Can we go backwards? ⏪

(Breaking the rules FTW)  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Hey, I have a light lunch for you today – more of a thought experiment than anything. My schedule is all over the place at the moment, which is bad for obvious reasons, but also lends itself to random pockets of downtime which naturally lends itself to a good old bout of rumination. And I was thinking about book marketing, as I'm prone to do. Specifically, that sometimes doing things the opposite way you're "supposed to" or different from how you usually operate can bring interesting results and insights. This is, in part, down to our stupid brains. Familiarity with a given process, or blindly following a rote list of recommended steps, can make us more efficient – but we can also develop a kind of tunnel vision or snow blindness, missing problems or even opportunities. Stepping outside of the world of book marketing for a moment, those pesky typos are a classic example of this. Every author knows that you can proof something a million times on-screen and then the most obvious typos will magically appear as soon as you print your MS (or publish it, lol). Writers can go to creative lengths to force themselves to "see" typos, such as sending the manuscript to their Kindle or reading the entire text aloud. I know one bestseller who goes to the trouble of publishing a paperback – an ARC, just for them – which he swears is the only way to catch 'em all. Could the same counter-intuitive approach to writing, publishing, and marketing our books? Can we turn accepted wisdom on its head and generate better results? In other words, is it forward thinking to try doing everything… backwards? Let's take a look, right after a word from our sponsor. Sponsor this Newsletter Guess what? Sponsoring newsletters, like this one, is a great way to reach engaged and targeted audiences. It will build your brand — whether that is your personal brand or your business. The Decoders newsletter is part of the ConvertKit Sponsor Network. This network connects businesses to audiences of newsletter readers. For example, you can sponsor this newsletter and connect with 17,000 authors. ​Apply to Be a Sponsor ​ ​ Publishing Like A Normie Let's look at the standard-ish approach before flipping the script. Write a book in your chosen genre. Self-edit and/or edit as appropriate. Commission a fitting cover. Upload the book files to Amazon et al. Realize that you have to write a blurb (and turn the air even bluer when you are asked to choose categories). Hit publish after making a snap decision on price. Panic once more when the book goes live. Tell your friends and family that your book is – nudge, nudge – finally available for purchase. Refresh your sales reports around the clock until the grim realization sets in a few days later that the handful of sales at the start are as good as it's going to get… unless you have some kind of marketing plan. Fumble around online until you find some good advice, and then go back and fix all the mistakes you made earlier in the process, while swearing to have all your ducks in a row next time. At least, that's how most newer authors end up doing it – or some form thereof. And there's no judgement here at all, many of us probably stumbled through some version of that to begin with. With more experience (or guidance, perhaps), a slightly more grizzled author might approach things in a more effective way. Especially now they understand a bit more about Amazon, readers, keywords, genre cover conventions, algorithms, launch marketing, email, and so on. The list for that more prepared author would surely read a little better – maybe something like this: Write the first book of a new series. Polish in stages with the help of editors, proofers, betas, etc. as required. Brief your regular designer on the kind of cover you need. Prepare your tagline, blurb, Facebook copy, ad images, and launch emails while waiting for your various bits and bobs. Sail through the upload process using pre-determined categories, keywords, and so on… while realizing the blurb reads a little flat in the cold light of the KDP interface. You make a note to punch it up after it goes live. Execute a marketing plan for your launch week using your mailing list, some swaps, discounts on backlist books, promo sites, and a little advertising. Review the results of your launch ads and double down on the winners while noting the flubs to avoid next time out. Struggle to gain any kind of sustainable traction post-launch, outside of deep discounts or aggressive ad spend. Go over reader comments, keywords, reviews, categories, ads, etc. to analyze why the book isn't exactly setting the world on fire. Make some changes to the book's positioning and presentation, and then move on to writing the next book, hoping to get closer to the bestselling bullseye next time. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this approach – in case you think I'm setting up some elaborate bait-and-switch here. It's an approximation of a fairly typical path I see, that of an upwardly mobile, hard-working author – one approaching her career with intent. Indeed, I know countless authors who followed a path like this to great success – many of them far more successful than me. Some of them followed this path all the way to the top. Let's Go Backwards No doubt some of you are thinking, "If it's such a good script, why flip it?" Well… sometimes nudging yourself out of the usual thought patterns can generate fresh ideas – which you can adapt wholesale or use to refine your existing approach. Not saying it's better, simply suggesting a thought experiment of this kind can be fruitful. Imagine: startingwith the book cover and then writing the story to fit it. Imagine: beginning with the blurb, then commissioning the perfect cover to fit that blurb, and then writing the book to match the blurb. Imagine: kicking off with a comprehensive review of potential target categories on Amazon, and then commissioning the perfect cover to appeal to regular readers of that niche, writing the hookiest blurb to get those specific readers to click the Buy button, and then penning the actual story which is at home in that package. Picture that enticing cover on your wall, above your writing desk, inspiring you to hit your daily word count. Staring at it for inspiration and then *pow* coming up with a sub-plot to incorporate some of the artist's vision into your own (how cool would that be for superfans?). This idea of doing everything "backwards" is radical to everyone who hasn't heard it before (and perhaps passé for those who have). But you can even take it a step further. Authors often motivate themselves by visualizing success, which for them might be hitting a certain list or sales total, stepping out on a red carpet, paging through a series of gushing emails from readers, stellar reviews from hard-nosed critics, paying off their mortgage with royalties – whatever it might be, we all do it. Some of the most fascinating authors I've met are ridiculously reader focused and you might be surprised how far you can carry that approach. I spoke before about how bestsellers approach their emails, ads, posts, and sales copy – i.e. focusing on how it will make readers feel (rather than how they felt writing it). How reader-focused can we make our entire approach to writing, publishing, and marketing? Could you start with a marketing campaign and work backwards? A Facebook Ad? Can you step forward once more and completely place yourself in the shoes of your Ideal Reader? Scrolling through her Facebook feed, pausing on your ad image, reading your sales copy, clicking through to your Amazon page, hitting that Buy button, loving your story, becoming a raging superfan of your work. Can we design everything backwards, starting with the marketing? It's a compelling idea, and I know some authors doing just that. This – to me, at least – is writing to market, rather than the cliché of chasing trends. Starting with the reader (in some form, not necessarily in the most extreme form above!), instead of starting with the author, and what they want and hope for. Building a story from the ground up with the reader in mind is something most good/experienced writers already do. But could it be useful to build everything from the ground up with your Ideal Reader in mind? It might be worth exploring. One Final Thing... Some authors are aghast at any notion of "writing to market" but it doesn't need to involve any compromising of artistic integrity. Just as "writing from the heart" doesn't guarantee the work will be "good" or rise to the level of "art" – whatever those things mean. A good story is still the most important thing. But if the presentation/packaging/positioning of the book isn't right then readers might never discover how great your story is. Or perhaps you'll attract all the wrong readers with all the wrong expectations. Positioning your book is hard – getting the packaging and presentation right seems to be one of the main pain points for authors, after getting all those words in the correct order, of course. If that describes you, maybe consider approaching everything backwards. Start with the cover. Then write the story. Begin with the blurb or even the tagline, then get to work on the plot. Picture your Ideal Reader. Imagine the packaging and marketing which will seduce her, and then write something which fits that package. Think of it like a story prompt. Give that tree a shake. See what falls loose. Might be something juicy. Dave P.S. Writing music this week is Wings with Jet. Broomfield Business Park, Malahide, Co. Dublin K36 AT04 ​Unsubscribe | Update your profile​