If you knew you needed 100 affiliate partners to create a successful book launch campaign how eager would you be to get started? If you knew it would take doing 100 radio shows to complete that part of your marketing plan, would you jump out of bed ready to take it on? Not me!
Book marketing and promotion involves a lot of steps, tools and strategies. The thought of tackling them all at once makes me tired. Launching your book (even writing it for that matter) is a marathon, not a sprint. It may be tempting to block out hours of one day to work on promotion and then go for days on end without thinking about it. My advice is you should not fall into this trap of inconsistent effort. It will be far too easy to skip or even shortcut a step because you do not have a steady plan of action.
Think about all of the healthy lifestyle messages you hear. You can't possibly go to the gym for three hours on one day and then put it off for a week and expect great results. That philosophy is what makes 10-minute abs and the 20-minute workout such an appealing concept. A consistent effort is essential for your success.
- Reach out to people you could partner with
- Contact media people who can interview you
- Find and connect with people you can cross-promote with who are writing in your genre - you email blast for them and they blast for you
- Ask questions that lead back to your book on Facebook or Twitter
- Write an article to place in various locations online
- Create blogs, newsletters, guest blog, comment on other people's blogs
- Make a good old-fashioned call to someone and ask them how you can "play" together
- At least twice a year go to a big conference where you can network with other authors
There is no shortage of things you can do. The key is to continue to add ideas to your list and then take care of 5 of them each day.
For instance I have already started looking for partners for my January 4th, 5th and 6th launch of the paperback edition of The Soulmate Secret*. Every day I am looking for five more, so on a daily basis I might talk to about 30 people and each time I do I ask them if they have an email list and would they be willing to announce my book to their list or do they know someone who might. For instance a newspaper guy called me the other day looking for information that I could provide and when we were done I asked him if he would like to see a copy of my book and he was delighted.
It's easy to spread the word if you make it a simple, consistent habit. Without any real, discernible effort (I am not stressing over it - I am just working it into my day) I already have 40 people that will partner with me and I have not worked hard, just smart. My intention is to do five things every day towards the promotion of the January launch. If I had thought in terms of I must get 40 partners today, or all at once, I wouldn't even want to start. Five is doable. Five is easy. Five adds up quickly!
*If you are interested in being an affiliate partner for my January launch of my paperback edition of The Soulmate Secret please DM (direct message) me on my Twitter account. www.twitter.com/arielleford
About Arielle Ford
Arielle Ford has launched the careers of many NY Times bestselling authors including Deepak Chopra, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Neale Donald Walsch & Debbie Ford. She is a former book publicist, literary agent and the author of seven books. To learn how to get started writing a book please visit: www.HowToWriteMyBook.com