Guest post: How smart book marketing got me a second publishing contract

By Heather Shumaker

In the months leading up to my first book’s publication, I worked with Sandy Beckwith to come up with a promotion plan. She was ever professional, ever polite, but the words that stuck in my head were when she said kindly, “I’m amazed you got a book contract with absolutely no platform.”

It was true. I had nothing to start with. No credentials, no fans, no Facebook Page, no blog. All I had was hope and hard work.

That hard work paid off. Since my first book, It’s OK Not to Share (a renegade parenting book), was published in 2012, I’ve earned out the advance, my sales are still steady four years later, and was I invited to write a sequel by my publisher.

Defying the odds

As I’ve learned, that defies the odds. My agent tells me the average traditionally published book sells 3,000 copies total, and sales drop off dramatically after the first six months.

My goal was to be a writer, not just a one-book writer, but a career writer. It took me four years or so to get an agent and secure a publisher for my first book. I devoted the year after its publication to continual promotion. As I’d heard, publishing a first book was hard, but publishing a second book could be harder. Publishers might be willing to take a chance on a new voice for a first book, but after that you had to have a track record of sales. I wanted my book’s track record to be strong enough so I could write a second book.

I tried to do everything when I first started. That resulted in feeling that promotion was a big, black hole. No matter how much of my life and time I poured in, there was always more that could be done. I wasn’t writing. Promotion drained me.

So here are seven things I learned that led me to my second book contract.

1. Limit social media.

Unless you absolutely love it and social media makes you feel fulfilled, don’t try to do all social media. Pick the ones that fit your personality best. For me that ended up being a blog and a professional Facebook Page.

Concentrate efforts on social media venues you mostly enjoy. Don’t try to be everywhere. Besides, you might already be in more places than you think. By the time I explored Pinterest, I realized my book was already there: Readers who like Pinterest best had already pinned my book cover and pinned blog posts.

Focus your time on selected social media that fits you. Then make it easy for readers who like other venues better to post in their worlds (ex: add Tweetables at the end of your posts. That makes it easy for Twitter fans to spread the word).

2. Collect email addresses.

This is a tip I learned from Sandy and it’s proven its worth time and again. I’m doing this when I’m speaking. At each event I passed a clipboard and collected emails. When my second book came out I had easy access to 1,000-2,000 people who cared about my writing. Now I’m moving to a digital clipboard and passing a tablet – no data entry!

3. Speaking pays.

I was told “First you write your book, then you speak your book.” So true. I started speaking for free at libraries, then charged $100 for an appearance, then moved up to bigger events. Three years later I’m keynoting at national conferences and speaking brings in half my income.

4. Keep your book “new.”

Publishers move on to the next book when your book is barely a month old. News media like things to be “new,” too.

But your book is always new to readers who are just discovering it. Word of mouth has its own timeline.

When I speak to a new audience, it’s as if the book were published yesterday. People are on fire with the novelty. This probably works best if you decide to do long-term speaking, but it also works well with book clubs. Book clubs don’t just choose newly released books. Often it takes years for a title to work its way in and get chosen. Go ahead and contact book clubs or online read along groups and suggest your book as their next pick. Guaranteed to be new again.

5. Write a good book.

Of course, we can’t sit on our laurels, thinking “I wrote a great book, now readers will find it.” Helping people discover your book takes effort. But if your book finds true fans, it will have staying power. People buy multiple copies and share them with their friends. Readers suggest bringing in an author to speak.

My early book promotion was a never-ending time of reaching out to people. People often contact me now because they like the book, and promotion takes much less work.

6. Go gradually.

If you have nothing to start, the way I had, take one step at a time. Today I have the Starlighting Mama blog, weekly Renegade Rules podcast show on iTunes and Stitcher, business fan Page on Facebook, a Twitter account, an email newsletter, videos on YouTube, and an active speaking calendar booking up more than a year in advance.

I started with only a website. I would have been overwhelmed to do everything at once. Since every new step added on gradually, it doesn’t seem hard to balance.

7. Set a deadline.

Give yourself a timeframe to devote your best effort to promotion. Then stop and get back to writing. Once you have a book out you should never go cold turkey and banish all promotion, but give it a discrete time to be top priority, then shift it down to maintenance level.

My second book, It’s OK to Go Up the Slide, comes out this week. I’m offering early bird gifts as part of the launch: Order a copy before March 13, 2016 and receive free gifts (special edition one-hour podcast taking you behind the scenes plus a set of inspirational quotes for your fridge). Simply buy the book before March 13, then send me an email saying where you bought it.

I’m excited to share its newness with the world but I also have confidence it will continue to find new readers years from now.

What’s the most important thing you learned while marketing your book?

8 tips for talking about your book

By Heather Shumaker

You’re a writer. That’s why you loved writing your book. But once it’s published you’ll dive into your book’s story orally. If the thought of speaking into a microphone makes you freeze, then practice, practice, practice.

Here are eight tips to get you going.

1. Speak your book. We’re familiar with the statement “Write your book.” Now it’s time to “Speak your book.” Talking about your book is fun! You’ll discover you’re not just a writer, but also a speaker. People love to hear about your subject matter and the process of writing about it. Relax and remember you’re an expert at both.
2. Focus on libraries, not bookstores. By all means, give a book party or signing at your local independent bookstore, but don’t focus on bookstore signings for your in-person promotion. Create events instead. Libraries do great promotion, often pay an honorarium, and can draw good crowds. You’ll be more likely to sell books when people can hear you speak.
3. Be entertaining. When you speak, convey your book’s message through stories and anecdotes. People remember stories. They come to learn, but also to be entertained. Audiences love learning the inside story behind your book.
4. Do a book tour. If you want to travel with your book, target small, educated towns where the population still reads the daily newspaper or follows a single news source. Then get your event featured in that news source. For example, I visited Burlington,Vt., where the daily paper covered my talk. Ten people came to hear me, but nearly 200 people bought the book because they read the newspaper story. Publishers won’t typically pay for a tour these days, but if you give them several weeks’ notice, they will probably be glad to pitch the media around your dates.
5. Be ready for media. Get media training. Practice TV and radio answers using a voice recorder (I used iMovie). Time your answers and listen for emphasis. Do you trail off at the end of each sentence? Are you ending on strong words? Radio and TV often only give you 10 to 15 seconds per answer. Time flies and short is golden!
6. Find a landline. Make sure you have access to a landline for media interviews (radio and remote TV). All the shows I did required this. Turn off the call waiting beeps ahead of time.
7. Include a call to action. Give readers a specific action to take. In every radio interview. On your website. At a speaking event. Obviously your message is “buy my book” but you can attract them with various incentives. Ex: “You can read a free sample chapter on my website heathershumaker.com.” “Get your free tips by signing up for my newsletter…” Direct people to your author Facebook page or website. Let them know how to buy the book.
8. Save the first 2 weeks. My publicist told me to keep the first two weeks after my book’s launch clear, since this is when the big nationals might come calling. And call they did! Fox & Friends quickly whisked me off to an affiliate studio. Publicity begets publicity, so be constantly available by cell phone and e-mail when a national media outlet features you – chances are another news source will be in contact the next day or next hour.

To learn more about how to get opportunities to talk about your book with the media or to large groups, read more about “Book Publicity 101: How to Build Book Buzz.” Heather took the course before her book was published, then worked hard to use what she learned. Read more about her story in Part 1.

What’s your best tip for preparing to talk about your book, whether it’s before a group or in a media interview?

Heather knew that she’d have to build a platform and learn how to leverage it, so she took my course as part of the learning process. In Part 1 of a two-part series here, Heather shares some of what she learned while promoting her book, It’s OK Not to Share…And Other Renegade Rules for Raising Competent and Compassionate Kids  (She learned enough to get her book featured in USA Weekend not long after it launched!) Learn more about this advocate for free play and conflict mediation skills for kids on her website and Starlighting Mama blog. Part 2 will run on Thursday.

Parenting book author shares lessons learned about book publicity

By Heather Shumaker

I took Sandy’s “Book Publicity 101” e-course to prepare for my August 2012 book launch of It’s OK Not to Share…And Other Renegade Rules for Raising Competent and Compassionate Kids, a nonfiction renegade parenting book. My book was traditionally published (with Tarcher, a Penguin imprint), but many of the “lessons learned” apply to both self-published and traditionally published authors. Five months later, I’m looking back to see what went right and wrong and what I can share about book promotion.

Build a tribe. Your tribe is hugely important. These are the people who love you or your book and want to help you succeed. Some of them will be long-term friends, others will be strangers who meet you via a review, an event, or a Facebook post. Take care of your tribe, involve them, give away free books, and ask them to post reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Build your tribe at every opportunity.

Always collect e-mail addresses. E-mail addressess are golden. They help build your tribe, for this book and the next. Make it easy to collect them from your website (use MailChimp or another service), blog, and Facebook page. Pass a clipboard and collect addresses at events. A strong e-mail list may be your greatest asset. Start organizing your e-mail addresses long before your book comes out. And as Sandy would remind you, only add e-mail addresses to your newsletter list if you have the person’s permission first.

Be friends with your publicist. If you’re working with a traditional publisher, meet with your publicist as soon as possible – in person. Send her/ him weekly status updates summarizing your promotion efforts. Say “yes” to everything she proposes – every interview, every article. Make her job easier by being easy to work with.

Understand that publicists leave. The folks in New York change jobs a lot. If it’s not your editor leaving, it may be your publicist, which is what happened to me 10 days after my book launched. The lesson: Even if you have a traditional publisher, read up on advice for self-published authors. You may be asked to take on the publicist’s duties yourself.

Get a social media critique. Are you only joining Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Goodreads because you have a book coming out? Good, but be ready to learn. Ask someone who knows more than you (friend or paid consultant) to critique your social media presence and style. Have you got the right set up? Are you annoying people? When it’s all new, it can be hard to get the tone right, so ask and keep refining your style.

Media is fragmented. There’s no single media source anymore. Media is very fragmented. This can be confusing and time-consuming. What once worked (for example, getting on national TV) may or may not generate new book sales. Learn about your audience demographic and where they are in 2013. For example, a WW II nonfiction book may resonate most with older men; they listen to daytime radio. A parenting book needs to connect with young families; parents of little ones are online.

Don’t expect to “finish.” Book promotion can take over your life. It’s never done, so it can be easy to get dragged down. Tackle several promotion tasks a day and don’t worry if you can’t do it all. Keep working hard and moving forward. Focus on the promotion areas that will most benefit you as a brand – who you are, the audiences you’re trying to build for this and future books. Keep promoting your book long after your publisher has moved on.

Book promotion is trial by fire. I thought I’d studied up ahead of time, but now I think it’s hard to really know how to promote a book until you’ve done it. The learning process is steep. Total immersion is an excellent teacher. Some of the lessons authors and publicity folks try to tell you ahead of time may not really make sense until you’re doing it. You’ll find your way and discover your personal strengths and best promotion style as long as you work hard. For example, did you discover you love to speak when you thought you’d hate it? Are you good at pitching but bad at concise interview answers? The key is to take promotion seriously, learn all you can, take new risks, and always work at it.

Come back on Thursday!

On Thursday, Heather will share what she learned about how to talk about your book — something that’s particularly challenging for people who would rather be writing. Join us back here then to learn more about how to talk about your book to groups or in media interviews.

Learn more about the “Book Publicity 101: How to Build Book Buzz” e-course, what it covers, and the personal insruction and feedback you’ll receive at the course description page.

What are your favorite book promotion tips and lessons learned?