1. Define who you are writing for
Your vibe attracts your tribe. Writing in your most authentic voice will leverage your words to manifest life-changing experiences and connections. The law of attraction is three times deeper in the literary realm. Readers that connect with an author's writing will market a writer's book better than any marketing ad. These readers should be viewed as your tribe. If you are writing unauthentic material about your life experiences, knowledge, and skillset, you and your readers will have an artificial connection.
2. Leverage vulnerabilities
Healing is one of the most underrated aspects of releasing a book. Regardless of how unique our pain, obstacles, and experiences are, others across the world are enduring similar hardships. Your testimony could be the words they need to gain the strength to fight another day or overcome their obstacles. Providing someone strength during their time of weakness will create the ultimate gratitude. Our darkest moments give us the opportunities to shine our brightest.
3. Pair a storyline with your book
This is the most underrated aspect of marketing a book. How does this book impact readers? Why should a reader buy this book? Why did the author write this book? These questions often need to be answered in the length of an elevator pitch and before a reader purchases a book. Example: Author releases cookbook. vs. A therapist releases a cookbook to help others overcome grief and stress eating. Example: A chef releases a cookbook. A restaurant owner and vegan chef releases a cookbook to minimize health inequality. Sports trainer releases autobiography. A professional basketball trainer and entrepreneur releases a new book to show how basketball impacts life outside of sports.
4. Character Development
Character development is the most significant aspect of making readers feel connected to your book. Could the readers imagine your characters? Did you over or under-describe them? How did your main character change and develop throughout the story? If the readers cannot connect with your main character, they will have a hard time being part of the world you created in your book. If readers cannot see how the main character changes throughout the story, chances are they won't be moved or changed by your book.
5. Implement practical knowledge
Practical knowledge is statistically documented as one of the most shared and viewed forms of content. How many people read your book is an overrated metric. The more important metric is how deeply your book impacted others. You can often see this in reviews. "This book was good." vs. "This book changed my life by improving how I relate to my wife, kids, and business relationships. After reading this book, my mindset and energy have graduated to a new level. I highly recommend it to all my family and friends.”
6. Get readers emotionally involved
When readers understand a character's plight, obstacle, mindset, and circumstance, a connection has been established. I leveraged this strategy in Made It Out and Crabs In A Barrel. In each story, I articulated those aspects at the beginning of the story and subsequently took readers on a journey. Throughout the book, readers began to dislike antagonists in the story because of their connection with the protagonist. If this isn't done at the beginning of the story, barriers will be created between the characters and readers.
7. Do interviews
What makes a book good? The number of reviews or sales? The amount of people who read it? The value of a book correlates with how well it is marketed. Some of the best-written books rarely leave the shelf because it wasn't properly positioned in the marketplace. This is why it's essential to put the same amount of effort into writing and marketing your book. Energy must be transferred to two places when a book is written, onto the pages and into the universe.