DISCOVER HOW TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR BOOK PROMOTION STRATEGY (INTERVIEW – PT1)

Are you still struggling to build a book brand that will supercharge your book promotion strategy? If so, allow me to introduce you to someone who’s mastered the art…..

Abbie Sharman.

With over a decade of experience in the publishing industry, Abbie has collaborated with renowned publishers like Thames and Hudson, Octopus, and Bloomsbury, shaping highly-illustrated non-fiction titles into timeless treasures.

Today, she’s not just crafting books; she’s sculpting brands that are bold, future-proof, and designed to captivate.

Let’s dive into Abbie’s world, where she unveils innovative brand building strategies that you can use to effectively promote your book.

HOW TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR BOOK PROMOTION STRATEGY

Can you share some key principles for authors looking to establish a strong brand for their books in today’s competitive publishing landscape?

Writing a book gives you a great amount of credibility in your genre but there’s so much content around today that it’s difficult to stand out (whether you’re going down the traditional publishing or self-publishing route).

So some key principles for authors that are looking to establish a strong brand for their books are:

• Determine your why: Start working out your ‘why’. What is your big driver and why do you do what you do? And what impact do you want to have on the world?
  
• Know who your audience is: Knowing who your audience is means you can tailor your words according to how they talk. It makes your brand resonate with them so much more.

Most authors want to appeal to as many people as possible but I’d recommend you do the opposite. Hone in on those who buy your books and focus on expanding your reach to people like them instead. It makes for a much more loyal fan base and an audience that will recommend your book.

• Choose the right platform: Choosing platforms shouldn’t be led by your personal preferences. You need to be where you know your audience hangs out and where your competitors are spending time and money. If you’re appealing to a younger audience look at TikTok. If you’re appealing to an older generation, they tend to spend a lot of time on Facebook or Instagram. You can find this out by doing surveys and finding groups on the platform that discuss books in your genre.
  
• Give it some personality: Make sure that you refine your personality and your message.  A good approach is to merge how you speak naturally and your own personality with what your audience needs from you and what is going to encourage them to buy from you.

For example, you might be a bit of a joker but if your audience needs a guide, they’re not going to trust someone that’s too much of a joker. A better approach would be to combine these traits. And don’t be afraid to show some of your opinions! It really helps build that personality.

• Decide on a look: Choose between selfie-style photography, professional shots, AI generated images, infographics, or text only. You can combine styles but the key is to make them look as consistent as possible and make conscious decisions when it comes to style! Before you start posting content, make sure that you have made a decision and you’re sticking to it, because it’s what people would recognize you for.
  
• Be consistent: Make sure that you put yourself out there and dedicate some time every week to post and comment on the platforms you’ve chosen to work with.

The algorithms on your favorite platforms tend to favor accounts that they see consistent engagement from. Don’t worry too much if you can’t post every day or you can’t always post at the same time. You just need to be able to say that within a week you are posting once or twice, and you consistently post once or twice every week.

• Point them in the right direction: If someone discovers you, make sure your link points them to where they can buy your book and not the homepage of your website. A good user experience will make all the difference in getting those links to convert.

• Gather email addresses: One of the fastest ways to scale your book brand is to collect email addresses, so you can build a community that exists off social media.

People will happily give you their email address and sign up for your newsletter if you offer free bonuses or guides. If you’re a fiction writer, you could try something like illustrations of favorite characters that they can print and use as artwork.

• Position yourself: The last thing I’m going to say here is about your positioning. How do you compare yourself with your competition and what is really unique about you? Think about your functional and emotional benefits and then narrow these down to find what is truly unique. This needs to be something that not just anyone can say.

HOW TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR BOOK PROMOTION STRATEGY

What are the essential elements authors should consider when crafting their brand identity, particularly in terms of aligning with their target audience?

To craft a brand identity that aligns with your market and your target audience, I would just say that you need to make sure that you’re doing your research. Look at:  

• The market: How big is it and is it growing or shrinking? What competition is already in that space? What do they do well, what do they do badly, and what do people say about them? Look at forums for your genre and see what is being discussed too.

• Your audience: Go beyond surface level demographics and create a persona of your ideal customer, so that you can speak to that person.

A good persona includes a photograph or illustration of the person, their demographic information, a short bio, their wants and needs, their challenges, and something important they would say. You should also make sure to give them a name. Consider things like when they read and how they read.

• The technology: Pay close attention to how people are viewing your website, social media and how they are reading your book.

Are they busy and often reading on their phones? If they’re using their phones to read your content, chances are that you need to design that content in a really mobile friendly way.

Stay away from long paragraphs if this is the case and try using bullet points and lots of spacing between paragraphs and lines if it’s appropriate. Knowing those things will make a huge difference to how your book performs.

If you’re struggling to find out about your audience, try creating a poll or quiz and posting it on social media. People love to answer quizzes!  

Consider both qualitative and quantitative research. If you’re doing some interviews, you can get qualitative information from 3-5 really detailed responses. For quantitative data, you need a minimum of around 30 responses.

Stay away from leading questions and try to find ways to get them to talk about what you want to know instead. For example, if you’re looking to find out when they read, you just ask them what their typical day looks like and you’ll find that information out.

HOW TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR BOOK PROMOTION STRATEGY

How can authors leverage storytelling techniques to enhance their brand image and connect with readers on a deeper level?

Storytelling posts do amazingly well, especially on LinkedIn at the moment. Use storytelling tricks that you already use in your writing in your social media posts and it will massively improve your engagement.

Follow these steps:

• Familiarize yourself with story frameworks.
• I really encourage you to read Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller to work out how to use story to build your brand.
• When writing, position your ideal customer as the hero and position yourself as the guide telling them how to achieve their goals.
• Remember to define what’s at stake and how you help them to overcome their challenges with your book or service.
• Make use of these stories on your website and social media to encourage engagement and make your brand relatable to customers. 

Positioning yourself in the right way can really help you generate more leads, drive more sales and engage more customers.

HOW TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR BOOK PROMOTION STRATEGY

In your experience, what role does consistency play in building and maintaining a successful book brand, and how can authors ensure consistency across various platforms and marketing channels?

Consistency is probably the most important aspect of a brand. Here are some tips:

• Using the same colors can increase brand recognition by up to 80%.
  
• Being consistent in your messaging will make people feel like they know what you stand for and that they’re getting to know you with every interaction.

• Be consistent with how you show up, including where and when you post. For example, if people know they constantly see your content at 9 o’clock in the morning, keep doing that. They will expect it.

Pro tip 1 – You don’t need to post every day. You just need to know when your ideal audience are online and ideally post then. If a relevant forum is really active at a certain time, that’s a good indicator that it would be a good time for you to post too.

Remember, the average person has to see your content 7 times before they actually consider buying anything from you… and most people won’t see all of your content.  

Pro tip 2 – Go through every single one of your social media accounts and create a mood board with screenshots of your profile page, the things you’re posting, highlights of the messaging and tone, and key visuals. This will help you to see how different things might have become across each account. Do regular audits to keep on top of them.

With the rise of digital publishing and self-publishing platforms, how can independent authors effectively differentiate themselves and stand out in the market?

To create an effective differentiation and positioning strategy you need to:

• Know what is out there already and what makes your book better or different.

• Know what makes you (as an author) better or different. Do you have a certain insight into, passion, or values that you’re trying to express through all your books?
  
  
• Focus on your social media and your website, so that it’s doing everything it can to support your marketing efforts and position you and your book as the only logical book to buy.

Don’t worry if you’re struggling with your personal brand. Sometimes you just need time to figure things out and sometimes you need someone with an outside perspective to help pull these ideas out of your head.

A good starting point is to find out why your current fans like you and your work.

I would also encourage you to think beyond money for your ‘why’. Books are not the most successful money making venture and the people that get really successful tend to have a brand.

They take on speaking engagements, they push to get their work into local publications, they give people a way to explore the world they’ve built. Just look at how JK Rowling’s Harry Potter has become a theme park and has a huge film franchise.

What do you really want to accomplish? Because if you really think about it, it’s probably not just selling your book.

Let’s wrap up

I understand that carrying out effective book promotion isn’t easy. Like Abbie said if you’re truly committed to seeing improvement, building a strong brand is essential. Your brand is what connects you with readers on a deeper level, setting you apart in a crowded market.

In addition I’ve written an article outlining 29 powerful book marketing strategies here, designed to help you navigate the challenges of book marketing. From social media to email marketing to media coverage, these techniques offer a roadmap to success. It’s time to overcome obstacles and make your mark in the literary world with a brand that resonates and endures. Above all I wish you success in your brand building adventure.

CLICK HERE TO READ PART 2 – DISCOVER HOW TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR BOOK PROMOTION STRATEGY