Hey, Want to trip the light fantastic?
All these things exist BTW and are just some of the many awesome things you can do with your author platform – which just happens to be today's topic, Part 4 of the mini-series which I have creatively titled "How To Sell Books in 2022." (Catch up on Parts 1-3 at the Email Archive.) Something about the very word "platform" makes people run for the hills. (Or maybe it's the word "author"? 👀) But these are all things you can do with your website, mailing list, and social channels like Facebook. Platforms solve a number of disparate and tricky problems for authors:
And that's just the tip of the iceberg, truly. So why the antipathy among writers? Well, my guess is that there is quite a bit of confusion out there about what an author platform entails, what it takes to build and maintain one, and how it should be used. Some authors will openly say they have no interest whatsoever in building an author platform, which… fine. You're the captain of your authorship, I guess. But consider this: your platform is essentially your combined internet presence, and that's something that will happen for you… or to you. Everything we do online leaves a trace – meaning you will have an internet presence anyway – so you might as well shape that presence and turn it into something that benefits you rather than Google or Amazon or whoever. Another common reason for the widespread aversion to all-things-platform is the cliché of authors engaging in embarrassing antics on social media to get attention. And that cliché didn't come from nowhere. Sometimes it feels like the marketing plan for these guys is: Step 1 – cause drama online Step 2 – ??? Step 3 – profit! Don't worry, I'm not suggesting your set your hair on fire, wade into the endless culture wars, learn a TikTok dance, or get high on your own TMI. That's the wrong way to build (and use) a platform as far as I'm concerned. The right way is something far more useful and rewarding – which happily dovetails with the average author's skillset. At its nub is this: connection. Typically marketing professionals would use the term "engagement" but really what we mean is connecting with people, and doing that via storytelling. I know, right? Suddenly, this platform lark might sound doable. And maybe even… fun? There's lots of boring bits too. Technical gubbins. Processes that need to be fleshed out and set up. Widgets to be installed. Et cetera. That bit is less fun, so keep that essential core in mind. You're going to turn purchasers into fans with the magical power of storytelling. And in doing so you will build a platform that can:
OK, so how do you do all that stuff? How do you build one of these magical platform thingamabobs? Slowly. To begin with, at least. And the first stage often goes so slowly that people get twitchy and start engaging in all the wrong things (like buying lists, bribing followers, or permanently posting puppies). But it almost always goes slowly for everyone, even those doing all the right things consistently. Aside from going viral – which has far less benefits than popularly imagined – there's really no other way of doing it. However, it will gather pace once you get through that awkward first stage when it seems like nothing is happening… if you continue doing all the right things. It's a slow burn, and you should prep yourself for that. But you are building something you own, that you can take anywhere. So be patient, keep focusing on those best practices, and respect your audience – always. You live or die by their good graces after all. I recommend constructing your author platform with three key elements.
Let's break 'em down. 1. Author HQAny serious plan for world domination requires a lair. Authors need some kind of digital headquarters, an online base of operations, an anchor of sorts for all the cyber tomfoolery they might engage in on their way to stardom. Your website typically fills this role – and its most important job is collecting sign-ups for your mailing list. Some people make Facebook or Twitter (or Insta or TikTok) their Author HQ but this is a mistake. You need to own the land where you build your headquarters. Instagram is rented land. Twitter could close your account tomorrow. Facebook won't let you directly message all your followers on launch day even if you throw money at them. TikTok doesn't allow you to export a list of all your fans so you can add them to your mailing list. This is why you need a website. All these other places – which you don't own or really control in the most important ways – should be sources of traffic to your website and mailing list, which has to be something you have full control over, because that is your lifeblood as an author. So, you need a website. Well, technically what you fundamentally need most of all is a mailing list with a dedicated and reputable email marketing service. You could use their free landing pages to collect names for your list, but I'd only ever recommend that as a temporary stopgap while your real website is getting set up. Although note that you will need to own your own domain anyway to access a decent email marketing service. A proper website will mean you are fully independent, and having your own mailing list, means can take your readers with you anywhere. It's the best insurance policy against the future and one of the most important moves towards having a sustainable career as an author. Fiction authors can usually get by with a fairly basic website – all you will need is something displaying your books, along with links to where they can be purchased (and any social channels you are active on). But the most important page on your website is your newsletter sign-up page. This is where you will send readers from the back of your books, and why you don't want to send it to a temporary landing page because if you change email provider, that page will no longer work for you. Non-fiction authors may need something a little more involved – depending on the kind of non-fiction they write. For many categories, content marketing can be such an important source of readers and that will usually require having a blog or some other form of informational posts to capture your target reader's interest, display your authority, appear higher in Google search results, and so on. Website Resources:The free book you got when signing up to this list – Following – will walk you through everything you must do, step-by-step. Grab your copy here if you missed it first time around. Note that you can also just read it in your browser there on BookFunnel – a nifty new feature from them BTW. Or if you want to cut even more to the chase in your website-building efforts, then here's the direct link to the Bonus Resources page on my site for that book. That will link you right to all my favorite website-building tools, services, themes, hosting companies, and so on. To learn more about content marketing – which might be the most powerful marketing tactic available to non-fiction authors, depending on your topic area – then this post is a good starting point. Following has a section on that also. (Content marketing is generally less useful for fiction authors, although some dabble in it. Just FYI.) Just remember one thing: you don't need to go too crazy with the website when you are starting out, especially if you are a fiction author. As long as it has some info about you, links to your books, and a dedicated page for your newsletter sign-up, that's all you really need. 2. A Mailing ListOf course, the most important page on that website you will be setting up is – without doubt – the sign-up page for your author newsletter. Anyone who has a hearty and hale mailing list doesn't need any convincing on that point. But for those who haven't made email marketing a central plank yet, let's run through the specific and unique advantages: Connection – nothing is as intimate or personal as email, which means it's easily the best tool for creating connections with your readers, for creating fan engagement – indeed for turning purchasers into fans too. Attention – nothing comes close to email when it comes to capturing reader attention – there's no ads tempting your subscribers elsewhere, no other bits of content being dangled to distract them, no carousel of competing books. The spotlight is on you. Conversion – nothing converts like email and it's not even close. If I could choose to reach someone with an email or a video or an ad or social post, I wouldn't need a nanosecond to think about it. Flexibility – want to email all your fans right now? Or set up an automated welcome sequence which cleverly flogs your backlist? Or send a second launch email to everyone who didn't open the first? Or send an email to the subset of readers who are into audiobooks? Or even have a dynamic paragraph inside a general email which only appears in the emails to those readers who enjoy audiobooks? This truly is just the tip of the iceberg and underlines the incomparable flexibility email offers. Cost – each email I send to a reader costs me a fraction of a penny. A surprising number of authors do little or nothing with email. If that describes you, and you still need some convincing about the unique power of email marketing, then read this blog post. Or if you are one of the many authors who does have a newsletter, but only emails sporadically to announce new releases, then head to that same blog post and scroll down to the section titled "Marketing doesn't end with a sale" because that will describe the process of turning customers into fans over time – which is where you begin to unlock email's true potential. Newsletter Resources:Once you're convinced that you want a large, happy, and healthy email list, and you understand the importance of emailing regularly (which can be as little as once a month for fiction, really), then my book Following, and the accompanying Bonus Resource page on my site, will have all the guides and step-by-steps you could need. (Scroll back up to the last section for links!) But the best resource on email – as always – is Tammi Labrecque. Her book Newsletter Ninja is absolutely fabulous – it will rewire your brain, so you understand how to run a mailing list. And she has a sequel now for those looking to raise their reader magnet game. (I recommend doing this – a good reader magnet, or what Tammi calls a cookie, is half the battle in getting new subscribers.) Tammi also has an exceedingly helpful Facebook Group now, where you can ask more basic questions from how to get subscribers or what to write in your emails to readers, to more advanced topics whether it's a good idea to automate the process of culling your list, or how to re-engage folks who aren't opening your emails anymore. Join that here. 3. Social AccelerantWebsites are great but they don't come with an audience built in – you must bring the sauce. And newsletters are wonderful at all the things I mentioned, and more besides, but they can't tap into some useful qualities. For example, they aren't truly interactive and they can't really be shared. Not like social posts, which can generate compelling conversations and reach an audience far outside of your own – making them fruitful sources of traffic for your books, website, or newsletters. Indeed, most social networks have ad platforms now, of varying quality, which allow you to reach specific subsets of their giant global audiences – which you can use to add accelerant to your content marketing strategy or your mailing list sign-ups, as well as help you sell lots more books, of course. It's really important to keep that front-and-center when it comes to social media – because it's so easy to get hazy about your goals. The dopamine hit from getting Likes on your post are real – social networks are literally designed to trigger that response in users. And it can be easier to accumulate Likes and comments and shares by posting stuff of general interest (like memes or puppies) – which can lead authors chasing the wrong thing. You aren't aiming for a Smaug-like pile of random Likes. You want readers – specifically those who like your books or who might be keen to try them. An audience of people who don't read in your niche but love puppies and memes won't do you much good – so keep that content on a narrow beam. (I feel terrible writing that, because the world needs more puppies right now – not less – so let me rebalance the universe by telling you that We Rate Dogs exists and is officially the best.) By all means, build up a presence on the social media network of your choice – I default towards recommending Facebook because it's the biggest and has the best ad platform out of all the social networks (it's not even close). But others can and do either substitute Facebook for something else like Instagram, or find the time to be active on more than one. (On that note, though, better do to one well than to half-ass several.) Just remember to keep the content focus mostly quite tight around things your target audience enjoys and then you are more likely to build an audience which is responsive to your books. Despite what is popularly believed, social media is not a numbers game and quality is far better than quality – and the same goes for your mailing list. Enjoy yourself, be disciplined about the content you post, be regular in your updates, and always remember that your social media outposts are ultimately intended to shuffle people on towards your books and/or your mailing list. Non-fiction authors can add website traffic to that as well – and there are all sorts of synergies worth exploring between your list, your website, and your social channels, and all three should be used to help the others grow. Posting website content on your social channels regularly can be a reliable – and free – source of traffic to your site, and help you achieve other aims like creating engagement on your Facebook Page, which will ultimately help you grow your list further and sell you more books too. Social Media Resources:I talk about that kind of synergy in the final section of Following (links above), as well as in Module 3.4 of my free course Starting From Zero – where I show you the typical journey a reader makes from being unaware of my work to signing up to my mailing list, and how the different parts of my author platform interact. For fiction and non-fiction, BTW. I really do recommend watching that video (I think it's about 30 mins) as it is useful to see how you can harness the unique strengths of each aspect of your author platform to drive more sign-ups and increase your sales over time – especially by making each launch bigger and bigger. And if you need more basic topics – like how to set up and run a Facebook Page, that's also covered in Following as well. Your PlatformEveryone's platform is a little different, and you might find it more fun – or more rewarding – to focus on one aspect over another. Or simply to master one thing at a time, which is how my brain generally works. Indeed, that could be said of book marketing in general. You certainly don't need to be good at everything when you start out – you can add experience and competencies over time. That's how most of us do it. Just keep in mind the general book marketing formula: you need a product, some promotion, and a platform to turn customers into fans. I hope these four emails have given you all the resources you need to get started on the aspect you wish to work on next! Dave P.S. Writing music this week is Sierra Ferrell with Jeremiah. |
Friday, August 5, 2022
How to sell books in 2022 - Part 4 🚀
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