If you’re thinking of writing your signature book to share your valuable knowledge and experience, don’t wait until your manuscript goes to print to start marketing. Start now. Or as the proverb goes
The best time to start [marketing] would have been five years ago. The next best time to start is today!
If you wait until you’re ready to publish you’ll have to work very hard to make sales – unless you already have a community ready to grab your book the moment it lands. That takes time to build.
The two most successful book launches I know of have gone about achieving the same goal in different ways.
Author A had spent a decade building his community around his area of specialism and was in touch with them several times a month with a combination of value and offers. A large percentage of them were interested in hearing from him and what he had to say and saw him as an expert in his field. The book was simply the next step for him and his audience snapped it up – with several hundred sales on launch day.
Author B had a small community, but deliberately delayed the publication of the book until he’s grown an active community of around 5,000 people. During that period he was active in delivering weekly content around the subject of his book and allied subjects, with podcast interviews and a regular newsletter. He was up front in telling them the book was coming – creating anticipation. The book landed in a committed tribe of people who were actively waiting for it to be published.
Slightly different approaches, but the same outcome – the launch was successful.
Of course, not everyone will buy on the first asking. Continuing to keep your community engaged and delivering ongoing value will result in more sales further down the line.
So – how will you create, grow and retain your community?
