Did you Write a Book? Good... Now what?
I think about this story quite often when I am dealing with
authors and writers. They wrote a book. Now what? Publish? Self-Publish? And what about book marketing? Do they hire a book coach?
They have such knowledge and enthusiasm for their ideas
and topics, unfortunately many of them, especially new writers and authors seldom
give little if any thought to who will be buying their books and where and how
they will be getting them.
I often ask these writers, "who is going to be the recipient
of your book?" Most writers simply tell me "they are going to sell them". My
next question is "where will you sell them?" Most people respond with
"bookstores and the Internet". Then the tough question, "and how are you going
to go about doing this?" That's when I get met with a blank stare.
Many writers, especially new ones, have often given little
thought to where and how they are going to go about selling and distributing
their books. When you think about it, most new authors and writers are so
absorbed in their manuscripts they have little time to even think about selling
their books, aside from a few fleeting thoughts. I tell all of them, the
purpose of printing your own book is to get it into the hands of readers.
Getting books into the hands of readers can be done many ways.
Some people write and print small runs of books, solely for
immediate family and friends. Others have more lofty regional, national and
international distribution ideas. Both ideas of getting books into reader's
hands are good, but one takes much more thought and much more work than the
other, but both have the right idea.
I was interviewed by a television Creative Director a short
time ago; she asked me "what advice could you pass along to anyone thinking
about writing their first book." My answer was immediate and definite "think
about who the audience is for your book and how you will go about getting that
book into the hands of your audience". I went on to tell her, if every author
thought about who their audience was, and how they were going to market their
book, they would have a much better chance of having a more successful book
project, that everyone would benefit more from ... the author, the printer and
most of all the readers.
What I hate seeing, are talented authors with wonderful
manuscripts or books, trying to determine after the fact how and were they can
sell their books. In many ways they are no different than the young man I
encountered years ago who had a roll of film and was looking for a place to use
it, the film, just like a manuscript ... not matter how good it is, needs to have
place for it to fit in.
About the Author
Colin Knecht is a co-founder of Bookmark Self Publishing , a
revolutionary new company dedicated to help authors
achieve the dream of printing and selling their books.
Find out more at Bookmark Self Publishing
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