Make Your Own Luck

Have you ever noticed how some people just seem lucky? No matter where they go or what they do, opportunity seems to favor them and they’re always getting ahead. They get the guy (or gal). They get the job. They get the client. They get the promotion. They get the raise. They win the door prize. They get the freaking parking spot!

Would it surprise you to know that these “lucky” folks probably take a lot of steps that “unlucky” people don’t take? Chances are good that every day, they’re doing something to improve their “luck” – meaning it may just look like luck to those looking in from the outside, rather than what it really is: a particular way of living their lives.

If you’d like to start bringing some more luck your way, here are some things you can do to improve your odds:

1. Expand your horizons. Be willing to socialize, meet new people, embrace networking instead of dreading it. Remember to also keep in touch with your old friends, colleagues, vendors, and clients. Check in with them once in a while to find out what they’ve been up to lately.
2. Know what your goal is and see yourself accomplishing it – literally, in your mind, playing out like a movie. Better still if you’re acting it out instead of watching. Give thanks for achieving that goal as if it’s already happened.
3. Give without expectation – let it be OK if people don’t send thank you notes. Lend a hand where you can. Be a mentor. Sponsor a Little League team. Giving feels great and the rewards come back to us in amazing and often unexpected ways.
4. Learn to be spontaneous once in a while. If you’re the type who’s got every minute planned, there’s little room in your life for luck to show up. Be open to new things and interested in the world beyond your immediate surroundings. Go out of your way to meet a stranger today!
5. Look for opportunities. Sometimes good fortune seems to fall into your lap – but just as often, opportunity knocks because you were paying attention. You followed through on that zany idea, made that call, or asked for what you wanted.
6. Leave your comfort zone once in a while. Luck’s probably not going to fall on you while you’re staying safely hidden away from the world. Read blogs on topics you’d never considered before. Listen to a podcast about a place you’ve never been. Join Toastmasters. Take a Zumba class. See an art film or a documentary.
7. Work hard. Really – it’s the rare lucky person who hasn’t worked hard to get where they are. The universe will see your efforts and reward you with that “lucky break.”
8. Don’t underrate optimism. Most lucky people have a wonderfully positive outlook on life. More importantly, they expect good things to happen to them.
9. Take setbacks in stride. No matter how much effort you put into “being lucky,” life is life and you will invariably experience the occasional obstacle. Are you going to waste time asking, “Why me?” or get right back up, shake it off, and know that tomorrow’s a new day?
10. Focus on the present moment. This is not to say you shouldn’t make plans, but live in the now. Relish THIS moment and leave worries about the past and concerns about tomorrow for someone other unlucky schmuck.

How lucky do you want to be? You probably have a lot more control over it than you realize.

Oh, and Happy St. Pat’s!

An abbreviated version of this story originally ran in the March issue of my newsletter, The Creative Quill. If you’d like a complimentary one-year subscription, please email SubscribeQuill@writemarketdesign.com with your snail mail address.

Laura

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Recap and marketing lessons from TFOB 2017

Although you’d be hard-pressed to prove it just yet, I am striving to post much more regularly this year. Yep – get ready for … well, if not an onslaught, at least a lot more posts than you’ve been seeing over the past 18 months. It’s time – and I’m ready. I’m learning lots every day, and want to share what I’m learning so you can be a be smarter author/marketer.

Toward the learning, I’ve spent the last three weekends in education mode – the first at the Arizona Authors’ Association “Crafting the Written Word” Conference. The following weekend found me in Tucson at the inaugural Tucson Self-Publishing Expo. And this past weekend, I made another jaunt down to Wildcat territory for the Tucson Festival of Books.

I’m starting chronologically backwards in my sharing because I promised some people I’d email them when I got this post up, so I want to get to that first.

I don’t know what kind of relationship you have with your phone, but mine is something of a casual friendship. I don’t have it on me 24/7 like a lot of people. I often have the ringer volume low or off. I’m just not as attached to Neari (you know, kind of like Siri) as some people are to their smartphones. Which is, no doubt, how I could get to the rest stop just outside Casa Grande, Ariz. before realizing I had left my phone at home in Phoenix. Ah, it took me back to the good old days when I prayed I would get there without any trouble and that my husband would see my phone on my dresser and not worry when I didn’t call or answer his texts throughout the day. (He didn’t.)

The worst part about not having my phone with me was not knowing the time – so I stopped at a truck stop and bought a very cute watch that I’ll probably never wear again. The second worst thing was being without my camera. Especially at an event like the TFOB, where there were plenty of things I wanted to remember with pictures. Thanks to the kindness of my friend Rita Goldner, award-winning author of ORANGUTAN: A Day in the Rainforest Canopy, who lent me her Canon Power Shot camera (remember the days when phones and cameras were two different devices?), I was able to capture images of the many booths and authors featured below.

Although they didn’t have a booth to themselves, Amylynn Bright and her sister Ava Bright (together, The Quill Sisters) had a gorgeous table in the Romance tent.

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In the same tent, Anne Marie Becker also had a beautiful table. Someone taught those romance authors a thing about display design!

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Best-selling author Cathy McDavid had a creative marketing idea – a blind date with a book. Anyone who bought one of her many cowboy romances would win a secret book – wrapped in plain tissue paper. Cathy says she can’t take credit for the idea – she borrowed it from someone else. It’s clever nonetheless.

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Dr. Deborah Westbury had one of the  most beautiful booth displays I saw at the entire event. She credited her friend (the blonde gal whose left arm is visible in the bottom left quadrant of the picture, behind the woman with her hand on the poster) with the design.

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The first thing you saw upon approaching Elaine A. Powers’ booth were the lizard feet.

Known as the “lizard lady,” Powers writes children’s books about lizards and reptiles. Her display was eye-catching, though she did have the benefit of lots of open space next to her.

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College pals (Go, Wildcats!) and authors Jay J. Falconer and M.L. Banner caught my attention with their cleverly worded banner title: AUTHORS OF DOOM, GLOOM AND BOOM! They had an excellent display, using the booth well to accommodate both authors’ books.

They also employed an interesting marketing idea, Lexy the sleuthy-looking mannequin, to entice buyers into a free book giveaway.

Lastly, M.L. Banner knows how to work a website. Whether or not you want to download his free books, visit his site to take a look at an excellent free membership enticement every author could learn from.

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Fantasy author Jessica C. Feinberg knows her audience: dragon lovers. She designed her booth to capture their attention and imagination with cleverly worded signs and dragons in every corner. Even the dad accompanying these boys was entranced.

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Jody Mackey also knows whose attention she’s looking to catch with her pink tulle, flowers, and all things little girls. Her Sally Loves… books are gorgeously designed – as is her fantastic website. I think that must have been the father of a daughter, don’t you?

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Another stunning booth was Natalie Wright’s – complete with aliens and celestial-themed decos. She covered every corner of her booth – even making great use of the ceiling space!

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Some booths used their exterior and interior wall space creatively to attract attention. The UA College of Behavioral Sciences put up a chalkboard (remember those?) that asked the question, “What would you title your story?” Bet they had a field day with those answers!

The Literacy Connects organization took advantage of the festival’s proximity to March Madness to create their own bracket, this one for iconic authors. Players chose their favorites, who were moved along through the brackets as the Festival continued.

And the Tucson Chapter of the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation put a clever twist on things by posting the signatures of famous authors on the exterior wall of their booth. Again, it helps to have an open exterior wall or extra booth space. Those authors/groups with smaller spaces had to become even more imaginative.

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A big hit at last year’s LA Times Festival of Books was a “wheel of fortune” giveaway at one of the booths. And I mean BIG hit – every time I walked past that booth, people were waiting 20 deep to spin the wheel and win something – anything, it seemed. Well, the good news is that Tucson Electric Power copied the idea to great success this year at the TFOB. The bad news is that they weren’t the only one employing it, by far. I lost count after seeing a half-dozen different booths offering their own smaller, lesser versions of the WOF. Hint for next year: get a new idea.

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Strangely for me, I only bought two books at the TFOB this year.

The first was from author Katherine Rambo, a book titled The World Came to Tucson, about the history of the world-famous Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. I got that for my rock-collecting mother-in-law.

The other book I bought was from author and baseball rock star, Ila Jane Borders. Making My Pitch is her memoir about becoming the first woman to play Major League Baseball, a fact that somehow didn’t make as many waves as it should have. Ila now has a baseball school for girls. I bought that one for my friend, Steve, who is both the most voracious reader and biggest baseball fan I know. But I can’t wait to read it first!

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There were some bad booths, too. I took pictures, but I won’t share them here. Shaming people publicly never made anyone friends. It was hot this year in Tucson – and those with booths facing directly into the sun were at an unfair disadvantage. Nevertheless, if you commit to an event like a big book festival, make the most of it. Get a hat. Douse yourself in sun screen. Get a spray bottle and offer to wet down people as they walk past – that’ll get ’em to come on over to your booth. What you don’t do is hover in the shady corner like a vampire trying to avoid sunlight.

Get out from behind your table – or at least stand up and put your damned phone away! I wonder how many potential sales are lost at events because the vendor is sitting down or too busy on their phone to notice their booth visitor. You definitely need to find the happy medium between being overly solicitous and ignoring people – but it’s there.

At any rate, that’s my rundown. I’ll have another report at the end of April from the other side of the fence, as I and nine other authors from Phoenix Publishing and Book Promotion attempt to woo book-loving Los Angeleans at the 2017 LA Times Festival of Books. On the off chance you’ll be there, we’re in booth #025 in the Cardinal section. Want to join us – or know an author who wants to? We’ve got space for 2 more authors! Email LABookFestival@WriteMarketDesign.com for details.

In the meantime, keep doing great stuff! And watch for my avalanche, er plethora … OK, maybe increase, yes, an increase in posts in the coming weeks!

Laura

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We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

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Learn the steps that will set you apart from 95% of all new authors.

(Hint: It’s NOT too late, even if you’ve already placed your first printing order for books!)

CLICK HERE TO GRAB YOUR FREE REPORT NOW!

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SUNDAY INSPIRATIONS: Better to write for yourself…

Sunday Inspirations. Send us your favorite quote, image, poem, idea … anything that has been helpful or inspirational to your writing process. If we love it, we may use it as is, or take the inspiration and modify it in some way. Give us a link to your website or blog and we’ll be sure to give you credit! Email inspiration@writemarketdesign.com or post your suggestion in the comment section below!

Here’s today’s inspiration: “Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.”

Laura

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We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

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Want to experience the West Coast, sell & sign books, and make some great new friendships? Join us for Great 2017 West Coast Book Tour – July 22-August 12. We’ll visit San Diego, LA, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. Space is limited to 6 authors. Reserve your spot today! Details here.

Scott Adams exemplifies WYTAYBA: What You Think About Your Bring About

I once heard a story about Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip. First published in 1989, the comic strip gained a quick following. But Adams wanted more. He wanted to be THE most famous cartoonist in the world. According to the story I heard (mind you, now, I’ve never done the research to back this up), he saw as his nemeses three cartoonists of immense fame and wide regard: Berke Breathed, who drew Bloom County; Gary Larson, of Far Side fame; and Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes. Adams felt that if he was ever going to make it to THE top, each of these three comic-drawing gods was going to have to put the cap on his pen and call it quits.

In the meantime, Adams was leaving nothing to chance. He started writing affirmations and repeating mantras to himself. He cut up strips of paper on which was written “I am the most famous cartoonist in the world,” and pasted them everywhere: bathroom mirror, refrigerator, computer, phone, car sun visor. Anywhere he looked, this affirmation was there to inspire him.

And then, unbelievably, one by one Breathed, Larson, and Watterson decided to end their strips, leaving the road clear for Adams to ascend to greatness.

I’m not sure he was ever the most popular cartoonist in the world – or even in the United States – but no one can argue with his success. The Dilbert comic strip was the progenitor of several movies, an animated TV series, a video game, and hundreds of pieces of merchandise. Adams received the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award and the Newspaper Comic Strip Award in 1997. And his lovable misfit and entourage appear in 2,000 newspapers around the world across 65 countries, translated into 25 languages.

A post by Brendon Callagher on Complex.com titled “The 25 Best Sunday Comic Strips of All Time” placed Dilbert at #13. And my Google search for “most popular comic strip” shows Adams in the fourth position.

What does this all have to do with you and marketing your book? Everything. First of all, have you ever answered the question: What is your #1 goal? Is it:

• To publish your book?
• To sell 10,000 copies of your book?
• To make The New York Times bestseller list?
• To go on a world tour with your book?
• To have your book made into a movie?

Before you can achieve it, you have to know WHAT your goal is. And regardless of how distant and unachievable they might seem, none of these is out of the realm of possibility for any author. When it comes to achieving your goal, however, the deeper questions are: How much do you want it? And what are you willing to do to get it?

Adams probably did a lot more than just write, post, and say affirmations all day. But he was certain he had to embrace the success mindset he wanted to achieve. This is an essential part of the Law of Attraction. There’s a made-up word, wytayba, pronounced WHY-TAY-BA, (an acronym,  actually, that stands for “what you think about, you bring about”), that most Law of Attraction practitioners focus on daily. Where are your thoughts? What is your focus? What do you spend the most time concentrating on? If it’s not your number one goal, you either need to change your goal or learn to refocus your thoughts.

I was recently gifted with an idea from the Arizona Marketing Association – a group of like-minded entrepreneurs and businesspeople who gather monthly to discuss marketing ideas, tips, and tools.

Think about a simple device you probably have in your hands for hours at a time daily – your smart phone. Would you believe that the average person checks their device – that means looks at and/or unlocks their home screen – between 85 and 110 times a day?

What if you were to leverage that seemingly innocuous task to your benefit by having it help you focus on your goal? It’s easy enough to do. Write your goal on a piece of paper – clearly so you can read it. Then take a picture of that goal and make that image the lock screen for your phone. (If you don’t know how to do this, find the closest sixth-grader and ask them.) Going forward, every time you go to unlock your phone, you have an added imprint of your goal – a reminder of what you intend to accomplish next in life. (This image is my new lock screen.)

I’ll tell you, I’m sure a lot more focused on publishing my novel by April 22^nd (the day before the L.A. Times Festival of Books begins) than I was before I added this simple, elegant reminder to my phone.

Here’s to accomplishing your goal and living WYTAYBA!

Laura

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We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

__________________

Want to experience the West Coast, sell & sign books, and make some great new friendships? Join us for Great 2017 West Coast Book Tour – July 22-August 12. We’ll visit San Diego, LA, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. Space is limited to 6 authors. Reserve your spot today! Details here.

SUNDAY INSPIRATIONS: … my initial concern is to get a hearing

Sunday Inspirations. Send us your favorite quote, image, poem, idea … anything that has been helpful or inspirational to your writing process. If we love it, we may use it as is, or take the inspiration and modify it in some way. Give us a link to your website or blog and we’ll be sure to give you credit! Email inspiration@writemarketdesign.com or post your suggestion in the comment section below!

Here’s today’s inspiration: When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, “I amgoing to produce a work of art.” I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.

Laura

__________________

We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

__________________

Want to experience the West Coast, sell & sign books, and make some great new friendships? Join us for Great 2017 West Coast Book Tour – July 22-August 12. We’ll visit San Diego, LA, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. Space is limited to 6 authors. Reserve your spot today! Details here.

Setback: A Reason to Quit or a Time for Reevaluation?

Setbacks happen. To all of us. Sometimes when we least expect them. I recently had a big one. On January 2^nd, I came down with a cough that eventually worsened and evolved into pneumonia – which sidelined me, well, pretty much until this weekend. A whole month – lost.

Or was it?

Productivity wise, yeah, it was a lost month. I had to tell my clients, “I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.” Most were very understanding, offering to pray for my quick recovery. I didn’t work on my novel. I had to cancel the first Meetup of the year for Phoenix Publishing and Book Promotion. My husband and I had to cancel a getaway to Flagstaff. I was down.

Benefits to Being Sidelined

But the sidelining forced me to do some things I, apparently, haven’t been very good at. One – resting. A lot. Like all day long for two straight weeks. Two – pacing myself. Once I regained a little strength, I had to figure out where and how to use it, because it was so limited. Three – listening to my body. Besides the obvious breathing issues, the illness also affected my digestion, sleeping, skin, and cognitive function. Who knew that thinking used up so much more energy than exercise? Four – drinking water. I’ve heard for years that we’re supposed to drink ½ our body weight in ounces per day – and I’ve never come close to that. Being sick, though, made me desperate for water. And I learned that I very much prefer ice water. So now that I’m in the water-drinking habit, it’s probably something that will stay with me.

It also gave me time to dedicate to something I’ve wanted to do for a long time – express myself more, in terms of social commentary. When Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. died 10 years ago, one of the terms that was used to describe him was social commentator. I loved that – and wondered what I needed to do to become a social commentator. I added it to my personal description on my website, but I never pursued it much. I guess I do a little of that with this blog, but I really work on staying focused on book marketing, so the opportunity for broader expression is limited, by design. I could start another blog – but those of you who’ve been following me for a while know I can be pretty hit-or-miss with this one, so another blog seems a silly endeavor unless/until I get much more disciplined. Maybe someday…

In the interim, I had my trusty phone with me whether I was in bed or watching another stand-up comedian’s Netflix special, so I delved into Facebook in a way I never have. I’m honestly not advocating for Facebook – it’s just the platform that was accessible to me at the time. (I’m also exploring a new one called Minds.com that looks to be a very promising challenger to THE social network.) And I started paying attention to all of the posts I was seeing – many of them, understandably, political. I don’t know whether it was simply having the time, or whether I was finally deciding to answer that calling to be more visible about my perspectives, but I wrote and posted a lot of stuff, some of it very personal, that I’d never before shared publicly. Things like: my complicated position on abortion; my mom’s lifelong mental health issues that finally turned out to be vascular dementia; my feelings about the “Make Facebook Fun Again” meme; my thoughts on Obama’s legacy; many issues on both sides of the political aisle. I never pay much attention to my friends count, like some do – but as far as I can tell, it didn’t really waiver in the face of all these new revelations. Did I impact anyone? I think so – just based on the comments on some of the posts. Have I been invited to blog anywhere or do a TEDx talk? No – not yet. But it was a good exercise, one I hope to find time to periodically continue as I emerge from my illness and get back to work.

Last May I started working with a personal trainer, Miles Beccia of Mind Muscle Memory. Miles’ training style was foreign to me, at first – very different from the prior experience I’d had working with a trainer. But he’s actually a genius – and his method, reflected in his business name, works. His method is to start slowly, with the goal of training your body and mind to work together to form new patterns that help you eat well and get the most out of your exercise regimen. “Because,” he said, some months ago, “if you ever experience a setback, you want to be able to get back on your program as soon as you can afterward.” (OK – that’s paraphrased.) But it really worked! Not for one moment while I was sidelined due to this illness did I ever consider abandoning my new exercise and healthy eating habits. Yes – I sure had to put them on hold for a while, as consuming multiple boxes of saltines is not really recommended for a healthy person who wants to reach a weight loss goal. But I’ve recently resumed my workouts, though slowly and in a fairly abridged format. More importantly, I am motivated to work my way back to the full strength and stamina I had when I left off at the end of December.

What It All Means to You

So what does any of this have to do with book marketing, anyway? A lot, if you think about it. No matter who you are or where you are in the publishing process, chances are good that you’ve hit a setback or two. This lead or that tool did not pay off the way you thought it would. You were less than successful at three book fairs or festivals in a row, which caused you to think, “I’ll never do this again!” You burned through your annual budget in the first two months of your book marketing campaign. Whatever it is – you’re not where you wanted to be or thought you would/should be by now.

What Are You Going to Do About It?

• Are you going to become a victim, give up, and go back to whatever you were doing before you decided to write your book?
• Are you going to take some time to reevaluate your plan – or write out a plan, if you’ve never taken the time to do that before – so you can make any necessary adjustments and give it another shot?
• Are you going to learn from the experience, and apply what you’ve learned going forward?
• Are you going to get back on the treadmill – or decide that you never really wanted to lose the weight in the first place?

Setbacks happen. Here’s hoping you make the most of the next one that finds you.

Laura

__________________

We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

__________________

Want to experience the West Coast, sell & sign books, and make some great new friendships? Join us for Great 2017 West Coast Book Tour – July 22-August 12. We’ll visit San Diego, LA, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. Space is limited to 6 authors. Reserve your spot today! Details here.

SUNDAY INSPIRATIONS: No real ending…

Sunday Inspirations. Send us your favorite quote, image, poem, idea … anything that has been helpful or inspirational to your writing process. If we love it, we may use it as is, or take the inspiration and modify it in some way. Give us a link to your website or blog and we’ll be sure to give you credit! Email inspiration@writemarketdesign.com or post your suggestion in the comment section below!

Here’s today’s inspiration: “There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.”

Laura

__________________

We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

__________________

Want to experience the West Coast, sell & sign books, and make some great new friendships? Join us for Great 2017 West Coast Book Tour – July 22-August 12. We’ll visit San Diego, LA, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. Space is limited to 6 authors. Reserve your spot today! Details here.

Ready to Sell More Books in 2017? Here Are 9 Tips

Here are 9 tips for moving your book marketing forward in 2017 .

Unless you’re writing as a hobby, your book is a business and you have a goal to sell as many copies as you can. The start of the year is your chance to review and revise your current book marketing plan – or create and implement one if you’re just starting out.

You’ll need a few things to put your plan into action:

1. Sales goals, broken down by week, month, and/or year
2. Concrete understanding of who your ideal reader is (demographics)
3. Knowledge about your ideal reader’s habits and preferences (psychcographics)
4. An understanding of relationship and content marketing
5. A plan to grow your email list
6. Strategies you plan to implement to reach your ideal reader
7. An actual calendar (paper or digital) on which to record the steps of your marketing plan
8. Assigned dates for quarterly reviews of your plan
9. Rewards for accomplishing your goals

1. Sales goals, broken down by week, month, and/or year
It’s impossible to reach your goals if you don’t know what they are. So how many books do you want to sell? What’s realistic, given the time, skills, and money you can invest in your marketing efforts? How many books do you need to sell to recoup your costs? How many books do you need to sell to reach/maintain bestseller status?

2. Concrete understanding of who your ideal reader is (demographics)
No matter how good your marketing plan is, it’s likely to fail unless and until you know who your ideal reader is. Who this reader is may surprise you. One author I know writes hard-boiled detective novels, so he envisioned men, particularly law enforcement types, as his ideal readers. As he was halfway into his second novel, he did a review of who had bought his first book and was surprised to find it was mostly soccer moms.

3. Knowledge about your ideal reader’s habits and preferences (psychcographics)
Once you know who your reader is, it becomes easier to discern what they like, what they read, where and how they buy books. This will help you determine whether your best bet is to connect with them via LinkedIn or Instagram – or whether you’re more likely to find them at a tradeshow or through your membership in a civic organization.

4. An understanding of relationship and content marketing
Think of your own preferences, when it comes to buying things. Long gone are the days when people will tolerate being sold to. More often, they buy because the product (yes, your book is a product) meets a need or sates a desire – and they choose books because the author comes pre-recommended from a trusted source. Don’t discount reviews – but an anonymous review on Amazon carries a lot less weight than their best friend telling them, “You have to read this book – it’s amazing!” That kind of sharing results (a) from a really good book, and (b) because an author takes the time to cultivate relationships and provide engaging content via their blog, website, YouTube, and other social media platforms.

5. A plan to grow your email list
Although your blog readers and social media connections are important, nothing is more valuable to you, when it comes to marketing your books, than your email list. If your blog goes down for any reason or your social media account is hacked, bye-bye to all those connections. But you own your list – no one else does. If you don’t have one yet, it’s time to start building it! This means finding ways and reasons to get people to give you their email addresses. Contests and giveaways are a big one, as is an ethical bribe you offer on your website or social media pages (a free report, quiz, ebook, or other interesting/useful item). Make sure your giveaway item is digital – so that it’s easy for you to collect the visitor’s email address upon delivering it.

6. Strategies you plan to implement to reach your ideal reader
Now that you know who your reader is, what steps will you take to connect with them? A focused Pinterest campaign? A contest? Biweekly news releases? A blog? A Tip-of-the-Week newsletter? Choose no more than six you will focus on for all of 2017.

7. An actual calendar (paper or digital) on which to record the steps of your marketing plan
Now, it’s time to actually break down the six (or fewer) strategies you’ve settled on into realistic, manageable, measureable steps – and add them to your calendar. Whether you dedicate a certain amount of time every day (the best plan) or a couple hours one day a week, nothing’s going to move unless and until you TAKE ACTION on your plan. This means calendaring the steps, and then keeping your appointments with yourself to implement the plan.

8. Assigned dates for quarterly reviews of your plan
As you move through the steps on your plan, you’ll likely find that some things work better than you’d anticipated, while others are less effective. An important aspect of achieving your goals is setting a date once a quarter to review your plan. What worked? What didn’t work? What might you do more of? What can you abandon and replace with something else?

9. Rewards for accomplishing your goals
Whether you sell one book or a hundred books, it’s more than you sold before – so have a plan to celebrate your success. First, you’ve got to know what it means to have succeeded (see #1). And then, you really want to have a pre-determined reward for accomplishing that goal. Think of it as something to work toward. Try to make the reward commensurate with the goal. For instance, come up with small rewards like a bubble bath or dinner at your favorite restaurant for meeting your weekly goals. Then, think of bigger rewards for accomplishing your quarterly or annual goals.

Will 2017 be the year YOU design and implement an actionable book marketing plan?
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Want to take your book marketing to the next level next year? Get your complimentary physical copy of my 2017 Book Marketing Calendar (all you pay is 1 penny, plus $3.95 S&H). Order here: http://bit.ly/BookMktCalendar­.

It has one idea a week for all 52 weeks of the year to move your book marketing forward, along with a theme for each month and specific writing-related day celebrations. You can take action on the weekly marketing tips, while also expanding your engagement by promoting the celebratory days on your blog and/or favorite social media platforms.

EXAMPLES:
JANUARY IS BOOK BLITZ MONTH.

JANUARY BOOK MARKETING IDEAS
– Make a list of non-bookstore venues you can approach
– Put your ebook on CDs/DVDs
– Make a list of ancillary products you can create

JANUARY DAY CELEBRATIONS
January 10 – National Poetry at Work Day
January 15 – Wikipedia Day
January 16 – Book Publishers Day

Get your complimentary physical copy (all you pay is 1 penny, plus $3.95 S&H). Order here: http://bit.ly/BookMktCalendar­.

Laura

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We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

Come celebrate Phoenix-area indie authors this Saturday, October 8th!

Authors are a strange lot. Many write for love of the craft. Some write to share important messages or to establish themselves as experts in their fields. Most are seeking readers. Some embrace the idea of marketing. Many are stunned when they hear the 80/20 principle as it applies to publishing: the recommended ratio of marketing time/effort to writing time/effort. A huge number seem to wish they could wave a magic marketing wand and be done with it. Hocus pocus. Abracadabra. And voila … a bestseller appears.

Unfortunately – or fortunately – it doesn’t work like that. The successful authors are the ones who are willing to be creative and determined to get the word out about their books.

That is the goal of the Phoenix Publishing & Book Promotion Meetup. We are on the cusp of reaching 1,000 members in our little club. That means that one in every 3.552 residents of the Valley of the Sun is a member of our group who either (a) has written at least one book, (b) is in the process of writing a book, or (c) is thinking about writing a book and has an interest in learning more about marketing their titles.

To them, I say KUDOS! Hats off! Well done! And happy Indie Author Day! Now not every member of our group is a self-published author, but the vast majority are indie authors. Google the definition of indie author and you’ll likely find dozens of variations. In my opinion, an indie author is an author who is the creative director of their books, from concept to publication to marketing and beyond. While they may or may not partner with a variety of service providers along the way, they drive their own publishing process and agenda. Many small publishers are indie presses, as are those authors who only ever self-publish a single book.

Saturday, October 8, 2016, marks the inaugural Indie Author Day. On that day, libraries across North America will host their own local author events with the support of the Indie Author Day team. We won’t know for a while whether IAD will become an annual event, but that would be a happy outcome! Surprisingly few Phoenix-area libraries are participating – but it’s the first year, so let’s hope it grows with time.

Maricopa County Library District — El Mirage Branch  /  El Mirage, AZ

Maricopa County Library District — Northwest Regional Branch  /  Surprise, AZ

Maricopa County Library District — Queen Creek Branch  /  Queen Creek, AZ

Maricopa County Library District — Sun City Branch  /  Sun City, AZ

There IS something else you can do to celebrate indie authors in the Phoenix area – and that is join us for the inaugural Books Take You Higher Gala! This party features local authors – many of whom are members of the Phoenix Publishing & Book Promotion Meetup – and gives Valley book lovers the chance to mix and mingle with some of the best. Authors in attendance range from award-winning children’s authors to adult fiction authors, memoir writers, business writers, and everyone in between.

Some of the things you can look forward to:

• A spelling bee for the smarty pants in the house (PRIZE: $25 gift card)
• A literary trivia contest for the true bibliophiles (PRIZE: $25 gift card)
• An optional costume contest (come as your favorite literary character – it is October, after all – and you could win a $50 gift card!)
• Live music from comedy quartet, Lilac Crazy, and solo guitarist Mickey Clement
• Food from Pita Jungle
• Much more…

Advance tickets are just $5 for members of the Phoenix Publishing & Book Promotion Meetup; $10 for the general public; and $15 for 2 general public tickets. Join us and help us support Read Better Be Better, a local nonprofit whose goal is to interrupt the cycle of childhood illiteracy that so often gives way to adult illiteracy in our country.

Questions? Email phxazlaura@gmail.com. Please come and bring a friend! And if you can’t make it, please press one of the share buttons to tell your bibliophile friends about the event!

Many thanks to our printing sponsor, Author2Market.com – and Write | Market | Design for hosting the event!

Laura

__________________

We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

__________________

Learn the steps that will set you apart from 95% of all new authors.

(Hint: It’s NOT too late, even if you’ve already placed your first printing order for books!)

CLICK HERE TO GRAB YOUR FREE REPORT NOW!

 

SUNDAY INSPIRATIONS: Let children read whatever they want…

Sunday Inspirations. Send us your favorite quote, image, poem, idea … anything that has been helpful or inspirational to your writing process. If we love it, we may use it as is, or take the inspiration and modify it in some way. Give us a link to your website or blog and we’ll be sure to give you credit! Email inspiration@writemarketdesign.com or post your suggestion in the comment section below!

Here’s today’s inspiration: ““Let children read whatever they want and then talk about it with them. If parents and kids can talk together, we won’t have as much censorship because we won’t have as much fear.”

Laura

__________________

We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

__________________

Learn the steps that will set you apart from 95% of all new authors.

(Hint: It’s NOT too late, even if you’ve already placed your first printing order for books!)

CLICK HERE TO GRAB YOUR FREE REPORT NOW!

 

SUNDAY INSPIRATIONS: Cram your head with characters and stories…

Sunday Inspirations. Send us your favorite quote, image, poem, idea … anything that has been helpful or inspirational to your writing process. If we love it, we may use it as is, or take the inspiration and modify it in some way. Give us a link to your website or blog and we’ll be sure to give you credit! Email inspiration@writemarketdesign.com or post your suggestion in the comment section below!

Here’s today’s inspiration: “Cram your head with charactersand stories. Abuse your library privileges. Never stop looking at the world, and never stop reading to find out what sense other people have made of it. If people give you a hard time and tell you to get your nose out of a book, tell them you’re working. Tell them it’sresearch. Tell them to pipe down and leave you alone.”

Laura

__________________

We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

__________________

Learn the steps that will set you apart from 95% of all new authors.

(Hint: It’s NOT too late, even if you’ve already placed your first printing order for books!)

CLICK HERE TO GRAB YOUR FREE REPORT NOW!

 

SUNDAY INSPIRATIONS: The first step…

Sunday Inspirations. Send us your favorite quote, image, poem, idea … anything that has been helpful or inspirational to your writing process. If we love it, we may use it as is, or take the inspiration and modify it in some way. Give us a link to your website or blog and we’ll be sure to give you credit! Email inspiration@writemarketdesign.com or post your suggestion in the comment section below!

Here’s today’s inspiration: “The first step – especially for young people with energy and drive and talent, but not money – the first step to controlling your world is to control your culture. To model and demonstrate the kind of world you demand to live in. To write the books. Make the music. Shoot the films. Paint the art.”

Laura

__________________

We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

__________________

Learn the steps that will set you apart from 95% of all new authors.

(Hint: It’s NOT too late, even if you’ve already placed your first printing order for books!)

CLICK HERE TO GRAB YOUR FREE REPORT NOW!