Grahl - Your first 1000 copies : the step-by-step guide to marketing your book

Your First 1000 Copies

The Step-by-Step Guide to Marketing Your Book

Tim Grahl

Copyright 2013 by Tim Grahl. All rights reserved.

Cover and print book design by Lauren Baker

Ebook formatting by Polgarus Studio

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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Dedication

To the thousands of authors who have made my life better through your work. I hope this helps you reach more people.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Imagine if you had a direct connection with thousands of readers who loved reading your books. And imagine if those readers eagerly awaited the launch of your next book. How would that direct relationship with your readers change your writing career? How would you feel knowing that every time you started a new book project, you already had people excited to buy it and ready to recommend it to others?

Many of todays most loved and successful authors know what those experiences are like. I know they do because Ive worked with many of them to build their online platforms that connect directly with readers. For over four years, I have worked with bestselling authors such as Daniel Pink, Charles Duhigg, Daniel Ariely, Pamela Slim, Chip and Daniel Heath, Ramit Sethi and more. Ive also worked with first time and self-published authors such as Gene Kim, Michele Ceres, Noel Yeatts, Garret Kramer and others to get their platforms started from scratch. In all, I have worked with over a hundred authors as well as studied and interviewed many more.

Thanks to this experience, I know exactly how reader relationship building works and how to use those skills to sell more books. You can learn these same skills.

Now, more than ever, you have access to all the tools you need to connect with readers without investing in expensive tactics like hiring a publicist or going on a thirty city book tour. Why then arent more writers successful at selling books? Because the problem isnt the availability of resources; the problem is knowing how to use them to get results. With too much advice swirling around about blogging, Twitter, podcasts, forums, Facebook and others, most authors are left spinning and confused about what to do when and where to start.

This short book will solve that problem by providing a clear, actionable and proven system to author platform building, the same one that todays bestselling authors use as the key ingredient in their book marketing.

A platform is whatever plan and method you use to connect with your readers and sell books, whether its traveling the world to speak, hand-selling to friends or building a popular blog. From my work and study, the authors selling the most books today are those that are focusing first on planning and building their platforms.

With this book, Im going to empower you with a step-by-step plan on how you can use online marketing tools to build your platform. The heart of this plan is the goal of connecting you with your readers, spreading your ideas, sharing your journey and using your writing to add value to peoples lives. We are going to look at tools like blogging, email marketing, social media and others. Regardless of the individual tool, however, the goal is always to establish a connection with your readers that will last a lifetime and support your long-term writing career.

Your writing makes peoples lives better. The more people you connect to your writing, the better this world will be. As we proceed through this book, I will show you how to build these long-lasting connections that will sell books in a way that is natural, comfortable and fun for both you and your readers.

I have named my step-by-step plan the Connection System. The fundamentals are so strong and simple that every author can immediately implement this system after reading this book to begin building their online platform.

Our journey into online platform building will start with the best way to get Permission to communicate regularly with your fans. Then we will discuss how to engage your readers through Content that you will make freely and widely available. Once you have permission and content, we will examine how to find and connect with new readers through Outreach . Finally, we will talk about how you use Permission, Content and Outreach to naturally and ethically Sell your books. In each of these sections, we will talk about how to Track everything you are doing so you can see what works and what doesnt.

The Connection System is how authors are working for and earning their success in todays evolving publishing marketplace. Whether you are just getting started in your writing career or are a long time author struggling to figure out how to step into the new era, this book will lay out the plan you need to get your platform up and running so you can reliably and predictably build an engaged readership and sell your first 1,000 copies.

Lets get started.

1. What is marketing?

What is self-promotion?

What about that one?

The salesmans smile faded just a bit as I pointed across the parking lot.

My wife and I were at the car dealership with our three-month-old son preparing to make the decision that would officially crown us as parents.

We were buying a minivan.

When we first arrived and began walking around the lot, the salesman couldnt tell us enough good things about the brand new models that had just hit their lot. They looked great and had all the features we were looking for with the exception of the hefty monthly payment.

Thats when I glanced across the parking lot and saw a few of the last years models and asked our salesman about them. He reluctantly led us over and allowed us to take a look. He didnt have a lot to say all of a sudden as we inspected the vehicles. From what we could tell, last years models were almost identical to this years models, except they were $10,000 cheaper.

The purchase decision was a no-brainer: We chose a last year model, which fit much better into our budget while not compromising on comfort or quality. To this day, our minivan has been a wonderful vehicle.

But what was the salesmans problem?

And why is it that this is the picture that so often comes to mind when authors start thinking about marketing?

Why dont we like the sleazy car salesman?

What exactly is it that turns us off?

We could discuss his sales tacticsthe lies and half-truths he told. We could talk about his pushiness and attempted hard close. But all of that boils down to one simple fact: He wasnt looking out for our best interest.

Trust is a fundamental part of any friendship. My best friends are those that tell me the truth whether I want to hear it or not. Friends are people that are willing to tell me when Im making stupid decisions as well as encourage me onward when Im making smart ones. A friend has your best interest at heart, always.

What if a friend was helping you buy a new car? How would the experience be different than with the sleazy salesmen?

Would a friend try to talk you into buying a car you cant afford? Would a friend stretch the truth to trick you into a brand new model you dont need? A friend might get pushy, but only when she thinks youre about to make a mistake.

The fundamental difference between someone you trust and someone you dont is your belief in whether or not they are looking out for your best interest above their own. The bottom line is plain: When someone isnt looking out for your best interest, that means theyre only self-promoting their own.