Every author dreams of selling more books. Publishing that first book is one of the most exciting moments in our lives so it really sucks when we don’t see sales. It eats away at our confidence. Was the book just not good enough? Am I a terrible writer? Questions like this plague us in the beginning. What if I were to tell you that the biggest reason your book is not selling has nothing to do with its quality? It’s most likely due to a lack of exposure. This post will look at some of the best book networking tips that will help you sell more books. Get more exposure for your book and start capitalizing on all of your hard work.
Don’t Develop a Selfish Mindset
I am genuinely surprised at how much online marketing is centered on the seller and not the potential customer. Don’t make your marketing about your goals. Marketing yourself is great but you have to be careful with how you go about this. Telling readers about your goals won’t work. They don’t care about your goals. They only care about what you can do to help them achieve their goals. Your marketing plan should focus on this one huge point.
Take the extra step of supporting other authors and/or websites that share similar interests. Authors should constantly network so that means following posts, leaving comments, and interacting with other like-minded people. Building relationships is the foundation for the rest of the book networking tips that this post will cover.
Treat it Like a Business
Take yourself seriously. Book publishing is a business even though a lot of new writers don’t treat it as such. As a published author, you’re essentially running a small business. Your products are your books so don’t treat it like a hobby. Put in the time and effort to be successful.
Instead of just leaving generic comments like “Your post was brilliant,” take a moment to provide true insight. Explain why you think it was brilliant. What points stood out and resonated with you?
Networking is about building connections. The only way to do that is use real effort when commenting and building your network. Avoid generic messages and don’t leave cryptic comments. That moves us directly into the next of our book networking tips.
Plan your Networking Time Accordingly
Time is our greatest enemy. It’s going to be the single most limiting obstacle that you’ll come across so it’s important that you spend it wisely. There are thousands of websites and blogs on the internet. You need to be picky about which ones you invest time into because you simply can’t afford to waste time. It’s too valuable.
Follow several book bloggers and keep notes about which ones interact with you the most. Then give them the most effort. Cultivate those people into powerful networking allies.
Make sure you only network with individuals in the same niche as your book. If you write science fiction novels, then networking with historians is probably going to be a waste of time.
Follow the Rules
The last of our book networking tips is to not try finding loopholes in the system. You will not sell more books by simply sharing another person’s content. You will need to develop content of your own and funnel people into your system. Networking will help you accomplish this as long as you follow the rules. When you are on another writer’s platform, you should give them all of your attention. You will be provided specific windows where you can promote your content. Never start pitching yourself in areas where not permitted.
When pitching to a blogger, don’t just blast off generic emails. Look at their rules for contacting them and follow through.
Always Follow These Book Networking Tips
Most writers will list a set of rules that you must follow so make sure you’re paying attention. It’s your job to keep track of changes made to their platform so it’s a good idea to review them periodically.
Networking is a lifelong process. If you want to be a successful writer and sell more books, then you must stay consistent!