You've Written a Book, Now What? Take These First Three Steps to Start Your Book Promotion

Congratulations! After countless hours of pouring your heart and soul into writing, your book is finally complete and ready to meet the world.

But writing it was just the beginning. To ensure your book reaches its target audience and fulfills its potential, you need a robust promotional strategy.

Yup. It is the ‘P’ word that many people are intimidated by… Publicity….

Think of publicity like the cleanup after a great party. Nobody enjoys the task, but alas, it is a necessary one. 

Here’s the deal: Publicity doesn’t need to be an expensive, complex, or time-consuming endeavor. In fact, it can be surprisingly straightforward when you understand your target audience and create content that resonates with them. Authenticity is key, so promote your book in a way that feels genuine to you and aligns with your integrity.

Here are some top tips to enhance the visibility and exposure of your book:

STEP ONE: CULTIVATE YOUR BRAND

A fundamental aspect of any PR campaign is developing messaging and content that authentically represents your brand. To create effective, impactful, and results-driven messaging, start by understanding the core identity of your brand and what it stands for. The essence of a brand extends far beyond logos, fonts, and color schemes. 

As the author, you are the brand, which encompasses your mission, core values, and tagline. Each of these elements should be a direct reflection of you. You will know you hit the mark when you have a visceral reaction to it. 

Have you defined your mission? 

Reflect on what genuinely ignites your passion and fuels your inner fire. You know that feeling when you feel invigorated, unstoppable, excited, and capable of anything.

Craft a mission statement that is concise, compelling, and deeply resonates with your purpose. This is your raison d’être, your mission, your fundamental purpose for being on this earth and the essence of what you are meant to achieve. Think “I exist to…”

Core values are your guiding principles, your foundational beliefs, ingrained in your very being. They’re your North Star. They are inherent to your identity, deeply rooted in your culture, and woven into your communication. 

Both your mission and core values should flow naturally from you, shaping the messages you convey with phrases you consistently use, qualities you aspire to embody, approaches to services, and the emotions you aim to evoke. Think “I believe…”

Investing time in aligning these elements is important and will positively impact your publicity efforts.
Your tagline is a concise and memorable phrase or slogan that helps readers connect with you and understand your value.

STEP TWO: DEVELOP CONTENT PILLARS

An integral part of preparing for your book release involves establishing your content wheel and content pillars, channels through which all your content will flow seamlessly. This framework encompasses every aspect of your content creation channels, from podcasts and speaking engagements to blogs and newsletters.

Consider what sets you apart from other authors in your niche, the problems your book solves, and the key messages that are intrinsic to your book or offer evergreen themes that remain relevant. 

Most importantly, identify aspects of your personal story that will resonate with your target audience and align with the book’s themes. These insights are designed to guide your content strategy. Create your content buckets from here. Stay true to your chosen direction and continue to build upon it.

When you know clearly who your reader is, you will know the emotions and experiences they will respond to, which parts of your personal story will resonate with them. 

Understanding your reader’s demographics and psychographics, will enable you to connect on an emotional level. This will help you pinpoint which parts of your personal story they will resonate with.

Where do you start? 

Begin by listing topics that ignite your passion, excite you, and in which you possess expertise, then group them into broader categories to form the basis of your content strategy. You will start noticing recurring themes, where certain topics naturally connect and complement each other. Themes will emerge from your extensive list.

Next, categorize these themes into broader categories. They will serve as the foundational framework for your content strategy. Every piece of content you create, whether it’s for public speaking, blog posts, or social media updates, should align with these content categories. They act as your guiding filter, helping you decide what content to create and ensuring that it is consistent, coherent, and “on brand.”

Remember, one of the keys to successful publicity is crafting authentic messaging, that speaks directly to your readers through all your content, and even when you move on to your media tour. If you attempt to promote your book to a broad audience, you may end up resonating with no one. Targeting a specific niche and creating content that forges a personal connection is paramount.

STEP THREE: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

PR is much easier when you know who you are trying to reach. 

Identifying your target audience allows you to tailor your efforts to engage with your core readership, ultimately boosting sales. It is the cornerstone of effective book promotion.  

So how do you figure this out?  Who exactly is your target reader?

Start by thinking about their demographic details like age, sex, and relationship status. Consider the types of books they read. What movies and TV shows do they watch? What authors do they follow? What types of media are they pursuing? What are their hobbies and interests?

If this feels daunting, begin with who you wrote the book for, and expand from there. Define your genre, the themes, and topics in your book. Consider who would resonate with your story and ideas.  

In conclusion, while the completion of your book marks a significant milestone, remember that the journey for your reader has only just taken off. Publicity is essential to share your work with the world and the key to successful publicity lies in maintaining authenticity, aligning your mission, core values, and tagline with your brand, and understanding your target audience. By crafting genuine messaging, creating content that deeply resonates with your readers, and customizing your efforts to engage your core readership, you can ensure that your book reaches its full potential and resonates with the right audience. So, embrace publicity as a means to introduce your book to the world, and witness your literary journey flourish.