When Book Marketing Becomes Just Another J.O.B.

Ever get fed up with stuff - when something you used to like to do has become just another chore?

No, I'm not quite there yet with book publishing.

But podcasting was taking me to the brink.

You see, "conventional wisdom" has it that you need to publish on a schedule in order to serve your audience best.

I've come to disagree with this idea.

That's not the way I listen to podcasts, and I bet you don't either. I can fall behind on keeping up with various podcasts. My iTunes will actually quit downloading them after awhile, which is fine with me. That means they are putting out too much stuff too often.

I listen and work in batches, best. When I find several books I want to publish in a certain format, then I'll get them all through to the point I can publish them. Marketing after publishing has been my sore point. Apparently, I wasn't through finding stuff to publish.

Right now, I've pretty much found all the stuff I need to - for now.

I want to get all these things I've published already selling better. 

Like I've been telling you for some months now. In fact, we started podcasting (me talking, you listening) right in the middle of some marketing work.

However, when I "had" to get a podcast out, I started resenting that work - because it was interrupting some line of work I was doing otherwise.

Right now, I've been trying to get this new livesensical.com site up on Rainmaker for months. One thing after another interrupted it. Some interruptions were good and needful, others were annoyances.

Over the past couple of days, I got four blog posts out, on two different blogs. Some of this was research based on what I'd discovered in revising the Living Sensical manifesto. When archive.org then shut down all my podcasts, this prompted research and so - I blogged about the raw reactions which prompted solving their problem.

You saw these two blog posts recently - but I don't know if I'll ever podcast them. Because I already took a day away from getting that book wrapped up.

The research work was was inspired was welcome. The research work caused by inane algorithms instantly dumping all my content was not welcome and was frustrating.

Which do you think I'd rather be working on?

Podcasting as a schedule is not always inspiring. I feel it's drudgery to have to do things which are not creative, not inspired, not calming.

I fired my last boss a year ago last May. 

Not that I'd been doing much work for his company for several months earlier. I'd been making enough through booksales to more than cover my expenses - so I didn't need to "work" at anything after that. He'd lined up others to do the menial copy work he needed - and discounted the breakthroughs I'd brought him in SEO techniques.

If the work you are doing isn't rewarding, if you aren't looking forward to it - then it's just another job. The phrase comes to mind, "I work just as hard as I don't get fired, they pay me just enough so I don't quit."

SEO had turned to content, which his clients either didn't understand or couldn't afford. The "content" he needed from me was to quickly set up a minimum number of pages on a website for his proprietary backend. Real content now means using a website to build your audience. "SEO" as we had been doing it up to that point was mostly a bag of tricks with a hole in it - the tricks had run out.

I've become "unemployable" as Brian Clark podcasts now.

Like I care.

As I said, I work on whatever the hell I want to these days.

Fortunately for you, this is an entertaining journey.

The conventional wisdom I'm exposing as false is that you have to stick to a schedule to podcast.

Any author will tell you that the book is done when it's done. Some authors can crank out 2-4 books a year. Others will crank out a single book.

The great books will generate millions.

The vast number of authors never quit their day job as they can't afford to.

My tests have shown that there are sufficient numbers of public domain and PLR books out there ready for re-publishing, that anyone can make a decent living from this alone. Not rich - yet - but plenty of time to get there.

And this is using a fraction of what real marketing consists of.

I do like my freedom of schedule however. And being able to post whenever (and whatever) I feel like - useful stuff that no one else is covering.

Keeping a schedule means having a job - to me, anyway. So "having" to podcast is just putting on the wage-slave shackles again.

Book marketing isn't what it used to be. 

Some of my more recent posts have pointed this out.

The Book-As-An-Idea-Container is closer to what we should be doing. And freely repurposing content into any and all formats to encourage discovery.

So "book publishing" is a smallish part of everything we can and should be doing.

Here's an example:

• LinkedIn is bigger than Twitter and allows long-form content posts.
• 8 images per 1000 word LinkedIn post was found to be optimal. 
• LinkedIn won't accept audio, but will accept video.
• Meanwhile, Google considers 2,000 words to be best for their uses.
• Some LinkedIn authors put a 1K post on LinkedIn, then link to their much longer original post over on their blog.
• If you take that article (or the long post) and podcast it, you'll get more traffic to your blog.
• Take that podcast and 8 images and create a video for LinkedIn - but also for YouTube and everywhere else.
• Each of these posts, podcasts, and videos contain a call to action to opt-in to your site as a member.
• Take 5 such posts and make them into an ebook on Amazon, and everywhere else - again, with that CTA.
• On your site and BitTorrent, offer a bundle which has the ebook, podcasts, and videos.
• Members get a discount on the bundle, or an exclusive version.
• Oh - and you post a hardcopy version as well, which members can buy at a discount also.
• IFTTT is meanwhile sending out status updates consistently on all your new posts, articles, videos, podcasts through Twitter, G+, Facebook, etc.

Sure, this type of marketing is a lot of work. Booksales get all this promotion, but so does your membership. And members get treated best of all - they can access your material anyway they want it.

Now, you can monetize a lot more than just ebooks.

5 articles, 5 podcasts, 5 videos - 1 ebook, 1 "Spoken Word Album", 1 hardcopy - all on Amazon and everywhere you can port them to. You can even make a DVD of the video's if you want.

Your members are encouraged to leave reviews on Amazon to put it up on top with their algorithms.

That is marketing. And I didn't mention Synnd in the above, which is more social signals through network syndication.

We're evolving this podcast and blog.

I'm actually going to have yet another podcast over at livesensical.com, which is really "book" reviews. These will be done by series, and then marketedNew name,  new look coming. as above - resulting in multiple formats, which in turn push the original books at the same time (most of which are already on Amazon.)

This blog will continue to simply describe the process, and give you a chance to participate.

The other will be aligned to telling people about the "secrets hidden in plain sight" - which I've republished - and how they relate to improving your life.

But I'm not going to burden you with having to listen to these. As I go through that process, I'm sure to find more material and breakthroughs about media production. That's what this blog is for.

(I may even start up a third podcast, which will simply be repurposing an existing audiobook to promote that book - since there are 50 essays in that book, it will run for most of a year - all on automatic.)

The work on these promotions may mean that I don't blog here as regularly. Or post in spurts (like this week) when I have something to say.

More than likely, I'll work in batches and then review what I learned from that as I refine my techniques. You'll then hear about that discussion as I do.

There's a new name,  new look coming.

This blog will ultimately move over to livesensical.com as I've got better tools to create with over there. You'll only notice an improved format, if I do it right. All the oldest posts are already over there - just the new ones need to be updated. This blog will still stay here, though. Because Google likes old blogs.

And that will happen right after livesensical.com goes live.

Yes, I have a whole blog post crying out in my head to get posted - but I'm still working out the details. (The sneak peak is that you're publishing work should revolve around a theme, not just a genre.)

Right now, it's late and I'm to bed. Tomorrow, I'll spruce this up a bit and probably even podcast it.

You win, either way.

Have a nice weekend.

See you on the other side of it.

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Reverse Book Marketing - Audience First, then Book

The guide to reverse book marketing exists.

I found this great talk between Robert Bruce and Brian Clark which has a reverse take on how authors should start out. Of course, there's no transcript, only a podcasted MP3. And we don't know the original date of this, other than a single comment which dates this as before July 2, 2013.

What this podcast is about is answering submitted questions.

One question was simply along the lines of "if you were to start a book today with no audience, how would you start out?"

Clark's interesting response (about 19:20):

"I would create in essence a video-book trailer. I'd write a script about the most fascinating elements in that book - if it's fiction, it would be the story, if it were a Malcolm-Gladwell-type book, it would be about the most fascinating elements I could display. I would make that [video].

"I'd promote it to try to get it to go viral to a certain degree. I would have an opt-in that says, 'Get the next installment in this video series' - I wouldn't even mention the book.

"It wouldn't be a typical trailer as the trailer sells the book. It would be an extended video serial, where there would be installments where people would want to see the next of. It's an art form in itself. Maybe have 5 episodes and then sell the book.

"The other strategy is to do the hard work of finding [and curating other's] great videos with emotional appeal...

"One way or another you've got to get them to opt-in and follow you, whether your making these videos or curating the videos that tell a story about the ultimate book you're going to sell.

"You've got to get an audience. They've got to look forward to hearing from you each time. When you do announce that book, if you do it correctly, it's a no-brainer - they're buying it.

"...It's all wide open. Just don't do what everyone else is doing - do something fantastic, and get people to sign up to get the next fantastic thing. That's content marketing - right there.

...If you do that, you're just getting started with the book. The book sales are a foundation for an entire brand. Of course, it depends on what the topic is - whether it's fiction or non-fiction. I always think very big from the beginning, and if all you end up doing is selling the book - hey, 'mission accomplished' - that was your goal. But if you do it the right way, you'll often find there are boundless other opportunities from what you've done - because you were doing something incredibly remarkable while building a direct audience."

This tosses out ALL conventional wisdom

You can see that this is logical and a very lean, kickstarter approach to bootstrapping your scene together.

Brian Clark built Copyblogger into a multi-million-dollar business and brand with just that same audience-first approach.

Of course, our problem is that this means you digress from your writing in order to script, edit, and polish a video series.

This also changes your job-description into something greater - an authorpreneur.

The book is no longer anything except a container for ideas that need to be said, need to be given voice, that need to see the light of day (and quit shouting in your head so much...)

But the formats the book comes out in is no longer limited to print, or even an ebook. It now spreads to every format you can find and publish into.

This is again, that multiple-eyeballs theorem: 

Write once -
publish as many ways,
to as many formats,
through as many distribution points
as possible.

You aren't dependent on traditional publishing to get your selling job done. (They've always required the author to do their marketing, anyway - which just cuts into your writing/production time.)

As an authorpreneur, you're no longer limiting yourself to someone else's suit-tailor and their ideas of style and fit. You cut your own suit from your own whole cloth and it can be Elvis Presley wild, or perhaps something that looks like a Hobbit outfit. 

While you're producing your content, it's in multiple medias - and you're thinking all the time about the visuals and keeping careful track of your cutting room floor scraps which people would love to see and hear and read (and would go great on your DVD as bonus extras. 

Because your production is now:

• a series of blog posts,
• an ebook,
• a trade paperback,
• a premium special edition hardback,
• a podcast series, 
• a series of PDF transcripts,
• a video series.
• a DVD...

This also doesn't include guest blog appearances, guest podcast appearances, guest Hangout appearances, and so on. (You'll have to make that decision based on how much time you want to spend away from your authorpreneur media production.)

The reason you want to do this "multiple eyeball" approach is to get in front of as many searching audiences as possible. Every distribution point you use has a different audience.

Marketing before Book Writing

This changes our marketing to be out in front, instead of after the book is written. Because you are building the audience so they can tell you how to write your book and what they want in it. 

This finally gives you a reason to be on social media. But in our case, you are not there to make friends. You are their to syndicate your great content so they can opt-in to your mailing list and earn the right to your friendship. 

Yea, that's a funny point. I have a lot of work to do. And a lot is an understatement. I don't have time to read about people's cats and great sunsets and cute animated GIF's about cats playing in the sunset. Much less people's children and who got sick from eating what last week.

I have no time for "news" media or politics. I have no time for organized religion. 

I have time for getting all these inspired ideas out to the world. And I will talk to anyone about these ideas. But the mundane and trivial just take time away from getting those ideas out so they can help people improve their lives.

My job has now expanded to becoming an authorpreneur and learning to effectively and efficiently operate a media-production-machine.

There are no companies which do this right now. (There should be, and maybe they are, but in a different category from where I'm searching.) 

Until that point - it's up to you and I to follow the Copyblogger pattern and build up a paying audience which will enable us to afford managing a business which will do those things for us.

You can do this.

All I'm saying here is that right here and right now, with no more than the computer and Internet connection (plus a decent microphone) you can get started getting that book in your head out to the world at large. In all the many and fascinating formats it richly deserves.

And the faster you do, the better income and lifestyle you'll be able to earn for yourself. 

- - - -

Make sure you're opted-in so you don't miss a single episode of white-knuckled excitement in our cliff-hanger series on Selling Your Book Online.

See you next time...

(photo: Nevit Dilman)

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