Authors, Do Your Research or Phone a Publishing Friend
There are real costs to not knowing what you don’t know
Most authors and aspiring authors already know enough and are enough — have enough skills and chutzpah — to do something productive on behalf of their books and author business right now. Their problem is failing to act on what they know. They don’t understand that done is better than perfect, now is better than later, courage is better than confidence. They have yet to implement a bias towards action.
But even if every author knows enough in any given moment to propel their author business forward, it doesn’t mean there aren’t real costs to not knowing what you don’t know. As I heard Rachel Rodgers put it so plainly in a webinar: It’s a knowledge tax. Pay for the help you need or pay the tax. Because there are costs to flailing and being stuck and repeating the same things and getting the same undesirable or meh results:
costs to our mood, energy levels, and self-esteem;
opportunity costs for what we’re missing;
falling behind rather than getting ahead; and
lost income, personal and financial growth, learning and satisfaction.
Do Your Reseach
How do you not pay a knowledge tax as an author? Ongoing research. Ongoing knowledge acquistion. Pay for the help you need by spending time always upping your understanding of book publishing, book marketing, book selling, author business, author business models, etc. Learn new perspectives from a wide range of authors and industry pros, stay up-to-date on publishing trends, and keep eyes and ears open for new sales and marketing ideas that might work for you and your books.
Start here
Start here on Substack (or Medium) with my 250+ articles for authors, author businesses, book promoters, and anyone wanting a holistic view of the publishing industry and making income related to book writing. Topics available:
Author Income Types
Book Production and Self-Publishing
Business Development and Solopreneurship
Events and Speaking Gigs
Marketing, Advertising, Branding, Media Coverage, and Social Media
Money and Financial
Productivity, Excellence, and Mindset
Reading Books
Relationships and Communication
Sales, Customers, and Doing 5 Things a Day
Self-Coaching for Authors
Writing
Havwe you subscribed to this Substack?
There truly are countless other resources. You have to find the ones that serve you and your interests and knowledge deficiences, then apply what make sense. Here are some resources I often recommend.
Websites
JaneFriedman.com — For go-to advice on the NYC publishing world, traditional publishing, and preparing book proposals. In these areas, my best advice is just trust Jane and do what she says.
MarkMalatesta.com — For go-to advice on finding and working with literary agents. But the real prize is that Malatesta has a free, comprehensive, searchable directory of literary agents on his site, which you can access by clicking on “free membership” (on his lefthand vertical menu) and entering your name and email address. (You will be on his email list but he rarely sends things.)
Substack
Book Marketing Success — The Substack of John Kremer, author of the tome 1,001 Ways to Market Your Books. I’m his forever fan since learning from him on the online 800-person Pub-Forum of the 1990s and every new edition of his book marketing classic.
Podcasts
The Author’s Corner with Robin Colucci — Robin Colucci is the owner of World Changing Books, a company that nurtures the books of thought leaders into existence. She brings listeners her own insights, inspiration, and strategies, as well as those of top authors and industry experts.
Book Marketing Tips & Author Success — Penny Sansevieri and Amy Cornell, the duo behind the Author Marketing Experts company, use their podcast for fun, chatty conversations on book marketing, heavy on digital, Amazon, and self-publishing topics.
The Creative Penn Podcast for Authors— Joanna Penn grew her author advice empire after achieving her own successes as a self-published author and is now a top 1% podcaster. Her mirthful, lighthearted podcast is a mix of her personal experiences and industry news and commentrary, followed by a long interview with a guest author or publishing pro.
Google It
We know, we know. Yet too many of us fail to remember to just ask Google (or your preferred search engine) for what we need to know. Consider queries like these for your book marketing needs:
Top 50 regional publications for x area.
Top poetry (or your genre, theme, etc.) podcasts, top poetry book clubs, top poetry organizations, top poetry bookstores, top poetry publications, top poetry book contests.
Open mics near me.
Best U.S. outdoor book fairs.
Biggest YouTube channels devoted to x.
AI It
Instead of thinking of it as “artificial” intelligence, think of AI as a tool that generates responses from our collective human intelligence. A new type of search engine on steroids. Here are some sample prompts you might try with ChatGPT or other AI model/platform in your quest for help and knowing what you might not yet know:
What are some suggested author collaborations to promote my new book on x (or in x genre with x major themes, etc.)?
What are the best offline ways to launch my new book?
What are major and minor themes of my x novel in x genre set in x location that I can use for media pitches?
What types of stores other than bookstores sell books?
What is a simple way an author can get started with digital marketing funnels?
How can an author coach help me support my author goals? (ok, blatant plug for author coaching here)
Or Phone a Publishing Friend
You can do your own research or you can phone a publishing friend. If you want to get all your questions answered in one pop and brainstorm with an expert who can also advise on options, costs, alternatives, best paths forward, etc., consider scheduling a one-hour call with a publishing pro through my company, Conspire Creative (thank you for permitting this plug).
Sharon Woodhouse (me)
I, Sharon Woodhouse, answer questions and provide advice on author businesses; your best path forward; book marketing approaches; customized sales and marketing; entrepreneurial publishing; finding an agent; finding a publisher; legacy, corporate, and special occasion books; publishing challenges; publishing options; self-publishing vs. hybrid publishing vs. traditional publishing; and Wix.
Celeste Anton
Celeste Anton answers questions and provides advice on advertising with Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon; author websites; blogging best practices; digital marketing; email automations; funnels; Mailchimp; and Wordpress.
Patricia Billings
Patricia Billings answers questions and provides advice on bilingual books, children’s book publishing, foreign language translations, inclusive publishing, international publishing, market positioning for books and authors, and multicultural publishing.
Sylvia Frank Rodrigue
Sylvia Frank Rodrigue answers questions and provides advice on peer review, scholarly publishing, university presses, working with an acquisitions editor, and working with a copyeditor.
Bull Garlington
Bull Garlington answers questions and provides advice on copywriting; freelance writing and pitching media for author/book promotion; humor writing; marketing kits for self-published and self-publicized authors; public speaking for authors — bookstores, libraries, and beyond; ticketed author events — marketing, curations, management, and sales; and working with bookstores on events.
Daniel G. King
Daniel G. King answers questions and provides advice on adapting your work for screens, the business of writing for film and TV, pitching/submitting film and TV ideas, and screenwriting (all formats and genres).
Tristra Newyear Yeager
Tristra Newyear Yeager answers questions and provides advice on building a doable press plan, crafting a press-friendly book announcement and bio, media angles for you and your books, PR beyond book reviews, and thought leadership.
We’re Your Publishing Friend!
If an income-generating, sustainable author life matters to you, then join us here! It’s only $8/month to try out or $72/year, which amounts to investing about 20 cents a day on behalf of your goals. It’s worth it. Guaranteed. Any time you don’t think you’re getting your money’s worth, please request a refund.