Why Wait for 20 Books...?
When patience is not a virtue
There is a piece of advice that seems to have been going around the book publishing community (particularly amongst the indie and self pub communities) for a while now, and we see it shared again and again. It is that the only way to really market books, grow a meaningful readership and make consistent book sales, is by publishing a number of books first (the exact number advised tends to vary, but the number 20 seems to be given out a fair bit) and only THEN work on the marketing for them.
The idea being that a “series” will then begin to sell itself, without having to put in huge amounts of ad spend or months and months of agonising over social media thinking of 50 ways to say “please buy my book.”
As a publicist and marketer who has been promoting cultural projects and products for a couple of decades - the notion of “waiting” until you have released a certain amount of IP before you give yourself permission to begin building up an audience for it, goes entirely against everything I’ve ever learned or know about marketing and publicity.
If you want to sell books, the most important thing you can do - and start doing immediately - is to begin building up an audience around you, by whatever means are available to you, of potential readers who will begin to Know, Like and Trust you.
So that when the day comes that you are ready to announce you have written and published a brand new book - which is definitely a hugely exciting moment and deserves to be celebrated - your audience is already not only willing to hear your news, but they actually feel invested enough in your world and in you as the Author, to go ahead and buy it!
And no, this strategy does not just apply to writers of non-fiction, who are in a lot of cases already selling to an audience.
This applies to fiction authors just as much.
When you have uncovered the deeper themes that are in your book (that every book has) whether you wrote about these consciously or not, and you’re able to articulate them - then you will always be able to talk to your audience on what you write about.
When you’ve figured out how to talk about your themes (what your book is really about) using your Author Brand Story to illustrate the themes and giving a context for them, your audience won’t be able to resist your books. Without having to reveal plots, characters or spoilers.
It’s never too early to begin talking about your books in a way that draws in your potential readers. And leaves them wanting to know more.
Thank you to everyone who came along to my free Masterclass on Creating your Powerful Author Brand this week.
There’s something truly inspiring about getting a lot of Authors together in one “room”, even when it’s online.
I’m now opening up my new Author Brand Community membership for the first time.
I know a thing or two about running memberships for Authors, I ran a very tight knit, strong and supportive membership for female authors for almost 5 years. This group became close and true friendships were formed.
As my business has expanded and opened up to more and more authors, so too did I want to try and serve those authors. The authors who read my content, listen to my podcast and who frequently and very kindly let me know that they have gained huge insights from what I share. That my advice has helped them to become braver, bolder and more confident in showing up to represent their books and to present themselves as authors, to readers. I’m honoured to be able to help authors to move forward on their publishing journeys and build meaningful author careers.
This is why I have now decided to open up a new membership. A community for Authors who want to feel like they’re not alone in dealing with the challenges and seemingly ever increasing demands that are placed upon them, to “put your books out there”, to be every more present and “visible”. In order to secure readers for your books and make book sales.
My focus on building your author brand, helping you to identify exactly who your readers are and how to engage with them. My focus on creating a credible, authoritative author brand for yourself, (that both promotes and protects you personally at the same time) is something that you will learn in my membership. Alongside other authors who are working towards the same things as you.
In community.
You can find out more about joining the Author Brand Community, how it all works and what you can expect at the button here: