Top 10 Commands for Author-Publishers

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Do you have a clear goal for your writing career – and a plan how to reach your “dream job” – becoming a successful full-time writer?  Or do you want to keep writing  just as a hobby?

Let’s assume you are a very talented writer and want to become a bestselling author. What are the requirements for your success?  Before starting to consult authors how to establish their platform and brand – and long before the first book marketing campaigns, I am sending clients a questionnaire in order to evaluate where they are standing in terms of publishing. Often it turns out that they want money and fame – but never really thought about how to get there. Here are the basics:

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1. Have a Plan
Writing is an art – becoming a professional writer and selling your art is a business.  The first thing you need in every business is a plan, mapping out where you want to go and how to get there.

Bestselling author Brendon Bouchard said famously: “The time for a map is before you enter the forest. The same holds true when you set out on your career as an author. You need a map of where you are going—where you want to end up—before you start writing and before you enter the “forest” of your publishing career.  Ask yourself these questions that I listed in a previous article and give yourself honest answers before starting your book.  If you ever want to pitch a book idea to a publisher or an agent, you will be asked the same or similar questions.
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2. Know Your Competition
The first thing a future business owner has to learn: who is the competition, how big are they, how do they run their business etc.  Oftentimes writers have never studied which compatible books are out there.  How can you research your competition?  First of all make a long list with possible keywords that readers might use to find a similar book.
Check out the complete categories / genres at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Sony, Google Books, Waterstones etc. and study all the books, that could be comparable to your future work.  Read the online reviews of their books carefully!  Visit not only book stores, but also public libraries to learn about your competition.  Borrow the most interesting ones, not only to read them, but also to study the book layout, list of contents and design.
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3. Learn, Learn and Learn Even More…
To grab potential readers and book buyers attention you need to write an enticing blurb. Learn how to write it, it’s your most important selling tool. There are seven more reasons to make use of this blurb in your writing career.

Learn the 30-60 second description of your book, called the Elevator Pitch – but not what the book is about, rather the benefit for the reader to enjoy your book. Remember: number one rule in marketing is to show the consumer the benefit they will get from purchasing a product. The same applies to books and entertainment.

Learn to write for the web.  It’s extremely important to set up blogs, online articles and even your e-books in a way that makes it easy for readers – they are scanning, not reading on a digital device.

Learning how to layout print and digital books  are basics of an author-publisher.  If you don’t want to learn it, outsource to a reliable company with a proven track record (and talk to their clients before you order).  More and more writers are taking advantage of Print-on-Demand (POD) and create and publish their own books.  Authors who are “do-it-yourself” book lay-outers need to avoid an amateurish look of their books.  Visit a bookstore or library and browse through traditional book titles, or check out the first pages of Amazon print books and see how book layout is professionally done.

An author-publisher has to wear many different hats: writer, researcher, entrepreneur, accountant, book promoter, book lay-outer, web and blog designer etc. Not all of these tasks, beside the writing, might be desirable for you, and some have to be outsourced. However, learn about them too, so you can make educated decisions and know what exactly to order. Do your research and get lots of recommendations before you decide on a service.
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4. Have a Platform
First comes the platform on which you build your marketing efforts – and later your book sales. Platform means the tools to get the word out for your books, such as Social Media, groups, your web presence, blogs etc.
Barely any author has an education as a marketing specialist, nor do they often know the difference between marketing and selling.  However you can learn it!  And you understand that the amount of potential readers increases as wider and larger your platform is built – on and off-line.
You do whatever you can to get your potential readers (buyers) to know, like and trust you so they purchase your book once it hits the bookstores – or when it is available for pre-sale.  If you want to sell something, you have to have access to potential customers.
With a platform, you promote directly to people who are eager to buy the product you offer. A medium to large and engaged platform will help to produce a bestseller easily.  If you don’t have a platform you won’t be able to create a bestseller even if you spend thousands of dollars for book promotions.
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5. Know Who Are Your Readers
I know: the word research is often not very popular with authors – but unfortunately many writers can relate the lack of success for their book to the lack of research before writing, publishing and marketing. So:

  • Who are the readers in your genre?
  • Who are the readers of your competition?
  • Who are the reviewers of your competition?
  • Which bloggers write about your books competition?
  • In which communities / forums can you find readers in your genre?
  • Where are they on Social Media?
  • Do you follow or invite them to follow you?

There are thousands of reader communities on Goodreads, Google+ and other forums where you can meet your future readers.  Know your audience before you write rather than look for one after it’s done!
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6. Have a Tribe
Engaged readers spread the word about your writing. To find engaged readers you have to reach out first: Following readers, reviewers, network, offer free writing examples, post single chapters on reader communities. Join writing / reading groups, and create excitement for your new books.

Success Coach Nina Amir explains: “If you haven’t developed a foundation of potential readers in your target market, your promotional efforts will fall flat.  You won’t have anyone to whom to market.”

Your tribe is everyone who follows you on Social Media, on forums or reading / writing communities or subscribes to your blog or email list.  It also consists of everyone who knows you, has heard of you, has purchased one of your books, wrote a review or even an author interview.  Ask these people to tweet about your new book releases or offer them a free e-book “for the price of a tweet”.

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7. Write More
Not only books.  Write Magazine and newspaper articles.  And short stories.  Write a regular blog.  Practise, practise and practise more.  Every artists does it! Use your writing skills and even details from your research or your manuscript to create new content. information can be repackaged for any particular target audience.  It doesn’t take creativity, it just takes some editing, rewriting, adding a few stories, new ideas, and resources.  Then, you put it together in an organized, short, and simple format Start to make way more money with magazines articles or online content – and at the same time promote your books in the byline through links to your website and sales page.
Successful authors, such as Stephen King, Margret Atwood, the late Ray Bradbury etc. wrote / write short stories and articles.  Why not you?  People love to get samples.  Give them a sample of your writing.  You don’t earn a living from the sales of just one book. Think about how to build a business around your books, articles and products.  Don’t miss this huge opportunity of creating a career as a successful author.  Learn from bestselling author Steven Raichlen how this can be done.  Or think about R.K. Rowling: if she would have written just one Harry Potter book, she wouldn’t be now the richest women in the UK…
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8. Have Realistic Expectations
Many writers with one single book, uploaded to Amazon – and nowhere else – become easily frustrated when their work doesn’t sell like hot cakes.  Three great books are the minimum to be recognized as an author and five books are the minimum to become a full-time writer, or in cold, hard numbers: 10,000 writing hours.  One way to succeed is to never give up!  When you study the life of the most successful writers in the world, you will learn that almost all of them struggled for many years, before they slowly, slowly were recognized and eventually became successful writers.

To speed that up write short stories, newspaper and magazine articles and even guest blogs to get the word out there about you as writer and about your books.  After all writing is what you like best!  As more diversified your writing is, as larger your audience becomes.

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9. Study How Publishing Works
Avoid costly errors and traps that can rob you of your rights to use your own manuscript and avoid vanity tricksters.  Research every step of your writing and publishing career and don’t rush your book out.  If you would want to become a lawyer for example, you would understand the need of studying for years, to apprentice in court or at law firms etc.  So why would learning how to become a bestselling author-publisher any different?  Read this free blog with thousands of valuable tips (and warnings about scammers) or buy books about every aspect of publishing and book marketing, join writer groups and forums and learn from the errors of others.

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10. Don’t Give Up
Sure, there is lots of competition out there, millions of books vying for readers.  Making a living from writing needs sometimes the will to gracefully blend art and commerce. Adjustments to a writers thinking might be necessary, in order to be able to sell the writing, but is usually well worth it.  And it is necessary too, no matter if you self-publish or if you go with a trade publisher.
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Bestseller authors often need years and years to build up their audience, so it is surprising, that authors dream of their first book as a potential bestseller, and don’t realize that it takes a long time and hard work to get an audience, one reader at a time.

Get professional help, mentoring, counseling and support.
Become a successful author in 2015, maybe even a bestselling author. If you follow the 10 commands above, and writing book after book, and article after article, you will succeed!
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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer for three months all this and more for only $179 – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

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