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Book marketing seems to have the Field of Dreams authors at one end of the scale (if I write it, readers will come), and the snake oil buyers at the other.
If only it were that simple. Unfortunately, like most things in life, it’s a case of showing up and doing the work. Lots of work. But people are always looking for the quick fix.
I’m a long-time admirer of Jane Friedman, but haven’t heard of the two men you’ve mentioned. But I like the sound of what they have to say, and I’ll definitely check out Known. Thanks for sharing!
ReplySee, it seems like there’s a dawning thought revolution. An author-reality akin to the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign, before it turned ugly. Let’s link arms & march forward together into reality, ya wanna?
ReplySee? I’m not the only one on the truth-serum. It seems like there’s an author’s movement starting, akin to Dove’s Real Beauty campaign, before it went sour. Waddaya say we lock arms and barrel forward into no-bullshit land together? C’mon! It’ll be fun!
ReplyJena, picking up on the classic rock theme! Awwwriiiight. But seriously, the friends thing is a key to success in all this. Shoot, I’m here, right now, because Rachel is a good friend of mine…and my books are where they are, right now, in part thanks to Rachel’s friendship! Win, win, win.
ReplyI’ll be sharing this all over the place. Every time I see a poster on FB asking for advice about whether $2000 or $5000 or whatever is too much to pay a publisher to publish their book, I die a little inside.
Def yes on Jane Friedman. I also love Janice Hardy but she’s more on the writing end than marketing.
ReplyRiiiight? There are SO many hands out, ready to pick our pockets. I guess that’s the same for anybody, with any dream. If our driving need was perfect beauty, there’s plenty of plastic surgery and Sephora scams for that; if we needed to cross a border, we’d have a coyote whispering promises in our ears. We got be smarter, and humbler, and more patient than the sticky-finger scumbags.
ReplyFunny you should mention publishing one’s bank statements online, because that seems like one of the big things the shadiest marketers do! They show you that they’re making millions of dollars a year, and then throw in some quickie disclaimers about how these results aren’t typical, but still expect us to believe that if we buy their products, our bank accounts will become similarly enlarged. So, seeing screen shots of people’s accounts usually sends up a red flag, especially when they conveniently forget to tell you that most of that cash comes from teaching people whatever bogus methods they’re shilling, NOT from book sales.
ReplyI could see how you can look at it that way, Laura. The thing is with Jane, you can easily go check her rankings on Amazon and see where she is and that she’s clearly selling books. She’s also well-known in the industry and a teacher as well (her books are college textbooks). Your comment is a good caution for writers — don’t get pulled in by false claims, absolutely. That could be a great future post, in fact!
For my content here this month for this initiative: Cyndy is the real deal, as is Jane. I wouldn’t have anyone here on #NaNoProMo that I hadn’t personally vetted. Hope that helps!
ReplyThanks for the clarification, Rachel. I do subscribe to Jane’s mailing list, since she’s such a well-respected source and has been around the block several times. It’s just frustrating to see how this kind of well-meaning proof can be so easily twisted by unscrupulous types. Otherwise, I am enjoying the NaNoProMo posts so far, so thank you for organizing this event!
ReplyHashtag Gross. But click that link, take a look at Jane’s breakdown. It is doing EXACTLY what you’re saying the other guys don’t do: she’s putting it right out there for people, like, “I make .2% of my earnings off of book sales.” The woman is so honest, it’s like she drinks bleach for breakfast.
Wait, did that even makes sense?
ReplyThis was another great post. I wasn’t expecting marketing to be easy but accepting that you need to learn to succeed pretty much goes with everything in life. I really want to ch class out these titles.
ReplyPatience and persistence, baby. Those are the traits I’ve been working on developing. And yes, go check those titles out! Or, you know…WIN ’em! hahahaha fingers crossed!
ReplyI’m happily adding these 3 to my TBR list… I appreciated you calling out the “long term” aspects of building an audience.
ReplyYeah. That. I take full responsibility for my own fantasies of easy, fast success. But damn. I’ve been doing this book-authoring thing for nearly a decade, voraciously reading the experts’ advice all along. Was I subconsciously ignoring that vital tidbit until two weeks ago, or is NOBODY putting that hard fact out there? It takes a long, ass, time to build that audience. It takes a ton of consistent work. Period. Argh.
ReplyWhat an interesting/helpful collection of books and seeing the comments from others who follow Jane make me think I’m missing out…off to go check her out!
ReplyOh my God, you’re a Jane newbie? Prepare to be launched into author wonderland. I bet you were up all night reading her years’ worth of brilliance!
ReplyI’ve been following Jane since I first heard about her. She’s amazing. The other two are new to me. Still learning all I can about the business side of writing. Thanks for this series of posts, Rachel.
ReplyIt takes a lonnnng time for all of it to sink in, to settle. There’s SO much out there. For me, half of the work is figuring out which handful of things I should focus on, as opposed to trying to tackle EVERY damn thing!
ReplyThanks so much, Cyndy, and Rachel for choosing such great guest writers. Such a helpful review of these books, and I can’t believe I had never even heard of Perennial Seller. Added it to my Kindle right away.
ReplyYeah, Perrenial Seller gave me SO much perspective. When I start hyperventilating with fear about “not getting far enough fast enough,” I crack it open and immediately remember, “Ohhhh, yeah. It’s not about THAT, stupid. It’s about your SOUL. Your soul has no fast-forward button.”
ReplyThat, I think, is the most vital lesson that I’ve finally learned. It. Takes. Time.
ReplyYou had me at Jane Friedman. I’ve taken a couple of her webinars, and she’s fantastic. If she’s got a book, I’m reading it. If you consider the other two authors to be of her caliber, then I’ll read their books as well. Thanks for a straightforward and enlightening article.
Reply“You had me at Jane Friedman”–LOVE it! I don’t know if I can say ANYone is “her caliber,” but those guys definitely helped me sort my stuff out, as opposed to cluttering my efforts and provoking anxiety, as so many other folks do…!
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ReplyJane is my go-to when I cannot find information anywhere else or information that isn’t correct. She knows what she’s doing. Great article!
ReplyExcellent book/resource suggestions. I have all three of them now on my to-buy list. Thanks so much for the sanity check!
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