What To Do Next for Your Next, Next Move After You Have Book In Hand?

… Speak About and Market It, Of Course!

When the book deliver euphoria wears off, every author has the gaze in the belly button moment … what do I do next?

Two quick responses:

1. Market, Market, Market. Eighty percent of your time will now be directed to this single word.
2. Speak, Speak, Speak. You will enjoy the reprints, not to mention the book sales.

I am a firm believer that speaking is one of the best ways to move a book—when you connect with an audience, they want to take you home with them. Your book may be the best thing and the least expensive. They are impulse buys—meaning you need them onsite. You must take credit cards. My personal record was speaking at a conference in Utah for 60 minutes. In 5 hours, over $16,000 in book sales happened (560 books to audience of 800) … one book at a time.

Knowing who your audience is; who your wisdom and advice can deliver the answers or relief of pain for and to; having a quality book—and I mean quality, not one of these 30 day faux products that look like it; and learning how to speak, which includes story telling can create an amazing vocation.

You need a good website … no, you need an EXCELLENT website … a MUST … the Home page needs to say upfront what your expertise level is—meeting planners will give it less than 10—that’s a quick TEN—seconds to grab their attention—bullet point your key points; get testimonials from planners and attendees that say you and your message rocks; make sure there are photos and videos of different locations/groups so that they can see that you can address multiple audiences. No matter how serious your topic, make sure there is a short clip or something that shows you have humor. People love to laugh.

Speak, Speak, Speak. Market. Market. Market.

Your website, with whatever your call to action is—something that is in the upper right side of your Home page; yes a Blog—continue the conversation with depth and create your own Forum; yes Facebook—your Fans are waiting for you; yes Twitter—Tweets and “hashtags” can rock your marketing and Internet presence; yes for Pinterest—especially is audience for a book that is created for women; yes a YouTube channel—become a video star; yes to Google plus—get to know the “hangout” feature; yes create a virtual blog tour; yes get the book on Amazon—don’t bellyache about the discounting or the percent they take—it’s the same in bookstores; write articles; seek reviews … and oh yes, get prepared to work your tush off.

Writing the book is a mere 20 percent of your time … now the real work begins—I know, I just went to print on my 30th.

 

Dr. Judith Briles 
The Book Shepherd - The Author and Publishing Expert
Create. Strategize. Develop. Publish. Achieve.

Chief Visionary Officer: AuthorU.org