In the third part of my 3-part blog series about self-publishing, book marketing and finally the author and why so many appear to fail at what they do, particularly when it comes to actually selling their book, I have finally found the time to write this blog, while being kept extremely busy with my own book marketing and subsequent book sales, particularly since the recent publishing of my book "Autism On The Frontline". But that's another blog for another time.
I had previously said in my recent book launch speech, at the time, "...that it was a hell of a lot easier to write my book than it was to talk about it," which might also explain, once again, why it has taken me so long to eventually write my next blog.
Book marketing and book selling takes up so much of the authors time. However, if the author has not properly prepared themselves beyond the writing of their book, then this is were the inevitable 'hits & misses' will occur.
Fortunately, I write, not from my own experiences, thank goodness, but from what I have observed from others and particularly some authors I know and who have sadly missed the mark on some important areas. There are in fact 3 obvious signs that an author will miss the point and therefore fail; these are:
1. They do not fully understand or appreciate who their actual target market is. They may simply assume that their book will be read by everyone they approach to try to sell their book. They have not done their research and have not done any pre-publish marketing, as mentioned in my previous blog about Book Marketing, posted in January 2016.
2. They do not have a website or any other form of social media outlet, such as an author page, a twitter or LinkedIn account, set up solely to promote their book, let alone themselves as a writer or author.
3. They have no set strategic plan, while assuming, as in point (1) that everyone will simply buy their book merely because it is 'for sale'. However, a book will not sell itself, especially if there is no suitable blurb or pitch line in place, let alone a good book cover. Other important aspects to have in place is the all-important ISBN and publisher's logo, whether it be traditional or self-published.
Sadly, there are some books that have been reasonably well written, yet badly edited and have no form of publishers details, ISBN or even the year of publication, let alone a decent prologue or author introduction, an epilogue and reference information or acknowledgement, where relevant.
So, as I mentioned earlier, while it was easier to write a book than it was to talk about it, I do also find that it is a lot harder to sell a book, while trying to remain focused on writing my next book, let alone attempting to write more blogs, as well as topical articles.
That is why, as authors, we have to spend as much time trying to make time, producing, marketing and ultimately selling our books. Authors have to treat their writing time seriously - like a career. Authors must also be diligent and focused, not only on the task at hand, but with the end result - book sales, but not at the expense of family and friends, as some of us writers find when our social life drops off and we isolate ourselves in order to write, such as what I have since experienced, which wasn't made any easier when I had the unexpected opportunity to fall in love and re-marry at the height of my writing career, a few years ago. But again, that's another blog for another time, perhaps.
But while I did try to explain this to my new beau, at the time, I did also try to push myself to pursue both my writing and publishing goals. However, if that meant spending much of my time, during the week, as well as on the weekends, alone and in solitude, then so be it, as my book was certainly not going to write, nor sell itself.
Therefore, I will conclude this blog with what I told another fellow writer, at the time we were discussing these issues about self-publishing, book marketing and ultimately why some authors fail. "I was a writer before I was married. Since then, I have re-married, but I am still a writer!" And now I am a published author, who definitely has not failed.
Happy Writing (and) Book Selling everyone
Copyright (c) Heather Golding - Author
Blog posted: 26 June 2016
I had previously said in my recent book launch speech, at the time, "...that it was a hell of a lot easier to write my book than it was to talk about it," which might also explain, once again, why it has taken me so long to eventually write my next blog.
Book marketing and book selling takes up so much of the authors time. However, if the author has not properly prepared themselves beyond the writing of their book, then this is were the inevitable 'hits & misses' will occur.
Fortunately, I write, not from my own experiences, thank goodness, but from what I have observed from others and particularly some authors I know and who have sadly missed the mark on some important areas. There are in fact 3 obvious signs that an author will miss the point and therefore fail; these are:
1. They do not fully understand or appreciate who their actual target market is. They may simply assume that their book will be read by everyone they approach to try to sell their book. They have not done their research and have not done any pre-publish marketing, as mentioned in my previous blog about Book Marketing, posted in January 2016.
2. They do not have a website or any other form of social media outlet, such as an author page, a twitter or LinkedIn account, set up solely to promote their book, let alone themselves as a writer or author.
3. They have no set strategic plan, while assuming, as in point (1) that everyone will simply buy their book merely because it is 'for sale'. However, a book will not sell itself, especially if there is no suitable blurb or pitch line in place, let alone a good book cover. Other important aspects to have in place is the all-important ISBN and publisher's logo, whether it be traditional or self-published.
Sadly, there are some books that have been reasonably well written, yet badly edited and have no form of publishers details, ISBN or even the year of publication, let alone a decent prologue or author introduction, an epilogue and reference information or acknowledgement, where relevant.
So, as I mentioned earlier, while it was easier to write a book than it was to talk about it, I do also find that it is a lot harder to sell a book, while trying to remain focused on writing my next book, let alone attempting to write more blogs, as well as topical articles.
That is why, as authors, we have to spend as much time trying to make time, producing, marketing and ultimately selling our books. Authors have to treat their writing time seriously - like a career. Authors must also be diligent and focused, not only on the task at hand, but with the end result - book sales, but not at the expense of family and friends, as some of us writers find when our social life drops off and we isolate ourselves in order to write, such as what I have since experienced, which wasn't made any easier when I had the unexpected opportunity to fall in love and re-marry at the height of my writing career, a few years ago. But again, that's another blog for another time, perhaps.
But while I did try to explain this to my new beau, at the time, I did also try to push myself to pursue both my writing and publishing goals. However, if that meant spending much of my time, during the week, as well as on the weekends, alone and in solitude, then so be it, as my book was certainly not going to write, nor sell itself.
Therefore, I will conclude this blog with what I told another fellow writer, at the time we were discussing these issues about self-publishing, book marketing and ultimately why some authors fail. "I was a writer before I was married. Since then, I have re-married, but I am still a writer!" And now I am a published author, who definitely has not failed.
Happy Writing (and) Book Selling everyone
Copyright (c) Heather Golding - Author
Blog posted: 26 June 2016
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