Online Marketing For Busy Authors

"There has never been a better time to be an author," says Fauzia Burke, "because for the first time authors have direct access to their readers. While there is more competition in the marketplace, there is also more opportunity."

However, "readers don't just expect a new book, they expect a community along with their book. You'll need to evolve your marketing to accommodate this new kind of reader: a reader whose loyalty you can have -- once you have earned it," explains Burke.

Because of this new dynamic and opportunity for authors, Burke, founder and president of FSB Associates, wrote her new book, Online Marketing for Busy Authors: A Step-by-Step Guide.

Burke has been promoting books online for twenty years and her book addresses the major concern of most authors: how to spend their time effectively promoting their book and expanding they brands online while writing the best book possible.

The book is organized in three phases:

Understanding personal branding and why it is important to you.
Turning your priorities into action.
Staying the course and how to continue working without feeling burnout.

Burke covers these topics, as well:

Building your website
Blogging
Fan mailing lists
Social media and social networking
Promoting without being promotional

Today, Burke answered these questions about her book:

Question & Answer with Fauzia Burke

Author of Online Marketing for Busy Authors: A Step-by-Step Guide

Question: Do you believe many authors confuse the need for a blog versus the need for a website, and why is that?

Burke: I think there is a lot of confusing terminology and information on the web. It's easy for authors to get lost. My philosophy is authors need both a website to present the story of their career, and a blog to share the value of their expertise and writing style.

A website is an extension of a resume and it helps authors build trust with their readers. Which is why it is so important to have a professional website. People do judge a book by its cover, and they judge an author's professionalism and quality of writing by the look of their website. That's why I tell authors that it's better to not have a website than to have a poorly designed and outdated one.

Here's some good news though. Despite popular belief, a good website doesn't have to be expensive or complicated. Authors can keep it simple. WordPress is a great platform because it's author-friendly, easy-to-use and easy for people to find (good search capabilities). Some of my clients are starting to use Squarespace with some success.

Blogs continue to be the best way for authors to drive traffic to their website and build an author platform. A blog is also the foundation of an author's online marketing strategy because it helps people find and learn from that author. As I say to authors, "If people can't find you, they can't buy your books." Authors can blog on their own websites, or better yet, blog for a bigger site to get more exposure. LinkedIn and Medium make it easy for everyone to blog and build a following.

Question: What are the primary reasons for an author to engage a publicist even if they glean great tips and techniques from your book?

Burke: My book is an excellent place to start learning how to build an online platform. There are also many other good books on marketing and on DIY publicity. Book publicity is not rocket science, but it is time consuming and labor intensive. In my experience, most authors would rather write their next book than spend hours and hours chasing down publicity options.

Plus, marketing and publicity is more complicated today (even for professionals) due to numerous options and ever-changing social media landscape, but it is also more exciting and measurable than ever before. Ideally, where authors spend their money, time and talent should be a calculated and customized decision, and with the right advisor/publicist, it can be.

When you work directly with a publicity firm, you are paying for their time, expertise, advice and valuable access to media contacts and established relationships. With the right connections, you will get more quality media exposure for your book and in less time.

Question: Why is it so important to create the reader profile?

Burke: As authors we might hope the book we write appeals to the masses, but books and online marketing efforts are a lot more successful when we know the audience we are targeting. As I tell my clients, there is no everyone.com.

It's important for authors to know their audience, because then every piece of content they create will be on target with their readership. And when they begin to formulate their online marketing strategy they will have a better idea of where to find their audience and what that audience needs from them.

The identification of the majority of our readers is directly related to the quality of our marketing plan. Knowing your readers will save you valuable time and help you make better decisions with your time, resources and efforts.

Fauzia Burke is the founder and president of FSB Associates, an online publicity and marketing firm specializing in creating awareness for books and authors.

Fauzia has promoted the books of authors such as Alan Alda, Arianna Huffington, Deepak Chopra, Melissa Francis, S. C. Gwynne, Mika Brzezinski, Charles Spencer and many more. A nationally recognized speaker and online branding expert, Fauzia writes for the Huffington Post, Maria Shriver and MindBodyGreen. For online marketing, book publishing and social media advice, follow Fauzia on Twitter (@FauziaBurke) and Facebook (Fauzia S. Burke). For more information on the book, please visit: www.FauziaBurke.com.

Comments

Six-pillar Roadmap For How To Move From Merely Surviving To Truly Mattering

In the new book, The Mattering Effect: Creating A Life Of Meaning And Worth , podcaster and author John R. Miles reframes today’s most common struggles and empowers individuals and institutions alike to break bad habits and reclaim a sense of worth and belonging. “Organizations have spent the last decade chasing 'engagement' and 'psychological safety,' yet global productivity is stalling and 60% of employees report they do not feel valued in the places where they spend their days,” shares Miles. He calls this “The Great Erasure”—a condition where high-achievers become highly visible to the organization while becoming invisible to themselves. In addition, Miles argues that many of today’s most common struggles—burnout, anxiety, loneliness, and disengagement—are not personal failures or mindset problems. They are the result of unmattering: the gradual erosion of felt significance within modern systems that reward performance while overlooking presence. Fortu...

Seven Ways To Be A Collaborative Leader

Edward M. Marshall 's book, Transforming The Way We Work -- The Power Of The Collaborative Workplace , remains relevant today, more than a decade after Marshall wrote it. Particularly useful is the book's section that teaches readers how to be a collaborative leader. Marshall says that there are seven different, important roles and responsibilities of collaborative leaders when leading teams , and those leaders should select the appropriate style to meet the team's needs. The seven roles are : The leader as sponsor -- You provide strategic direction, boundaries and coaching for the team. You also monitor progress and ensure integrity in the team's operating processes. The leader as facilitator -- You ensure that meetings, team dynamics, and interpersonal relationships function effectively. You also ensure internal coordination of activities among team members. The leader as coach -- You provide support and guidance and you serve as a sounding board. The lea...

Questions You'll Likely Be Asked At Your Next Job Interview

Many Human Resource (HR) managers have moved away from questions like "What's your weakness?" and prefer behavior-based questions , which ask you to: describe how you handled specific situations at your former jobs If you are about to interview for your next leadership position, be prepared for questions like these (from an article in Reader's Digest ): Tell me about a time when your integrity was challenged . What was the situation, and what did you do? Tell me about a time you had to work with someone you did not personally like . If you could come to work with only three tools to get your job done, what would they be ? What personal and professional development have you been engaged in outside the workplace over the past year? Describe your Outlook calendar on a typical day

More Leadership Quotes From John C. Maxwell

The real gems in John C. Maxwell's book, Everyone Communicates Few Connect , book are the abundant leadership and communication quotes, such as these: To add value to others, one must first value others. People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude. All good communicators get to the point before their listeners start asking, "What's the point?" The first time you say something, it's heard. The second time, it's recognized, and the third time it's learned. In the end, people are persuaded not by what we say, but by what they understand. People pay attention when something that is said connects with something they greatly desire. Maxwell also says that: Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could . The book covers five principles and five practices to help readers so they can connect one-on-one, in a group, or...

High-Performing Teams Are Made Of This

According to Ron Ricci and Carl Wiese, authors of the book, The Collaboration Imperative , high-performing teams have the following characteristics: People have solid and deep trust in each other and in the team's purpose--they feel free to express feelings and ideas. Everybody is working toward the same goals. Team members are clear on how to work together and how to accomplish tasks. Everyone understands both team and individual performance goals and knows what is expected. Team members actively diffuse tension and friction in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. The team engages in extensive discussion, and everyone gets a chance to contribute--even the introverts. Disagreement is viewed as a good thing and conflicts are managed. Criticism is constructive and is oriented toward problem solving and removing obstacles. The team makes decisions when there is natural agreement--in the cases where agreement is elusive, a decision is made by the team lead or executiv...

Decide

Many years ago, I worked with a person who could not make decisions. Neither big nor small decisions. That indecisiveness paralyzed our business in many ways. Unfortunately, the book, Decide: Work Smarter, Reduce Your Stress, and Lead by Example , had not been published. Had it, I would have shared it with my co-worker. Decide , published this past February, teaches readers how to make better decisions based on the real results they want to experience. The author, Steve McClatchy, explains how to use the two forms of human motivation -- Gain, or Prevent Pain , to make more effective decisions. For example, he demonstrates how inserting a Gain task in the middle of a Prevent Pain day can give you the energy you need to move forward and make the Prevent Pain tasks take less time through motivation. Deeper into the book, you'll be reminded about not only the problems with procrastination, but also about the benefits of procrastination, and, if you are ...

5 Compelling Benefits Of Having An Ethical Culture

In Andrew Leigh's book, Ethical Leadership , he provides these compelling and important benefits of having an ethical culture in your business/organization: Customers prefer dealing with companies who put ethics at the center of their culture. Most employees would prefer to earn less working for an ethical company than being paid more and working for an unethical company. More than one in three people at work say they've left a job because they've disagreed with the company's ethical standards ( Trevino, L and Nelson, K - 2011 ) If you adopt an early warning system against misconduct it reduces the risk of you facing expensive litigation. An ethical culture helps you make your company a strong affirming place to work in. "The foundations of an ethical culture include values, attitudes, meaning, behaviors, purpose, and management practices," explains Leigh.

Make It Easy For Your Employees To Volunteer

Start planning now for this year's National Volunteer Week, April 15-21 . That's the week when nonprofit organizations throughout the U.S. will celebrate and honor their volunteers. If you are not already volunteering, what a great time to start. Make a commitment to yourself to start volunteering before that week starts! And, if you are a workplace leader who supports a volunteer program at your business, you already know that by encouraging employees to give back to your community you are: building teamwork motivating employees attracting new hires In fact, job seekers much prefer companies that have a strong volunteer program. And, a growing number of businesses are rewarding employees who volunteer by giving them extra vacation time and other incentives. Fortunately, throughout the U.S. there are hundreds of volunteer opportunities where employees can contribute individually, or where leaders can organize teams of employees to volunteer together on a routin...

Good Coach Versus Bad Coach

Former Verizon Wireless CEO, Denny F. Strigl offers these tips for how to be a good coach to an employee. He explains that good coaches help performers by : Keeping them focused. Giving them objective, helpful feedback. Acting as a sounding board for new approaches. Identifying blind spots that may be holding the performer back. Reinforcing key values, principles, and behaviors that improve performance. Recognizing positive behavior and performance. Providing encouragement after setbacks and failures Setting "stretch" goals. Acting as an accountability partner. Strigl believes that some managers fail in their coaching roles because they : View coaching as babysitting. See coaching as only correcting performance. Don't spend enough time with their employees. Are reluctant to criticize. Have social relationships with their employees. Have a "sink-or-swim" philosophy. Believe coaching is not helpful or meaningful. "Coaching may...

How Will The Value Of Your Days Be Measured?

I recommend that all leaders every so often read the What Will Matter poem by Michael Josephson . It serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of unselfishly serving and leading with character. I've highlighted in bold and in color my favorite parts of the poem: Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won't matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end. It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brillian...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog