Market Your Book With a Plan

THE BUSINESS OF MARKETING
YOU AND YOUR BOOK
JoAnne Funch
Marketing Consultant, Speaker, Social Media Trainer, Blogger, Writer
Bloomington, MN Annual Writer’s Festival

THERE IS NO LUCK
INVOLVED IN SELLING
YOUR BOOK – IT TAKES
MARKETING TO GET
KNOWN!
JoAnne Funch | Marketing Consultant & Social Media Trainer | www.MarketingDish.com

JoAnne Funch
-Marketing Consultant
- Social Media Trainer
- Author
- Blogger
- Speaker
JoAnne Funch | Marketing Consultant & Social Media Trainer | www.MarketingDish.com

3 Common Mistakes Authors Make
Most authors don't even have a book marketing
budget
 Authors make the costly mistake thinking they
can do it all alone
And they don’t treat marketing like the business
it is.
REMEMBER….Books don’t promote authors,
authors promote books!
And that means you need a plan
JoAnne Funch | Marketing Consultant & Social Media Trainer
www.MarketingDish.com

Good News
Marketing can be learned!
It’s your job to educate yourself
whether you do it yourself or
hire a marketing consultant or
coach
JoAnne Funch | Marketing Consultant & Social Media Trainer |

Where can you learn?
- Ask a lot of questions of successful authors
- Follow what successful authors do, how does
their website look, what do they say on social
media
- Do research on Amazon
- Attend events such as this
- Invest in online classes or in-person workshops
- Hire a consultant or coach
- Hire a PR professional to get you exposure

To approach your author brand &
writing life as a business you must be:
Intentional with WHY
and set goals

When developing a marketing strategy it
begins with these 3 questions:
1. Decide who matters: this is your narrowly defined ideal client/reader
2. Be Different: What can you do that differentiates yourself from the rest of the
market?
3. Connect the dots: take the info the ideal client/reader, add in how you are going
to be different than the competition in your genre & create your strategy.

Remember…
You Are Your Brand

JoAnne Funch | Marketing Consultant & Social Media
Trainer | www.MarketingDish.com
Dr. Oz …his name is his brand
When you buy his books,
you know that HE is the brand.
YOU can get a big boost when you
write a book
A book is the number one way to
brand your business and get big
credibility as well as visibility.

Other examples:
Business came before the book!
Book added credibility to an established platform

Marketing includes developing
your brand
Create a map of your current and
planned brand or platform

Courtesy of Kristen Brown – HappyHourEffect.com

Platform tactics include:
Experience:
Personal – your personal experience counts!
Weave your story, personality, challenges and life experience into your messaging
Creates an authentic, trustworthy and REAL author brand.
Professional – include relevant elements of your professional experience even if
your day job is unrelated to your book topic.
It lends credibility to your work.
Include in: bio on your website and social media pages.
These are all valuable traits that your audience will value – especially agents,
publishers and the media.
Presentation –Emulate your personality in what you wear, how you network,
where you hang out and what you put out there into the world in social media, PR
and marketing.
Be unique but be YOU. Don’t be something that you’re not.

LOOK FOR OTHER
STREAMS OF INCOME

Products –
Think beyond your book.
How can you create additional products that tie to your expertise
whether you write fiction or non-fiction.
White papers
eBooks
Character guides (fiction writers)
Coaching programs
Merchandise tied to your book
Live events
Training manuals
Membership websites
Think big and re-purpose your content.

#1 - Be sure you have a
website that is up to date

A website informs, it is a marketing tool
Tips for a successful website:
Know your targeted audience before you write your website or
blog
Know the purpose of your site before you spend time and
money
Put fresh content on your site frequently, you can generally
accomplish this on your blog, but also on your events page
Know your keywords and be consistent in writing your content
for the website and blog, this will make a difference in your
being found in a Google search

What seems obvious…
List all your published books with the links to buy those books and digital
downloads on your home page

Readers love to meet authors, highlight your upcoming appearances
Your website should reflect your personality, the design should be unique
to you and your work

Be sure you have a
contact page
Always have a
testimonials page –
social proof is valuable
Easy Navigation

#2-Social Media posts
should inform

5 Best Social Media Accounts
• Facebook
• Twitter
• You Tube
• Blog
• LinkedIn if business
related
Stop the overwhelm by only focusing on 1 or 2 sites at a time

• Stop collecting friends,
followers and contacts1
• Focus on your target
audience2
• Create & follow monthly
themes3
Social strategy tips

JoAnne Funch | Marketing Consultant & Social Media Trainer
| www.MarketingDish.com
Create & follow
monthly themes
For blogging
and
Social media
…again, this will save you time!

Write posts according to the space you are in…
Twitter is 140 characters
Facebook
CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS!

#3-Build an engaging
blog

If you are a writer – a blog is the most
natural next step!!!
5 Tips to bring more attention to your blog:
• Humanize your blog, stay true to your
brand/topic
• Add great images
• Focus on adding value to your reader
• Share behind the scene stories
• Layout should be easy to read – add white
space and bullets

#4-Share your expertise

Submit articles on your expertise to major
sites that get a lot of traffic such as:
and sites specific to your niche
Reporters want your expertise!
http://www.helpareporter.com/

#5-Email Marketing
• Lead generation tool
• Let’s you reach out to people interested in
what you have to say more effectively than
a social media post

Email Capture
• Website should include an offer a free special report or
something relating to your book and/or market niche in
exchange for the visitor’s e-mail address
• The key is to provide a good enough offer so people will
find value in giving you their name & email address

Summary
• Books don’t promote authors, authors promote books!
• You need a plan for marketing
• Know your budget
• Learn from other authors, consultants or coaches
• You are your brand
• Create a map of your current and planned brand or platform
• Look for other streams of income
• 5 ways to be more visible
- Up to date website
- Create social media posts that inform
- Build an engaging blog
- Share your expertise with reporters & influential websites
- Email marketing

Hungry to learn more?
JoAnne Funch
Marketing is like a recipe you cook, it
doesn’t work without the right
ingredients!
I can help you market yourself and your
book.
Contact: joanne@marketingdish.com

Market Your Book With a Plan

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