writermag.com • The Writer | 15sites)? How old are they? Male/female? What are
their hobbies? What does your audience struggle
with (what are their pain points)? And what do
you want from them? Just to buy the book? Fol-
low you on social media? Read your blog from
here on out? Knowing who your readers are and
how to find them will help you optimize your
promotional strategies: It’s no use advertising
your book to the wrong crowd.3
Identify your competition.
What other books are currently out on the
subject you’re writing about? Read them. How
many are there? Who is the audience for these
books? Are they online primarily, or do they still
read print publications? What do all the book
covers have in common and what draws you to
them as a reader? Next: Why is your book differ-
ent? Why would someone read your book versus
the books that are already out there? Why would
the media care? How is it different than what
they’ve seen before? Then you can “reverse engi-
neer” the marketing of these books by analyzing
what kind of marketing and PR was done for your
competitors. How do the credentials of the
authors of the books currently on the market dif-
fer from your background? What is the price of
the books you’re competing against? Once you
answer these questions, you will start to see
trends, and these indicators will begin to struc-
ture a pathway for future publicity. Down the
road, you can even research who covered these
specific books, which will allow you to reach out
to these media outlets with a “If you liked x’s book,
you’ll love my book...” type of approach.4
Get a well-branded website.
Hire a professional to build you a modern,
clean website built with a clear brand message
that tells your story well. Overall, you want to
focus on making your website simple and effec-
tive enough that it won’t take an hour of scrolling
to get your message. Journalists are busy people
(like the rest of us). Once they receive your pitch,
one of the first things they’ll do is click on a link
to your website. You want to wow them! There
are key elements you’ll want included in your
website (such as a punchy bio, links to your social
media pages, and a call to action, such as “Learn
more about XX here”), but most importantly, itAre you ready to hit
the ball out of the
park in 2020?
In the age of a 24/7 news cycle, grabbing signif-
icant media attention for a book can seem like an
incredibly difficult task, if not downright impossi-
ble. Authors must work harder than ever before to
catch a divided public’s attention – especially if
they’re writing non-political content in an election
year. In order to successfully, accurately publicize
your book (or your brand), you need to create a
roadmap; otherwise, how do you know if you’re on
the right path, and how will you know when you
reach key junctures in the journey? And, as every
savvy author knows, it’s never too soon to start
thinking about your promotion strategy – even if
you’re still in the drafting process. Here are 20
tried-and-true tips for developing a promotional
strategy in 2020.
1
Really figure out why you are writing (or wrote)
a book.
Describe in detail (meaning: write it down) why
you’re writing a book. What are you trying to
accomplish? What are your goals? The “why” in
your answer will help guide the process from here
on out. Are you ultimately trying to sell a prod-
uct, idea, service? Is the book a lead generator?
Are you trying to educate or help people? Let this
motivation serve as your guiding light in the
months (or years) to come.
2
Identify your audience.
Next, think about your readers. Who will be
consuming your book? Where do they read about
your subject or genre? What social media plat-
forms do they primarily use? Where do your cus-
tomers consume news (blogs, social, online news