As writers, it feels there is really nothing more vulnerable than putting our words, our creations, out in to the world for others to consume. Sometimes they love it, sometimes they hate it.
Sometimes we are afraid to put our words out there because of shame we may have and certainly because of the fear of being so vulnerable.
I am reading her book Dare to Lead. I want to share a quote from Chapter 2, The Call to Courage.
To set the scene, she was talking about an interview with Admiral Jim Stockdale, a Prisoner of War in Vietnam. This interview is in Jim Collins’ book, Good to Great. The question was asked about who didn’t survive the POW camps, to which Stockdale replied it was the optimists. Because, “They died of a broken heart.”
Brené Brown continues:
“Stockdale told Collins, ‘This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.'”
At this point, you might be thinking, Alexa has gone off her rocker. She’s now comparing authors to POWs!
But here’s the deal.
A strategic plan for your book marketing can bring you closer to success.
As I was listening to this on Audible, the stark comparison came to me. So often, we as authors believe, I’m gonna make it! This book is going to be amazing! If I just throw more money here, or do this, or do that, I will sell more books!
Our FAITH in our book gives us the courage to continue… however, if we aren’t doing the right things, if we aren’t making the most strategic decisions, if we aren’t powering forward in a way that puts us in a position to actually have that success, we can wind up completely exhausted, tired of saying, “it’s gonna get there!” and our faith begins to dwindle if we don’t see the results we were looking for.
We die a slow death of a broken heart from marketing fatigue and throw in the towel.
What if that didn’t have to be the case? What if you could start with a better plan from earlier in your process, that wasn’t based on guesswork, and actually led to results?
I fully believe that those authors who have a great book, have done the things to make sure they are positioned well and are taking the RIGHT steps to move their marketing forward, WILL get there.
It may take a few years. But following a plan that makes sense, you may achieve this faster than you thought. At a minimum, when you can track results, you won’t be heartbroken, but encouraged to continue to see results.
I walk this journey every day with authors. Tweaking what they are doing, creating the strategy that works for them to build their audience, get their books into the hands of more people, and build incremental successes that WILL eventually pay off. (Disclaimer here – if your book is bad, you’re going to have to start there first!)
Here’s the deal. After launching book after book for new and unknown authors, the likelihood of New York Times Best Seller first foot out the door is rare. But not impossible. But even more important, you can still achieve a significant amount of success without that NYT BS accolade.
How do you know what to include in your book marketing plan?
There are things that we know work already. It starts with: figuring out your goals, your resources and your starting point, and, just like that, you can layout a path to success.
I have created this road map.
I want you to have it too.
In my premium workshop, Developing Your Marketing and Launch Strategy, we go through all of these types of topics.
We dig into how to develop your very own custom launch plan – something many indie authors pay thousands for, but that I know you can do yourself! All you need are the right tools! We’ll cover:
- The key elements of your marketing plan to address both long- and short-term goals
- How to develop a marketing and launch strategy that makes sense for YOUR book and YOUR budget
- The ideal timeline for planning a launch
- How to take small actions every single day to implement the plan
- The best places to invest your time and money in your book
I have done this work with clients over and over again in the last decade, and I’ve learned that every single book – no matter the genre, no matter when you’re publishing (or when you publishED – yes, this same strategy works for books that are already out there!) – needs a custom road map to success, based on BEST PRACTICES, not just hopes and wishes and FAITH.
I want you to have the foundational knowledge to identify your goals and to build a strategy to get there that works for your book and your LIFE, without all the noise. I want you to take the wheel.
