The publishing world is weird right now. It's this old behemoth made up of only a few giant companies and a few very small indie publishers.
There's still huge money in publishing, but it's being washed away by self-published books.
That leaves an industry that focuses on high-level, celebrity-driven books, puts a ton of marketing power into them, and leaves everything else up to chance.
This was the situation, as I knew it, when I first stepped foot into the publishing world. But before I get into the details of the supreme self-marketers we all need to become, I wanted to explain how I broke into the publishing world...
Being niche can be a great thing
I had an idea for a book that was about as niche as it could get. It was about screenwriting, of which there are a low-to-medium amount of books out there.
But more specifically, it was about TV writing, of which there are a few books out there.
But more specifically, it was about the career path to becoming a TV writer, and not so much about the writing aspect of it at all, of which there were exactly zero books out there.
When thinking about what this book should be, I realized that, despite being a screenwriter, I was no screenwriting expert, and did not want to be. But I did look back and realize I was an expert at desperately trying to enter the world of TV writing.
This, along with my bona fides from the TV writing world, proved to be just enough to garner the right amount of attention from an agent and then a publisher, and then sell the book.
My niche-ness proved helpful again when I was told you need to have a platform in order to sell a book.
Well, turns out, there weren't many people talking about TV writing on TikTok. So, I added my name and face to the space.
Despite a general hatred for social media and what it stands for, it did help. I don't have a huge following, but it was just enough to convince a publisher that I had an audience.
You Are A One-Person Marketing Team
Unless you're a celebrity, no one is going to help you market your book. It is all on you.
So, what does that mean?
You're going to have to do all the marketing yourself, and that means developing an extensive platform to advertise your book.
"Platform" sounds nice, and it's easy to breeze over the specifics. But what does it actually mean?
Generally, this means your online presence, which can consist of:
A website
Social media (TikTok, Instagram, X, Threads, etc.)
A newsletter
A blog
Basically, anything that you control that showcases your online persona is your platform.
It's the way people will find you, follow you, and presumably, where you will sell books.
I started with just TikTok, in 2021. At the time, they were a "growth platform" so things were going viral fairly easily. I built up a following and segued that into Instagram. This year, I started to develop my website, blog and newsletter.
My numbers aren't huge, but they're not bad. There are hundreds, thousands even, more eyeballs on my platform, and now on my book, than I had before.
And a sale comes from a certain percentage of those views.
Not All Platforms Are The Same (Nor Do They Remain The Same)
Your newsletter subscribers are a much more loyal fan base than someone who follows you on Instagram.
Your Instagram followers are a more loyal fan base than someone who follows you on TikTok.
And, in general, social media is becoming a much more passive medium. It's very likely that your relationship with social media is scrolling and not engaging.
That doesn't help you sell books.
So, social media has become a good place to attract eyeballs and funnel people over to your newsletter or substack or whatnot.
In Traditional Publishing You Rarely Get To See How You're Doing
Your book sales report is given out twice a year.
This makes it really difficult for you to judge which marketing technique is doing well and adapt your platform or strategy to that.
So, I've found that I'm following the whims of the Amazon rankings to try to figure it out.
Here's the thing...
Those rankings don't mean much. Your book could jump rankings because you just sold a TON of books. Or it could jump rankings because nothing else has sold in a while and you sold one book.
So, by and large, you're really in the dark when it comes to seeing how your book is doing.
It All Comes Back to Being a Salesman
This is a sad truth I learned in the screenwriting world. Above all, more than writing ability or what you have to say, your ability to sell is paramount when it comes to making it as an author.
Then again, that's the nature of the very freelance world we're living in these days.
If any authors find this post, I'd love to know what you're doing to market your book.
Send me a message below!
