Do you remember Yogi Berra’s famous quote on the importance of planning? He said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up some place else.”

His wisdom applies to book marketing, too. If you don’t know what you want to accomplish with your book, you won’t know if you’ve done it – or how to do it.

That’s why you want to create a book marketing plan, even if your book is already published and available for purchase.

What’s a book marketing plan?

A book marketing plan is a document that outlines:

• What you want to accomplish with your book
• How you’ll do it
• What you will need to spend to make that happen
• When you’ll do the work involved

If you want to sell books, creating a book marketing plan isn’t optional – it’s essential. Even so, if you have no marketing experience, you might find the idea of creating a book marketing plan intimidating.

CLICK TO GET YOUR FREE BOOK MARKETING PLAN TEMPLATE!

It’s not as hard as you might expect, though. It takes thought and effort, for sure, but it’s really just a matter of answering the right questions.

Here are the seven questions you want to ask and answer.

1. What’s my situation with this book?

Answer this by briefly describing your book and what makes it different from the competition.

Include what makes both you and the book marketable. Perhaps your book is on a timely topic or uses a new way to tell a story.

You might have unique credentials that qualify you to write the book, including professional experience. Maybe you’ve won relevant awards.

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Address your publishing situation, too, by noting your publishing model and anticipated publication date. The latter is particularly important because it helps determine what tactics are available to you.

For example, if your book is already published, certain tactics – engaging your audience by requesting their input on your cover design, for example – aren’t an option.

2. Who did I write this book for?

This is your target audience, your ideal readers. It’s who will appreciate and buy your book.

It’s especially important to understand your target audience because the more you know about who will love your book, the better able you will be to reach them online and in the real world.

Need help with that? My short training program, “Who Will Buy Your Book? How to Figure Out and Find Your Target Audience,” will help.

When you know as much as possible about your ideal readers, you can research the social networks they use, the media outlets they pay attention to, even the types of activities they prefer.

You can have more than one target audience, but one will probably rise to the top as the most interested in your topic or genre.

For example, the primary audience for a self-help book about how to live with or help a hoarder might be friends and family. A secondary audience is therapists and other counseling professionals who can recommend the book to their clients.

3. What do I want to accomplish with my book marketing?

This is all about goals.

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A goal is a broad statement of direction that is determined by your needs. In this case, your goals are related to marketing your book.

With good goals in place, you can look at each marketing tactic and ask, “Does this step help me achieve my goals?” If the answer isn’t “yes,” the tactic should be removed from the plan.

Goals are well-defined. They tell you which direction you want to go. Examples include:

• To develop a fan base that will lead to increased sales of subsequent books in my fiction series.
• To help position me as an expert in a way that will generate more clients.

4. What’s my book marketing strategy?

A strategy is your over-arching approach to promoting your book. It’s a “big picture” view that summarizes the thinking behind your marketing efforts.

Examples include:

• To use my large fan base to generate massive buzz during the first few weeks of my book launch.
• To focus on public speaking because I’ve learned that I sell a lot of books when people hear me speak.
• To put most of my time into creating fun TikTok videos because my audience is there, my following is growing steadily, and I’m good at it

Your strategy helps determine what you’ll do to market your book, and when you’ll do it.

5. What tactics will I use to reach my goals?

Tactics are the things you’re going to do to get exposure for your book.

Tactics vary from book to book – it’s not a “one-size-fits-all” situation – but tactics to consider (among others!) include:

• Soliciting reader reviews
• Creating a Facebook group
• Doing podcast interviews
• Optimizing your Amazon sales page
• Creating an image quote campaign

If you’re new to book marketing, don’t try to implement too many tactics. Start with two or three that will help you reach your target audience and learn to do them really well. When you’ve mastered them, add another tactic.

6. How much can I spend to promote my book?

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This is your book marketing budget. Your tactics can determine your budget, or your budget can determine your tactics.

There are lots of things you can do to market your book that don’t cost anything, but if you’re serious about getting your book into the hands of the people you wrote it for, you’ll need to spend some money.

A typical book marketing budget might include training program fees, website design and hosting, tools, and advertising costs.

7. What’s my book marketing timeline?

Use a calendar for this. Build your timeline around:

• When you will start marketing
• How long you plan to continue (think long-term – I encourage you to market your book as long as it’s available for purchase)
• When you will implement each tactic in your plan

For example, if you want to get reader reviews onto your Amazon sales page immediately after your publication date, get those review copies out to readers several weeks before the book goes “live.”

If you’re planning a virtual book tour, start building relationships with key bloggers at least six months before your anticipated tour dates. You want them to be familiar with you and your work before you ask them to participate.

Consider using a “reverse calendar” approach. This is one where you start with your end date in mind – the day your book is available, for example – and plan backwards from there.

Creating your book marketing plan

You can answer these seven questions with bullet points or paragraphs – whatever works for you. What matters more than word choice or format is that you capture this important information in writing.

When you’re clear on what you want to do to reach your book marketing goals, determine how you’ll get the work done. Can you do it yourself? Do you need to outsource any of it?

Remember to create that calendar detailing who will do what and when, complete with deadlines. If you don’t schedule the activities in whatever time management system you use, they might not happen. (Voice of experience talking here.)

Your plan is your marketing success blueprint

To make it easy for you, I’ve created a free book marketing plan template that you can download and use immediately. It includes:

• Instructions
• Examples
• Links to how-to information online
• A fill-in-the-blanks form

CLICK TO GET YOUR FREE BOOK MARKETING PLAN TEMPLATE!

Once you complete that template and start implementing your tactics, track your activities and outcomes.

Do more of what works, less of what doesn’t.

Success takes time

Use your book marketing plan – your blueprint – as an evolving document that changes as you learn more about book marketing, your ideal readers, and how to reach them.

Finally, remember that everything takes time. Most books don’t become best-sellers as soon as they’re launched. They succeed over time because the author created, followed, and adjusted their book marketing plan.

And that’s what you need to do, too.

Do you have a book marketing plan? Please tell us how it helps you in a comment!

Without author goals, you will be wandering aimlessly.

Goals provide direction for your activity, whether your goal is to finish writing a book or to sell 5,000 copies of a book you’ve just released.

When you’re clear on your goals, you’re able to create an action plan that will help you reach them.

Does goal setting ensure that you’ll have a winning plan? Not necessarily. But you have a much better shot at success if you know how you define success and are thoughtful about the path you’ll take to reach it.

The goal chunking method

I write about goal setting on this blog every year (here’s a link to past posts) because I think it’s too important to skip.

I’m using a new approach for mine this year. It’s called goal chunking, and it’s a strategy I picked up from a one-week challenge offered by business coach Nicole Liloia.

Goal chunking lets you break down your big goals into smaller ones. For example, a freelance writer might set a specific amount of money he wants to earn for the year, then break that down according to the different types of writing he’ll do to earn that amount. It might be through writing books, magazine articles, corporate newsletters, and custom content.

Each of those will have its own income goal.

Authors might goal chunk by setting income goal targets for:

• Each book the author has available
• E-books versus print books
• Book sales source — online, brick-and-mortar stores, libraries
• Series sales
• Spin-off income from speaking or consulting fees, sales of movie rights, and so on

Authors might also use goal chunking to set goals that aren’t related to income.

Let’s say your goal is to write and publish a book in 2019. You can make that goal less overwhelming and more manageable by breaking it into smaller goals for chunks that might include:

• Selecting the best topic or storyline for your book
• Word count written by specific deadlines
• Deciding on the best cover designer with experience in your book’s category
• Hiring an editor
• Improving your author platform
• Determining appropriate influencers to approach for blurbs

Regardless of how you approach it, with goal chunking, you set a large goal, then break it down into smaller pieces. Each piece gets its own action plan.

If you have a few big author goals, follow this process for all of them.

How will you determine your author goals?

What works for me might not work for you, of course. Find a goal setting approach you’re comfortable with and get those goals on paper.

When you know where you want to go, map out how you’re going to get there.

This step is critical. It’s simply not enough to say, “This is what I want to accomplish in 2019.” You also need to know how you’ll get there.

Even Pablo Picasso, a “creative” like you, understood this, saying, “Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.”

What’s one of your goals for 2019? Please share it in a comment. 

Do you look at success in terms of the number of books sold? Or is it seeing your title hit the top of your category on Amazon? Maybe it’s seeing your book in a store or library. For some, it’s the “thank you” emails they receive from grateful readers.

It doesn’t really matter how you define success. What counts is that you do define it. Because if you don’t have a goal for your book marketing efforts, you won’t know if you’re successful or not.

And I want you to be successful.

My goal-setting process

I always write about goal-setting here near the end of the year (see past goal-setting blog posts at this link) because this is when I start putting mine down on paper.

I’ll review them with my goal buddy, Marcia Layton Turner, when we meet next Friday for our annual goal-setting discussion and holiday luncheon (ugly Christmas sweaters required). We will review what we did and didn’t accomplish in 2017 and talk about where we want to go in 2018.

As I share mine with Marcia, she will say to me more than once, “Can you be more specific than that?”

I need that nudge! My goals should be specific and measurable and realistic.

We usually agree to meet again in two weeks with all of the holes filled in.

I use an official “planner”

My favorite part of this process is reviewing the current year’s highs and lows. I learned this trick when I started using Leonie Dawson’s “My Shining Year” workbook planners. This step tempers my disappointment at what I haven’t accomplished because it shows me what I have achieved.

I added another very different planning tool to my approach last year when I took Marcia’s advice and bought the Momentum Planners Bundle (affiliate link). (Try it out for free first with the planner download for December.)

This package of fill-in-the-blanks PDF files starts with the big picture — a yearlong look at goals. Then it breaks them down by quarter and allows me to add the steps I’ll take — and when — to hit those quarterly goals. From there, I shift to the monthly planning sheets, where I get more detailed about how I’ll get where I need to go.

It works for me because it forces me to list what I’ll do and when I’ll do it.

But what works for you? Honestly, for several years, all I did was list my goals on one page in a Word file. That approach was my equivalent of goal-setting training wheels. I eventually outgrew my Word file, but when goal-setting was a new concept for me, it was a great starting point.

Marcia and I try to meet at least quarterly in person or by phone for a goal review. Checking in with a goal buddy helps both of us feel more accountable.

What’s your process?

That’s my process. What’s yours?

What? You don’t have one??

Here’s my challenge to you: Set at least one book marketing goal for 2018.

Let it sit for awhile, then come back to it and start planning how you’ll achieve that goal.

If you find the process intimidating, take it slowly.

If you embrace it, maybe you’ll be willing to share some tips or advice in a comment here. You might give someone else the aha! they need to start planning for the best year ever.

Please share your goal-setting tips, advice, or concerns in a comment! 

I often share information here on how to set and stick to goals, but this year, I’d like to offer a few tools that will help you do exactly that. Sometimes, a tool that either walks you through the process or helps you do a piece of it is exactly what you need to finally take action.

The first three are true goal-setting tools — they help you figure out your goals. The rest help you maintain the activity that will help you reach those goals.

1. Passion Planner

I learned about the Passion Planner from a friend who contributed to its Kickstarter campaign and I’m hooked. This tool helps you dream big (or small, if that’s what you’re comfortable with), identify the steps you need to make that dream come true, and get those steps into your calendar so you schedule time to make them happen.

The eight steps in the system start with making a wishlist and prioritizing to setting dates and working at it.

You can download the entire product in PDF form for free if you share information about it on social media (the site outlines the specifics).

If you decide to purchase the printed version, please provide my email address in the referral box on the order form so I get credit — with three referrals, I’ll receive a free printed planner. My email address is sbATbuildbookbuzz.com (thank you to anyone who does this).

2. Create Your Shining Year planners and goal books

Leonie Dawson has created a couple of versions of this workbook that has completely transformed how I approach goal-setting (please note: that’s an affiliate link). There’s a “Life Goals Workbook” and a “Business Goals Workbook;” I use the latter. Both are available as printed products or digital downloads.

One of the key pieces for me from this system has been reviewing the current year’s accomplishments before looking ahead to the next year. This provides an important attitude adjustment because I sometimes end the year frustrated or disappointed because I didn’t do everything I wanted to do. Reminding myself of what I did do gives me important perspective.

The information page for these products is beautiful, but busy. I recommend skipping all the chatter and clicking on any “order now” button to get a clear and distinct product list.

3. Goals on Track

Goals on Track  is both an online tool and smartphone app that helps you create the right goals from the start, create an action plan, track your time and actions, and stick to the process (please note: that’s an affiliate link).

For your first step, start on the website and use the pop up window to subscribe to the free newsletter. That will give you access to a free, downloadable goal-setting template that’s based on widely accepted best practices. I use it; it’s really helpful. Subscribing to the newsletter also gives you access to other free, relevant, downloadable resources.

There is a free, 30-day product trial available, but you have to provide credit card information to get it. The trial will give you access to both the web-based tools and the smartphone app.

4. Goal-buddy.com

Goal-buddy.com, a free online tool, prompts you to take seven steps to identify your goal and make it happen. It even lets you schedule email or text reminders so you stay with it.

The site also offers goal templates, but the selection is so limited that you might want to use that option to create your own templates.

5. Way of Life app

The free Way of Life app helps you change your habits so you’re using your time to achieve your goals. Set your goals, get reminders, and track how often you do what you’re supposed to do to reach those goals.

For example, imagine you’ve created the goal, “Do one thing every day to promote my book.” (To help with that, check out the new Build Book Buzz 365 Daily Book Marketing Tips sent to your inbox, one a day, every day, for just 99 cents.) You add that goal to your goal list, then set reminders.

Set a reminder to pop up on your phone at the time of day you are most likely to take action on that task so it gets in front of you at just the right time in your schedule.

Search your smartphone app store for similar tools, including Balanced and Productive.

6. Joe’s Goals

Joe’s Goals is a simple, but effective web-based tool that will help you track your goal-supporting activity once you’ve set your goals.

Create a free account, then start adding tasks and how frequently you need to do them. Check in and check off according to your schedule. This resource works like an app, but it’s not phone-based — it’s online.

7. Tools you have already

While I love and use these resources, you might prefer good old-fashioned paper and pencil, a Word doc, or an Excel file.

Really, it doesn’t matter what tool you use to create, write down, and track your goals. What counts is that you do it. If you haven’t been doing it consistently year to year, it could be because you haven’t had the right tools. I hope this article gives you an option that resonates with you and spurs you to take action.

As you move into 2016 with well-defined goals and a good start on a plan that will help you reach them, remember these words from author Melody Beattie.

Do you use any tools or resources to help you set goals? Please share them in a comment. 

Or about how if you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t know if you’ve arrived?

The point is: You need to set book marketing goals. And now’s the best time to do it.

I’m working on my goals today because I’m meeting with my goal buddy Marcia Layton Turner, founder of the Association of Ghostwriters, on Friday to review them. We’ve been doing this annually for years because we both understand the value and importance of goals to our business.

We make sure that our goals are “SMART” —

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time-bound

Two-step process

We use a two-step process with our goal setting.

First, we review our goals from the previous year and evaluate why we did or didn’t reach them.

Second, we use what we learned from the evaluation process to plan for the coming year.

I find this review process particularly helpful because over time, it has helped me spot patterns that I’ve factored into the next year’s goals and action plan.

Goal-setting tools

We both use three primary tools with our goal-setting process:

1. The Create Your Shining Year biz e-book business planner from Leonie Dawson.
2. A Word document where we list our goals with bullet points.
3. An Excel file where we track monthly goals and the tactics that will help us reach those goals.

I start the process with Leonie’s $9.95 “biz” planner. Marcia and I started using it two years ago and it has completely transformed the process for me. (That’s why that link is an affiliate link — I like to support tools I use and love!) My planner documents each year have become a permanent record of the progress I have (and haven’t) made with everything from my social media accounts to the types of products I create. Her system has transformed the goal-setting process for me.

Once I’ve filled out the planner pages I use, I pull up a Word document so I can record my goals there. The biggest challenge for me as I list my goals is being realistic. I have lots of ideas about what I’d like to do and accomplish, but experience has shown me that I rarely accomplish as much as I’d like to. There just isn’t enough time in every day to do everything I’d like to do. Because I’ve learned from my experience, my goals each year have become more attainable — and as a result, I’ve been much more focused and less frustrated than in the past.

I start by listing what I’d like to accomplish along with what I need in place to accomplish it. My goals relate to income, the types of work I do, and overall quality of life. Others might approach goal-setting differently, but this works for me.

When I’m satisfied with the list, I open an Excel file and use one sheet to create monthly income projects that will lead to the amount I’d like to earn. On another sheet, I list milestones for other goals — it might be the number of Twitter followers I need or the conferences I attend. On a third sheet, I create a calendar with the tactics I’ll need to execute to reach that month’s goals as well as the goals in another month, since so much of what I need to do takes months and often years to accomplish.

Why bother?

With goals in place, I am much more focused. As a result, I accomplish more of the right things.

Book marketing goals will help you determine where you want to go with your book and how you will get there. For example, if your goal is to sell 10,000 paperback books in the next 12 months, you’ll skip the local book signing and focus on those activities that will help you reach a national and perhaps even global audience with your message.

If your goal is to use your book to become a national speaker within three years, you’ll set goals for the number of presentations you need to make in 2015 and outline what you’ll need to do to get them. And you’ll set goals for the kinds of media and other exposure you’ll need to help you get those speaking gigs.

Again, failing to plan is planning to fail.

Set goals this year so you know not only where you need to go, but how you’ll get there. You won’t regret it.

Do you set goals every year? What’s one of your goals for the coming year?  If not, why not?