Advice to Authors: Send an Email to the World!

By Bob Deakin

As launch date approaches, authors receive more advice than bad golfers. My advice to authors: Send an email to the world.

Alerting the entire world of an enjoyable read works for sales, albeit impossible. Like any writer, I read about book marketing and constantly receive the same advice. It all makes sense assuming everyone is famous.

Send an Email to the World

Next Tuesday I release Pop Hits Trapped in My Soul, the second book in my Unruly Mix series. It’s what it sounds like: 200 pages about pop songs, musicians and other stories related to the music business. 

It is nonfiction humor describing my obsession with pop songs as I travel through a small town listening to music and talking to friends about it. Nothing anyone doesn’t do every day, I merely go deeper breaking down the songs and recordings.

Engage Your Audience!

Who is my audience? I have my writing niche (music), style (satire) and professional experience. But who is reading? In the simplest terms, I write for myself so that I can go back and enjoy it later. 

That’s it. I don’t write to impress, make money, or ensure my sanity. If any of that happens, God bless. Thoughts come into my head and I write them down. 

I assume my audience is people like me. Middle-aged from the city or suburbs. Educated but not scholarly. Audiophile but not an idolizer. Whispering a joke, not shouting it.

So who is that? Me and a group of about a dozen friends.

Publicize Your Book So More People Buy It

Here are suggestions that instruct all authors to roll their eyes:

• Deeply Understand and Engage Your Audience (Okay Universe, you’re on!)

• Build a Website Using SEO for Discoverability (as opposed to keeping it a secret)

• Start an Email List (of who?)

• Leverage Social Media (if you can find space between political comments)

• Network with Authors (When I meet one I will)

• Host Book Launch Events (Did I mention I’m not famous?)

• Send Out Press Releases (Is it still 1985?)

• Create a Video Book Trailer (Not a bad idea, but who is going to watch?)

Help Me Oprah Winfrey!

Knowing your audience is key, but short of an act of God, how do you do it? I’m sure there are thousands of people who I would immediately click with, but until I move to their town and meet them, not likely.

Word of mouth is the best way to develop your audience besides having a respected dignitary mention your book in public. No, not a world leader, more like an NFL announcer or a YouTuber. Oprah’s Book Club is now the standard for respectability. The New York Times Bestsellers is still the benchmark, although every book in the world somehow makes the list.

Play by the Rules

I am selling Pop Hits Trapped in My Soul on Amazon in addition to a wide release including Apple Books, Barnes & Noble and the others. My Amazon “pre-order” sale was interrupted by my own transgression: I revised my manuscript.

Yes, I made a word change and hit the wrong button during an edit and that was it. I was found guilty by the House Un-Amazonian Activities Committee and banished to a conventional release.

All it means is that I link my book title to B&N or another source in social media posts, but I would have liked a pre-order sale or two. I could have made an Amazon bestseller list in the nonfiction humor books about pop music category.

Oh That’s Great! I Can’t Wait to Read It

No one cares less about your book than everyone in the world. Your mother may buy it, but even she won’t read it. People genuinely care about you and your success, but, like showing up at your job to ask for a raise, it’s none of their business.

What I've discovered since the release of my first book is that multiple releases make people take you slightly more seriously. One book is fine but indicates you do something else. 

By the same token, I’ve met authors who have released more than 30 books and sold scarcely any. In this case they were fantasy or sci-fi writers oblivious to people in general, except for fans of their books, who they would ask to marry.

Say Hello to Your Audience, Authors

Knowing your readers is the best advice I’ve heard, although, as mentioned, divine intervention is required to find them. I read lots of books but none of the authors know I’m their audience. 

I’ll read a biography of Lincoln, then a book on French recipes followed by Beloved before getting to the Reggie Jackson bio. Say hello to your audience authors!

If your book is an enjoyable read, it still must be discovered. As with anything, smart work and experience breed success. I’ve always used my creativity for my own enjoyment. Over the years I’ve discovered that many of the most successful people do the same. 

If I like it, that’s all that matters. Pardon me while I build my email list.

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