We write books to help people solve a problem. Non-fiction addresses specific pain points directly related to the topic while fiction entertains an audience. Books hold a lot of power. They can change lives. Books are a tangible repository of knowledge and organized in a cohesive, organized way. However, the biggest issue is that we live in a world where published authors are being lost in the crowd. Just being a published author is not enough. We need to find ways to gain credibility. Here are some publishing secrets that every author should know.
#1: Treat Publishing Like a Business
One of the biggest mistakes that I see so many new authors make is that they treat publishing like a hobby. Writing a book can be a hobby but publishing is a business. That misconception is what gets so many new authors confused and ultimately, frustrated them into giving up. There is a learning curve in the publishing world.
Book publishing is a business and must be treated as such. As with any business, marketing is where you build an audience. Blogging is one of the best ways for authors to promote themselves but it takes months or years to grow a blog. Be prepared to invest in marketing through social media.
Just writing a book is not enough. You have to market it just as you would any other product in a business.
#2: Traditional Publishing is Not for Everyone
In fact, most new authors are better off self-publishing their book due to the way the process works. Let me explain.
First-time authors are not going to get help from a traditional publisher anyway. They will have to do their own marketing and invest their own money. All of this is done for a lower percentage of royalties. So why do new authors still use traditional publishing? Because they don’t know any better. It’s one of the many publishing secrets that allows traditional publishers to stay in business.
So self-published authors do the same amount of work and get to keep more of their royalties.
The fact is that traditional publishers still bank on the fact that the past approach where authors beg them for publishing slots. Some of these companies are simply unable to let go of their mindset. But if you look at top publishing companies, they have adapted their business models in various ways – one of them is to actually pay guaranteed royalties.
#3: Bloggers Start with a Huge Advantage
Bloggers already have established readers who they can easily move into their book’s sales funnel. But if you don’t have a blog, then you should start one now because it’s the foundation for a powerful author platform. The fact is that most books today are sold online – including print books. Therefore, your marketing will also be focused online. Almost all of the best book marketing methods require a blog in order to be successful.
Plus blogging is a tool that expert writers use for market research. For instance, if you’re not sure how your audience will react to a specific topic, then blog about it first and see what kind of reactions that post receives.
#4: Be Prepared to Invest in Your Book’s Success
If you want to be a successful published author, then you must be willing to invest in your book. As I said above, publishing is a business and all business ventures require an investment. Here are some areas where new authors must invest.
- Editing fees. Writers cannot edit their own book so this one is huge!
- ISBN
- Cover design
- Marketing
Authors must learn to accept that book publishing incurs certain expenses.
Be Prepared to Push Through Difficult Times
I am going to leave you with these final thoughts for this post on publishing secrets. Everyone experiences several points of resistance during the book publishing process. For instance, some authors are going to experience a high level of anxiety when putting their book out there for the world to read. Then when it gets a bad review, they are devastated.
That’s just one form of resistance. My point is that you have to push through this. If you get a bad review, learn from it and move forward. This is true of any problem that comes up during the book publishing process.