In my last post, we looked at creating an important page or document for your website, one that has a series of sample questions and answers that can help journalists, bloggers and marketers better understand the message you want to convey in your book.
Now, it’s time to think about what you do when your book comes out.
This is a time that every author dreams of: publication. But the hard work has really been done well before that (and it’s not always in the writing of the book itself). You will have done a lot of legwork in preparing your marketing, public relations and audience-engagement campaigns long before your book is available at the retail level. But that doesn’t mean you sit still and wait for sales to pour in once people can actually buy your book.
First of all, a reality check. The first 90 days after publication mark the make-or-break time for your work. If, especially at the brick-and-mortar level, your book doesn’t meet sales expectations, many bookstores will remove your book from their shelves. They only have so much physical space for storage, and if something isn’t moving, it’s gone. And if this happens, booksellers will be reluctant to work with you – that is, support your book by ordering copies of it – in the future. You therefore want to apply your best efforts to making sure that people not only know about your book but that they either order it online or show up at bookstores to purchase it.
Although your marketing plan will have been in place long before publication, you can still create awareness of your book right around its publication. You should concentrate on branding your book – associating your book with emotional or feeling by the consistent use of compelling, colorful and memorable slogans, catchphrases,
Hopefully your pre-publication efforts will have paid off with a series of interviews or publicity appearances tied to the publication of your book.
In our next post, we’ll continue to look at what to do at and after publication.