Authors as marketers

Tools of Change for Publishing

Authors are always looking for an edge. In a world where thousands of new traditionally- and self-published books are released every month it’s hard to rise above all the noise. We’re launching Author (R)evolution Day at TOC NY in February is because we realize authors need better resources to understand marketing, publicity, discovery, and distribution.

Rob Eagar is one of the speakers featured at Author (R)evolution Day. He’s the founder of Wildfire Marketing, a consulting practice that helps authors and publishers sell more books. Rob is also the author of Sell Your Book Like Wildfire: The Writer’s Guide to Marketing & Publicity. As a preview to his Author (R)evolution session in February I caught up with him to talk about some of the ways authors can stand out from the crowd.

Key points from the interview include:

• Sell the solution, not the features — Successful authors don’t tell people what their book is about. Rather, they focus on answering the consumer’s #1 questions, “what’s in it for me?”
• Identify your strengths — Some of us aren’t comfortable in front of a camera. Others are far better writers than speakers. Forget about the areas where you might be weak. Focus your efforts exclusively on your strengths and use them to build your platform.
• Don’t forget the website — Recent research indicates that an author’s website is more important than their presence on Facebook, Twitter or anywhere else. Free resources are typically the most valued element of an author’s website. It’s also critical that your website act as the hub for community activity where readers can come together and share the experience.
• Be careful about focusing too much on Amazon — Authors love to see how high they can drive their book on Amazon’s bestseller list. Rob talks about a couple of recent examples where that has backfired though and led to blackballing from other retailers.
  

Join us as we launch Author (R)evolution Day. Click the button on the right to register, use the discount code AR350 and you’ll get the best price available.

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