19 Sep Best Practices for Authors: The Four Best Things Can Do to Help Promote Yourself & Your Book

Hello Page One Media Blog readers. Although I’m relatively new to P1M, I am a 30+ year veteran of the book industry, so even if I was not a keen observer and self-professed student of the industry, which I am, I would have learned a few things about how to be a “good” author. In this post, I’m going to share some of my best practices for authors. 

Over the years, the questions I’ve heard posed by authors, would be authors, and soon to be authors have run the gamut from the typical—what is the “secret” to becoming a bestseller (more on that later), to the minimalist—which is “the” one social media platform I should target, to the unbelievable—can you get me on Opera (yes, this man had no idea how to pronounce Oprah Winfrey’s name, yet thought he should be on the show)? 

 

What has 30+ years of working with books, authors, and bookstores taught me about book promotion? It has taught me at least two things.  

1) There are no secrets.  

2) There are no shortcuts, at least not that you can manufacture.  

If your plan for promoting your book is to simply get lucky and stumble into success, then I wish you good luck and you can stop reading now. 

 

Gene, if there are no secrets and no shortcuts, what is the best approach to promoting my book?  

 

At the risk of stating the obvious, hard work and trying many different things is a good start. And speaking of good starts, I highly recommend authors begin their publication journey with these two thoughts in mind. If you can routinely remind yourself that you have written the book you wanted to write and it is being published, you will have a level of satisfaction that can carry you through the publishing challenges No matter what happens with the promotion and sales of your book, good or bad, you know you have accomplished something special, and nothing will change that.  

Ok, if you’ve made it this far through my philosophical ramblings, here is the good stuff. I have come up with 4 Best Practices that authors should follow to help maximize their chances for success. And please note, success means different things to different people, so as they used to say, your mileage may vary. 

Without further delay, I present… 

 

The Four Best Things You Can Do to Help Promote Yourself & Your Book 

1) Understand the Process – Asks questions, listen, and learn (take notes!) 

This is a sound fundamental philosophy for life. Think of it however you like, whether that’s a look before you leap mentality or the Scouts’ “be prepared” motto. Become a student. Do your research. Do not go into the situation blind and uninformed. 

You should absolutely, 100% be asking questions. But, ask good, smart, well-informed questions. And above all else, make sure you are not only asking the right questions, but also asking the right people. And most of all, listen to the answers you’re getting. What is the point of asking a question if you don’t listen to the answers or worse, already have a predetermined, acceptable answer in your head? In other words, don’t hear what you want to hear, hear what someone is actually telling you. Embrace that you don’t know what you don’t know.  

Give yourself a little test. Are you using your head (thinking) as much as you are using your heart (wishing) when it comes to promoting your book? Are you being realistic or are you lost in a fantasy? Hoping for something is not the same as expecting it! When you expect something to happen just because you want it, you’re looking for a short cut or a miracle and that’s a dangerous mindset. 

Do your homework. Ask questions. Listen, learn, and grow. This is the first step on the path to being a good author and book promoter. 

 

2) Cooperate & Work Hard 

Some people think that good things come to those who wait. I think good things come to those who cooperate. If you think of this is terms of sports, you’re the rookie. The freshman. The book publishing professionals are the wily “old” veterans. Trust them. They want to “win” as badly as you do and since they’ve done this before, they have valuable experience you have not yet acquired. 

As I said earlier, there are no short cuts to success. Dumb luck is not a short-cut. Trust the expertise of your publicist (and other book professionals and seasoned authors). Your publicist is working hard and you should work hard as well. There never were good ole days when publishers did everything for an author, who simply wrote the book and then sat back and reaped the rewards of fame and fortune. The best authors are the ones who work just as hard as their publicists. Book publicists really care about the work they do and the projects they work on (we certainly aren’t in this to get rich). That said, no one will or should care about your book more than you!  

The more you cooperate and the more you do to help out, the more that gets done.  

 

3) Stay Focused 

A big part, maybe the biggest part, of a publicist’s job is to focus your energy where it will be most effective. They are not just “spinning” the content of the book. They are spinning you, and I mean that is a positive way. Your publicist can be your guru, if you let them. They provide your mantra. And the mantra is look at the big picture, look at the big picture, look at the big picture. 

It’s extremely unlikely that any singe media hit, or the lack thereof, will make or break you and your book. Don’t get too excited or depressed over one thing. It’s a marathon. Pace yourself and trust your guide.  

Something else to keep in mind with regard to focus. There is nothing wrong with brainstorming, but don’t get so wrapped up in it that you leave no time to execute the plan. If you brainstorm 10 ideas and they are all 100% the responsibility of the publicist, those tasks may not get done as well as if you, the author, can take on some of the responsibility. It’s simple math, divvy up the load and execute to a higher degree. 

 

4) Use Resources Wisely – Time & Money 

This final best practice is equal parts no-brainer and wow, I never thought of that. 

Although money is an obvious limited resource, time may in fact be even more precious. You can, at least theoretically, get more money, but time is finite. Don’t waste time, yours or your publicist’s.  

Be smart about how you spend your money. What is your budget and what are your goals? Know those answers before you start the publication process. Sadly, writing, publishing, and promoting books is far from a get rich quick scheme. It’s more like a get poor slowly scheme. If you are spending your rent/mortgage money on promoting your book because you think you can put in $1 and get back $2, let me encourage you to pay your rent first. But that’s a topic for another time. 

Let me repeat this because it is vitally important: time is your, and your publicist’s, most precious resource. Do not waste it chasing ghosts and thinking with your heart and not your head. Be smart. Know your resource limits. And most importantly, work with your publicist to make sure you are using their time wisely.  

Understand, cooperate, and stay focused. 

 

Bottom Line 

There is no magic formula for success. If there was, I assure you with that publicists would use that formula all the time not just occasionally. The secret is hard work from everybody involved in the publication/promotion process. 

 

Final Thoughts  

Before you start your publication journey, remember these two things. 

 A Word of Caution: Do not get too caught up in playing promotion games and working on gimmicks. Your best bet for attention still hinges on your expertise and expressing yourself well. 

A Word of Advice: Worry about being a seller, before you worry about being a bestseller! 

 

Gene Taft is a Senior Publicity and Communications Strategist at Page One Media. You can connect with him on Instagram or LinkedIn. You can follow the work of Page One Media on LinkedIn, @pageonem.bsky.social on BlueSky and @pageonem on Instagram.