"In the Promotion section of How to Write a Nonfiction Book are many suggestions for letting potential readers know about your book ... I copied and pasted the whole section into a new document, cut out all the superfluous words, and created a long list of brief, bulleted statements. Then I put each bulleted statement under one of my strategies."
The result was a very ambitious document—more a wish list than an actual "plan"—and, even when I wrote it, I never thought I could do every single thing on the list. I have a friend whose book came out at exactly the same time as mine. We had a book launch together, which was a delightful experience. We both sold several books. Then, I went back to work, and she went back to marketing her book. Comparing the amount of time each of us put into promoting our books forced me to sit down and reassess my priorities.
It's all about resources, especially the most finite of resources—time. How much do I have, and where do I want to spend it? I know. I have the same number of hours and minutes everybody else has. It's an old, well-worn argument, so I will spare you the calculations of exactly how much that is.
Even if we subtract the time we sleep and do all things involved in simply living, we end up with roughly the same amount of disposable time to spend as we choose. In my case, I can spend it marketing my book or marketing my business. Or, I can divide the available time in half or some other fraction, and try to do both. My strategies for marketing my book are as follows:
- Increase my visibility and credibility on line
- Increase my visibility and credibility off line
- Drive traffic to my original Web site, WriteANonfictionBook.com
When I first developed these strategies, they were in no particular order. Now, I'm wondering if they should be. Which one is most important? The answer is definitely number 3. Numbers 1 and 2 should contribute to 3, because 3 is the way I earn my living. WriteANonfictionBook.com is all about helping authors by writing their books for them, guiding them through the book-writing process, or editing what they have written.
So, when I ask myself what takes precedence, it has to be my business. I love my book; and I want to let people know it exists, why they should read it, and where they can buy it. But that effort is a means to an end, not an end in itself. I teach people how to write books, but I always remind them that money is not the best reason to do it. Very few authors make enough from a single book to support themselves. It's sad but true.
This has been a one-woman exercise in brainstorming, which is often what blogging is all about. If you are reading this, you may be asking yourself similar questions. There is only so much disposable time in our lives. Where do you want to spend yours?
Posts
