Guest Expert: Dana Lynn Smith
It’s that time of year again, when our thoughts turn to the future and what we want to accomplish in the upcoming year. As you make your New Year’s resolutions, don’t forget to include resolutions for your book and your business.
Here are five action steps to help you sell more books in the coming year:
1. Define your mission.
Authors define success in many ways, whether it’s sharing their story, inspiring or entertaining others, earning money, or promoting their business or cause. What does success look like for you? How can you get from where you are now to where you want to be?
2. Evaluate your progress.
Look back over the past year and evaluate how far you have come, what’s working and what’s not working for you. There are a number of metrics that you can measure, such as book sales, number of subscribers on your mailing list, blog subscribers, and social network followers. Set up a way to track these figures on a regular basis.
Consider what type of book promotion activities have worked best for you, and plan to do more of those things. If some promotional activities aren’t working well, do you need to learn new skills or should you focus your energy elsewhere?
3. Develop a solid book marketing plan.
Do you have a written book marketing plan? A book marketing plan is your roadmap to success—make it a priority this month. If you’ve already got a book marketing plan, take some time to evaluate it and make any necessary updates.
To learn more about how to create your book marketing plan, download this free report: Create a Book Marketing Plan That Sells Books.
4. Set weekly and monthly goals for your promotional activities.
Review your book marketing plan and schedule promotional tasks for specific days, weeks and months. For example, your goals might include submitting an article to a blog or article directory each Monday, making new contacts on Tuesdays, writing next week’s blog posts on Wednesdays, working on publicity on Thursdays, and commenting on other blogs on Fridays.
5. Consider publishing new products.
If you haven’t yet published your book, make a commitment now to get it done and write down a specific timeframe. Find publishing resources here.
If you have already published one or more books, think about how you can expand your revenue. Does it make sense to publish your books in multiple formats such as paperback, Kindle ebook, and PDF ebook? If you’re a nonfiction author, can you turn your content into teleseminars or training programs, or write a new book on a related topic? Novelists, can you write a sequel to your book or write another novel? Decide on a strategy and create a written plan.
Invest some time now in good planning, and you’ll reap the benefits all year. Happy New Year!
Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer, helps authors and indie publishers learn how to sell more books through her how-to guides, blog, newsletter, and private coaching. For more book promotion tips, get her free Top Book Marketing Tips ebooks at www.TheSavvyBookMarketer.com
