the media about my children’s book. Isn’t that a publisher’s job?” What surprised me was that the majority of the audience shook their heads in agreement. I offered several ideas and resources to her on self-promotion, but she still felt that it was a publisher’s responsibility. My jaded, but polite, response was that if she and her nodding audience allies were not interested in promoting themselves and their accomplishments, they should plan on only producing enough copies of their books to give away as “legacy” gifts to family and friends, as sales were likely not a part of their futures.

I realize my response was a bit crass, but it was sheer reality. If you’re not willing to promote your work—in essence, yourself—then why should the media, a publisher or any other marketing entity tied to your book want to promote it? And think about this; non-promotion is the kiss of death for those who self-publish their titles, as they don’t have publishers to help. For those of us tied to publishers, non-promotion equals no royalties, and thus, no earned income.

Here’s a great example of tooting one’s horn; our book Best of California’s Missions, Mansions and Museums is a finalist in ForeWord Magazine’s 2007 “Book of the Year” Award, travel category. Being a finalist is a huge deal, let alone winning the category, so we instantly started promoting this accomplishment. This week alone, we had five public appearances, including a regional National Public Radio (NPR) interview, all based off this one nomination. And we’re booking future speaking engagements/sales opportunities based on our NPR interview.

Again, book promotion is a huge part of becoming a successful writer. This topic is so vast that we’re creating a Wow Principle’s e-booklet on the subject. Watch for it, but in the meantime, get out there and promote yourself…and your work!

Blogging - Let's Talk About It - Part II

Blogging is certainly one way to be published immediately, but there's other reasons to blog. Let's talk about the dream of being a New York best selling author. For a publisher to buy your book, they need to know they can promote it and you. This means you have to be able to hold your own and do interviews on television and radio, book signings in every kind of environment and more. When I say hold your own, I mean be articulate, be able to answer questions in a conversational way, and be good with people from all walks of life. All of this is true if you self publish your book in which case, this kind of promotion is much more difficult. Most writers believe their work will sell itself, that may be true, but you have to get enough influential people to read it first before it has an opportunity to sell itself. Truth be told, you have to have a great book and be a dynamic individual.

You can use your blog to build your author platform. If you are reading blogs and blogging, it's highly likely you are using social media sites such as facebook and twitter. Utilizing these free resources to connect with thousands of people and drive traffic to your blog will hopefully create a following of people who will be anxiously waiting to buy your book as soon as it's published. A publisher will look at this as a proactive approach on your part and it will also give them a real sense of your ability to write, your style, how you organize content and how many people think you have something worthwhile to say.

This is just one of the reasons to blog. There are bloggers out there who understand the power of blogging and make money by selling ads on their blogs. Can you imagine it, making a steady monthly income by doing what you love, writing? It's happening and to the tune of five figures monthly for some. Just like any business, you must understand all avenues to generating income, what would be expected of you personally, and how equipped are you to meet those requirements. If you didn't think blogging was a worthwhile use of your time, I would ask you to reconsider.