My journey to publishing my book was not an easy one. Once I had fully published and launched my book, I felt stuck. I was unsure of what I was supposed to do next. So, I did what every other author does, and I would ask friends and family to buy my book. I would post a photo of my book, announce that it was on sale on amazon or my website with the price and call it a day. I was so confused when I realized that absolutely no one was buying it. What was I doing wrong? Unfortunately, I stayed in this cycle for many years without making a dime.
A lot of published authors reach out to me now and wonder how I have been able to reach the success that I have. And for me it’s simple… I tell them it’s because of storytelling.
The way we sell has changed over the years. If you can remember back in the 90’s selling was done door to door. They would bring their product, show you how it works and then you made the decision if this was something you wanted to purchase. Things have changed now.
Today I am going to share with you what I have done over the past few years to sell my book, hit Amazons #1 Best Seller in 5 categories and also stumble across opportunities that allowed me to be a keynote speaker and panelist at various events.
1. Connect with your audience. I love to connect and engage with people. I love to have conversations with them about how they are, what they are into, what their needs are etc. By connecting with people in a genuine way, they are more apt to support you. In the world of social media, it is easy to engage with people and relate to them. I love to post a photo with a caption that talks about something that I have either struggled with, gone through and overcame and or just share stories. I usually have a call to action at the end asking them if they can relate or for them to share a time where they felt the same way. I somehow always tie it back into my book. But I never say…. Purchase my book. It always goes along the lines of….” this is what I covered inside my book, Life Is A Beautiful Journey…” it is subtle, and I am not asking for the sale. But I am putting it out there that if they want more information, they can purchase my book to read more.
2. I love to do lives on fb and Instagram and just talk with people. Sometimes I will pick a chapter from my book and read it on the live and then have a conversation with everyone around it. Allow them to give their feedback and input and simply hold a conversation. People want to be seen and feel heard. Validate that for them.
3. I utilize my stories in my social media to share different stories. For example, I might go on my stories and talk to them about how I was feeling stuck. I was having a hard time writing chapter 8 of my book last night because I had really bad writer’s block. I share with them how I felt, what held me back and what I did to overcome it. Then I ask them if they have ever felt this way when writing their book. I love to utilize a poll to gauge how many people say yes or no. Then I transition into if you answered yes… DM me let’s talk more. I want to share with you what I did to help me through this. This opens the portal to more conversations that can eventually lead to sale.
So again, I am not on social media asking people to buy my book, but I am connecting and sharing with them in a way that makes them feel comfortable enough to trust me to buy.
I hope this was helpful and allows you to see the writing process from a different perspective. It’s hard, but certainly doable. Here you can find a free guide to self-publishing to help you jump start that process. We also have our own Book Publishing Academy program to help upcoming authors self-publish from start to finish. This is perfect for our friends who need a little bit more guidance but want to take the publishing process into their own hands. Check it out.
