Utilizing A Career In Marketing And Business To Get A Book To Market By Donna Galanti

Wow, it's been a long time since we've had a post on Marketing Tips For Authors. It looks like my computer and traveling issues are behind me and I'm looking forward to getting caught back up. To help "relaunch" the blog, we have a guest author Donna Galanti to kick us off today. She will be giving some practical advice on marketing your book.









Utilizing A Career In Marketing And Business To Get A Book To Market



The experts say, build an author platform and network before you get published. This was true as well in my former marketing career. I often created a buzz before the product was even finished. Becoming visible is more crucial to landing a book deal than ever, according to agents, authors, and editors. Writing that book isn't enough anymore. Being an author today means being a small-business owner.  Aspiring authors need to develop a marketing platform to create that built-in audience. Here are some ways I'm transitioning a former career in marketing and business to an author career.



1. Build a brand look.

We all know what brand this is. Coke has it. Nike has it. For my resume business I created an image and message I flowed through my brochures, business cards, and website. This was my "marketing kit".  As an author, you need a marketing kit too with a consistent brand image.  Create your author image now and carry it over into your social media to build your "author brand" and recognition. When I marketed products I included press releases, news, bios, testimonials, and awards in that marketing kit. You can add this to your "kit" too as you become more established in your author role.



2. Know your product.

In my marketing career I had navigated towards new positions. I enjoyed going into a company that had no marketing lead and helping build their brand, message, and visibility from the ground up. I had to find the best places to showcase their products. To get up to speed I attended product training, followed our competition and industry giants, and researched industry trade shows and publications. The same can be said for getting a book to market. I read books in my genre (other products or "the competition"). I also created my sub-list, or submission list. This was a list of ten or so books that were similar to mine. The books where mine would fit on the same shelf (best place to showcase my product). I attended writing conferences (industry trade shows). I researched the craft of writing to improve mine (I learned from the industry giants). I Googled blogs of suspense authors and searched for them on Facebook and Twitter (followed what other authors are doing in the "business").



3. Be passionate about your product  (hint: it's not just your book).

When I marketed products I didn't enjoy the aspect of selling then, but when it came to selling my own product I did. When I launched my resume writing business, I discovered that people were buying me not just my service. I was passionate about the service I provided. In establishing a rapport with potential clients I came to enjoy a 99% close-rate on that first phone call booking them for a resume consultation. This floored me! The same goes for promoting your book, published yet or not. People will feed off your passion and enthusiasm for your book whether it's friends, acquaintances, or agents. Being passionate and knowledgeable about your book goes far. So perfect that pitch, know your book, be excited about it – then go sell it.



4. Connect and be found.

Today even small businesses need to connect with their customers through social media.  In the first year of my resume business, 95% of my resume business came from online advertising, not print. As an author you also need to be found online. On Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, LibraryThing, IndieBound, LinkedIn. Follow those agents you're interested in and authors in your genre. Start a blog. Add tags (keywords) to bottom of your blog posts so they can be found in a web search by keyword. Become involved in the online community and forums within your genre.



You never know who will promote your knowledge. For example, one of my writing peers, Jon Gibbs, commented on a forum recently through a highly-regarded blog. The owner of that blog, Nathan Bransford, an agent and author, posted the article on his front page. Jon connected and was "found" because he presented information of value. And don't forget your "street team", friends and family. Promote your book, blog, and website to them. Ask them to promote you as well.



5. Referrals.

After 3 years in business, 50% of my new resume business came from referrals. You can do the same as an unpublished author. Other authors out there will refer their network of people to you if you provide value in your blog posts, tweets, commentary on their blogs. Referrals are about one thing. Relationships. If you build positive relationships with others they will spread the word about you. And you can do the same for other authors by referring them.



6. Always be ready to pitch.

When I operated my resume business I created a one minute elevator speech about my service and its benefits. I always had a business card to hand out. I never knew where I might strike up conversations with people in need of my service. As an author today this is where the business of writing comes in to play. Have that book pitch ready so when someone asks "What's your book about?" you can confidently tell them and pass them your card.



7. Know your market.

For my resume business I focused on mid-level professionals as that is what I had been. I understood their career issues and they knew the value in spending money on a well-written resume. As an author ask yourself, are there special qualities, issues, or settings in your book that appeal to certain groups? Hikers, teens, mountain climbers, veterinarians? Find those groups on Twitter and listen to their conversations. Mention your book or blog when relevant. Does your book feature a certain locale? Post photos of those places along with mention of your book on a blog post.



8. Join a professional organization and network.

As a former marketer and business owner, I wanted to learn from the master's. I joined industry organizations and attended conferences to do that. I benefited from my established peers and realized I didn't need to re-invent the wheel in marketing. It's the same being a writer. We can learn from other writers to improve our craft, promote ourselves, and get published.



As a marketing manager I was part of a team. I couldn't "market" alone. I needed everyone's experience and advice to best market our products. Writing is a solitude job but we can't market our books alone either. Band together and learn from your peers. If you write children's books – join SCBWI. If you are a thriller writer – join Thriller Writers of America. And keep up to date on the industry by checking out Publisher's Weekly daily news. Attend regional writing conferences.  Even better, volunteer at them. I volunteered to pick up agent's coming in from New York to one conference and had two agents in my car to pitch to. Also, make sure you follow up after the conference with those new contacts. 



9. Piggyback off others. Share advertising.

As a former marketing manager I networked with other companies in the industry that had products complementing ours. In doing so, we often shared advertising space and promoted each other on our websites. This expanded our audience reach to our target market, reduced advertising costs, and created free advertising.  As an author, invite other authors to do guest blogs on your site and promote their website in your blog roll. You may be asked to do the favor in return. 



Start a blog with a group of authors and expand your publicity. This greatly expands your author reach by sharing your combined knowledge to a wider audience. Check out some author pals of mine who did just this at Author Chronicles. Another blog of thriller writers who combined their forces and YA writers. When you become published take your blog to the next level and collaborate with your author group to do signings together, give workshops, and author network sessions. A good example of a successful writer's group that does just this (and I'm very lucky to have local in my backyard) is The Philadelphia Liars Club.



10. Position yourself as an expert. 

In building my resume business I wanted to position myself as an expert. I wrote articles with resume advice and submitted to local print and online news, gaining free publicity. Even as an aspiring published author you can do this. You can share your path to publication (after all, what am I doing here?). What you learn from your peers and mentors can benefit other writers. Write about it in your blog. Share it in forums and workshops. Offer to write blog posts for other blogs. They will love the material for their site and it spreads your name and blog.  Ask them to do the same for your blog.



11. Toot your own horn – and others too!

When I marketed products, I promoted our awards and recognitions. I also researched awards to apply to. You can do the same thing as a writer. Look for contests to your submit short stories, flash fiction, poetry, and novel excerpts. Win any writing or blogger awards? Win an agent critique? Promote it on your blog and through social media.  Reach out to the other current winners to interview for your website.



Sent out ten Facebook requests to published authors you read asking for an interview on your blog. You may get one "yes". Then send out ten more requests. This can greatly boost your blog readership with "star power". Lastly, if you enjoy a book, write a review for your blog or on GoodReads. Send the author the link and let them know how much you enjoyed it. Promotion of them, brings back around promotion of you. So, don't let your social networking be all about you. Always include your bio in any post/article so folks can link back to you.



Good luck getting your book to market!



BIO:



Donna Galanti is a freelance writer for an advertising agency and the former owner of a resume writing services company. She has a background in communications and marketing, after being a photographer in the U.S. Navy and meandering life adrift for awhile.



She wanted to become a writer when she was seven and fell in love with the worlds of Narnia and Roald Dahl. She lived at the time in England, where she attended school in a Harry Potter kind of castle. The itchy uniform was a treat with bowling hat and tie included. She now lives in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse with her son, husband, and two crazy cats. It has lots of nooks, fireplaces, and stink bugs, but she's still wishing for a castle again someday.



Donna has her paranormal suspense out on submission, A Human Element, and is currently working on a psychological suspense novel. She is also busy writing an adventure middle grade book as a student in Jonathan Maberry's and Marie Lamba's Novel in 9 Months Class. She is a member of the Greater Lehigh Valley Writer's Group. Her memoir on boot camp in the 1980's, Letters from Boot Camp, is available on Amazon. She recently won first prize for the Words on the Wall contest at the Philadelphia Writer's Conference.



Twitter @DonnaGalanti

Blog:  www.donnagalanti.com

Website: www.lettersfrombootcamp.com

E-mail: donnasgalanti@comcast.net

Facebook: @DonnaBeckleyGalanti


















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Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests . His new novel, The Lottery Ticket , was just recently released on Kindle.