(3 Ways to Fall in Love With Book Marketing.)

I’m 60 years old with zero coding experience, but I stumbled onto a technological solution that’s been working well for me. Instead of me pitching my books, one of my fictional characters does it—naturally, authentically, and with a personality that keeps readers engaged.

Here’s how it happened, why it works, and how any author can set this up in a weekend.

The $100 Wake-Up Call

Like most authors, I’ve always been intimidated by website technology. When someone quoted me $100 to change an image on my site, I had a realization: If I can write a book, I’m smart enough to change an image in Squarespace. (Also, I’m cheap.)

Two weeks later, with the help of ChatGPT, I had completely rebuilt my website from scratch. I no longer owned a basic domain—I created a state-of-the-art platform. It was now engineered for AI search discovery, complete with schema, code injections, and widgets for social media and book reviews. The project cost me nothing, versus the $5,000 I would have spent to hire it out. And honestly? The learning curve wasn’t as steep as you might expect.

But the real breakthrough wasn’t technical—it was creative.

Enter Uncle Gunny

Thomas “Uncle Gunny” Barnett is the gruff, no-nonsense military-veteran sidekick from my thriller series. He’s got a razor-sharp wit and zero patience for small talk. In my books, he’s the character with the most distinctive voice.

So I put him to work.

Now, when visitors land on my website, they can chat directly with Gunny. They ask about my books, and he responds in perfect character—complete with his signature one-liners and military-style directness. I still have traditional FAQ and “About the Author” pages, but Gunny has become the more popular way for visitors to get information—especially for people who haven’t read the books yet. Instead of scanning static content, they get to interact with someone from the fictional universe itself.

Here’s what I mean. When a visitor asks “What do you do around here?” Gunny responds: “I keep the peace, buttercup. Answer questions about Emma Noble and the books. Make sure you don’t get lost. And I get cigars if you subscribe to the newsletter. Keeps me busy.”

How This Idea Evolved (And Why It Works)

Let’s just say I have a ‘curiosity’ problem. I was researching what I needed to include on my website to be more discoverable by AI search engines. Apparently, a virtual assistant helps with that. But what’s the point of having a generic AI bot on an author’s website when you’ve only written two novels? That’s when I realized the perfect virtual assistant was already sitting in the pages of my own book: Uncle Gunny could handle the job with personality to spare.

When he recommends my newsletter, it doesn’t feel like marketing. It feels like advice from a friend—albeit a friend who doesn’t sugarcoat anything and calls you “buttercup.”

This approach seems to solve three fundamental author marketing problems:

The authenticity problem: Instead of me awkwardly promoting my own work, a character does it naturally as part of their personality.

The engagement problem: Readers can ask follow-up questions, explore character backstories, and dive deeper into the fictional world between books.

The soft-sell problem: Newsletter signups and book recommendations flow organically from conversations about the stories and characters.

It’s still early days but the feedback has been great. It’s improved the bounce rate on my site. People are sticking around a little longer than they used to, engaging with the character and exploring the fictional world I created…without spoilers.

Something Authors Already Have

Here’s what I’m starting to realize. Every author faces the same marketing challenges, and I’m not saying this solves all of them by any stretch—but it might be a step in the right direction. Our characters already have personalities that engage readers. They have distinctive voices and relationships that drive our stories forward. I’m seeing that readers enjoy tapping into their perspective and voice.

If that’s working…why not give them more?

In a world where AI is transforming every industry, authors might actually have a unique advantage. We’ve already built the fictional personalities that readers love. We’ve already done the hard part of creating compelling people.

Now we’ve got the technology to let them speak directly to our readers.

The Technology (Simpler Than You Think)

It takes a little work. But I promise, you don’t need to be tech-savvy to pull this off. I used ChatGPT as my coding assistant throughout the entire process. Whether I needed help writing character prompts, setting up boundaries, or figuring out how to integrate the chatbot into my website, ChatGPT walked me through every step. It’s like having a patient, knowledgeable friend who never gets frustrated when you ask the same question three different ways.

For hosting the character chatbot, I used a platform called Chatbase. It handles all the technical backend while providing a simple embed code that drops into my website—no coding required, just copy, paste, and customize the appearance. There’s also a playground feature where you can test your character before going live.

Total monthly cost: $40. Setup time: It took less than an afternoon.

Getting Started: A Practical Roadmap

Choose Your Character: You might consider choosing someone with a distinctive voice who could realistically serve as a “guide” to your work. I didn’t choose my protagonist because she’s too important to the series. Uncle Gunny was up to the task.

Define Their Role: Give them a comprehensive job description. Gunny serves as tour guide through my fictional world, book recommender, and newsletter host all rolled into one. The key is being clear about what they should and shouldn’t do within those roles. Your character’s role can always evolve as you get more comfortable with their performance.

Gather Source Material: Compile character descriptions, dialogue samples, and personality quirks. The more specific you are, the better the AI will capture their voice. Let them train on all the information on your website and the reviews of your work on Goodreads and Amazon—this gives the character context about how readers actually respond to your books.

Start Simple: Begin with basic Q&A about your work and characters. You can type in questions that you think visitors will ask frequently and tell your character exactly how to respond. Not only will this help you control the message, the AI learns from your style. You also have a choice to allow it creative freedom on a scale of 0-10. I chose 8. When the training was dialed in, it was good to go. Gunny is constantly surprising me.

Test Extensively: This step is crucial. Chat with your character from different angles. Make sure they stay in voice and handle unexpected questions gracefully. Ask them inappropriate and offensive questions. Really put them through the paces—you want to discover any boundary issues before your website visitors do.

Click to continue.

What’s Next?

Who knows? It’s all coming at us so quickly. Every week, it feels like we need to recalibrate what is now possible in the AI space. So, we’re confronted with an uncomfortable choice. Do we hide in the basement and hope this tornado of technology passes us by? Or do we find interesting ways to use it? Personally, I’m leaning into it, trying to figure out how I can make it work for me.

But I should be clear. There are boundaries. I will always be a writer of original fiction. I’m not an author that wants AI to auto-tune my distinctive voice. By its nature, AI is derivative—a cover band. I don’t know if it will ever be able to craft original, human emotion—but creatively, the question doesn’t interest me.

With Uncle Gunny, though? I’ve found a way that AI can serve both my readers and my marketing needs. And the best part? He’s doing all the heavy lifting.

Are you ready to put one of your characters to work? Who’s your Uncle Gunny?

Ready to meet Uncle Gunny yourself? Visit https://www.andrewbridgeman.com/ask-uncle-gunny and see character-driven marketing in action. Just don’t expect him to be overly polite about it.

The post How I Turned My Gruff, No-Nonsense Character Into My Best Marketing Tool (And How Any Author Can Do the Same—No Coding Required) appeared first on Writer's Digest.

In the last 30+ years that I’ve worked as a book critic, the publishing industry has experienced some radical changes. The birth of digital publishing and the rise of e-books, the sad demise of independent and chain brick-and-mortar bookstores, and the emergence of audiobooks, have irrevocably restructured the publishing world.

But arguably the biggest transformation in writing and publishing fiction over the last few decades is more subtle—and so much more profound.

It’s the speed in which narratives progress, both in terms of content and structure. Everything is faster, more streamlined, built for those readers with the attention span of mayflies.

Welcome to the brave new world of instant gratification: SMS language, 280-character (or shorter) tweet lengths, and endlessly scrolling through Instagram Reels and TikToks, swiping after mere microseconds if the content isn’t interesting in some way.

To the surprise of no one, our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter and …

What was I saying again?

The average human attention span decreased by nearly 25 percent from 2000 to 2015, shrinking from 12 seconds in 2000 to around 8 seconds in the mid-2010s.

For comparison, a goldfish’s attention span is 9 seconds.

The reasons for this fleeting focus are myriad. A 2019 study from researchers at the Technical University of Denmark found that the inundation of information bombarding those living in a digitalized world has profoundly narrowed people’s attention spans.

“The negative effects of social media and a hectic news cycle on our attention span has been an on-going discussion in recent years … A new study … finds that our collective attention span is indeed narrowing, and that this effect occurs—not only on social media—but also across diverse domains including books, web searches, movie popularity, and more.”

In a Time.com article from 2023 entitled “Why Everyone’s Worried About Their Attention Span—and How to Improve Yours,” Adam Brown, co-director of the Center for Attention, Learning, and Memory at St. Bonaventure University in New York, is quoted as saying increasing inattention has reached “epidemic” levels.

And this epidemic of narrowing attention spans has negatively impacted our reading habits in obvious—and deeply concerning—ways. Younger readers, for example, are reading less.

According to a survey done by the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) in 2019–2020, the amount of young people who read for fun has declined from 35 percent in 1984 to barely 17 percent.

Additionally, the results of a survey conducted by Today.yougov.com in December 2023 found that nearly half of Americans (46 percent) didn’t even read one book that year.

This life of endless distractions has undeniably impacted the way in which we perceive the world—and has influenced our ability to focus on anything that doesn’t hold our attention for more than a few moments.

As our way of life has slowly but surely transformed many of us into bipedal mayflies, so too has the $28.1 billion publishing industry (savvily) changed to better serve the shifting needs of its readers.

As a book critic who has reviewed more than 10,000 titles, I’ve seen these changes firsthand—and if you’ve read a diversity of fiction releases from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, you’ve probably also realized how remarkably different contemporary releases are compared to those from just a few decades ago.

Here are some things to consider as you’re writing, or planning to write, your next novel.

Books are getting shorter.

A study by WordsRated in June of 2022 looked at titles that had made it to the New York Times bestseller list between 2011–2021. The results were telling: the average length of the NYT bestseller decreased by 51.5 pages from 2011 to 2021, from 437.5 to 386 (11.8 percent). Also, long books (more than 400 pages) are all but disappearing—the share of shelf-bending bestsellers went from 54 percent in 2011 to just 38 percent in 2021, a 30 percent drop.

I’ve reviewed more novels under 300 pages in the last year than the previous two or three years combined—especially when it comes to self-published releases. Getting assigned a novel to review like Ken Liu’s Speaking Bones (weighing in at 1,072 pages) is becoming vanishingly rare.

I don’t think this is a trend either: It’s permanent. There will always be a place for doorstop reads—particularly in certain categories like epic fantasy and grand-scale science fiction—and established writers like Stephen King and Barbara Kingsolver will always have more leeway when it comes to novel length. (I’m looking at Donna Tartt’s 775-page The Goldfinch on my bookshelf as I write this.)

So, the shorter your novel is, in this mayfly reader world, the more the chances are of it not only being published but being commercially successful as well.

Novels of all categories are being structured more like thrillers.

Three decades ago, novels frequently took their sweet time getting to the hooks. Epic fantasy novels, in particular, may have been 100 pages deep before readers got to the big hook. But, taking their cue from mainstream thrillers—which have hooks as close to the beginning as possible, sometimes even in the first sentence!—writers of novels in all categories have been restructuring their works to mimic thrillers, that is to say to read like highly palatable, fast-paced, page-turners that readers consume like potato chips. The indicators are evident in any category you read, be it romance, mystery, horror, or mainstream fiction. The hooks in recently released novels are now routinely very close to the beginning, almost always imbedded in the very first scene, which is usually action-packed or emotionally intense in some way.

Octavia Butler’s bestseller Kindred is a perfect example. The hook is right there in the first sentence!

I lost an arm on my last trip home.

Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl is another great example, with an unforgettable first line:

When I think of my wife, I always think of her head.

The same thing is true with All the Colors of the Dark, Chris Whitaker’s recently released masterwork:

From the flat roof of the kitchen Patch looked out through serried pin oaks and white pine to the loom of St. Francois Mountains that pressed the small town of Monta Clare into its shade no matter the season. At thirteen he believed entirely that there was gold beyond the Ozark Plateau. That there was a brighter world just waiting for him.

Though later that morning, when he lay dying in the woodland, he’d take that morning still and purse it till the colors ran because he knew it could not have been so beautiful. That nothing was ever so beautiful in his life.

Pick up any commercially successful novel—regardless of category—published in the last few years and I’ll bet you that there is a solid hook of some kind on the very first page: an intriguing statement, an intense or memorable scene, the seed of a mystery, etc. Why are writers across all categories of fiction doing this religiously now? Because, like a trending TikTok meme, these hooks grab the reader’s attention quickly and, ideally, get them so emotionally invested, or simply curious, that they read the entire story.

And while this is certainly nothing new—I can list dozens of classics with iconic hooks right in the first sentence (like E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web: “ ‘Where’s Papa going with that ax?’ said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.”)— the takeaway here is the frequency in which this is happening now, which is to say almost all the time.

In addition to placing hooks as early in the story as possible, the majority of chapter endings in those aforementioned commercially successful novels are now often concluded with some kind of bombshell, be it a jaw-dropping revelation, a cliffhanger, a powerful statement, an unforgettable visual, etc. I’ve seen this in all categories of genre fiction (romance, fantasy, horror, SF, mystery) as well as mainstream fiction. This may not seem to be significant but cumulatively it creates a novel that readers literally can’t put down. Thriller writers like Harlan Coben, Lee Child, and Jeff Abbott have been doing this for decades—because it works! If your novel has consistently powerful chapter endings, readers will find it virtually impossible to put your book down—and in a world filled with DNFs, this is a huge win!

As an example, let’s take the first and last sentences from the first chapter of Rob Hart’s recently released Assassins Anonymous. The first few sentences couldn’t be any more effective as a hook:

Adrenaline is the ultimate painkiller. It doesn’t last very long. But in those white-hot moments when your gut gets pierced by a bullet, or a knife cleaves your skin, you would be amazed at how little you feel it.

And Hart ends the first chapter as strongly as he began it with a narrative brass knuckle punch to the skull:

I press my hand to my gut.
Hot blood gushes between my fingers.
This wasn’t what I expected from the day.

Hart continues to use this technique throughout the entire novel—Chapter Two, for example, ends with “As I turn, a boot smashes into my chest.”—which creates a high-intensity storyline that is exceedingly difficult to put down and walk away from. I liken this to trying to get off a roller coaster as it is rocketing through a particularly heart-stopping sequence of vertical loops. No one would want to stop the ride at that point. They’re going to keep reading!

Chapter lengths seem to be getting shorter as well, although this isn’t as evident in categories like fantasy, which still feature chapters that can be up to 50 pages long and longer. Shorter chapters give readers less opportunities to be bored—and, in theory, keeps narrative momentum brisk.

Look at Whitaker’s aforementioned All the Colors of the Dark. Although the novel is 592 pages, there are 261 chapters. That averages out to be just over 2.2 pages per chapter!

Additionally, shorter chapters coupled with alternating POVs in each chapter keep the story fresh and, hopefully, readers on the edge of their seats.

Lastly, just like thrillers, is the focus on intensity level, be it internal conflict, external chaos, emotional turmoil, etc. Regardless of category, an utterly readable novel in today’s market will have a high-intensity level throughout the entire story—ideally tension on every page. If you’re a writer, you don’t want any extended sequences that are low energy—that’s the kiss of death. You probably shouldn’t embrace your inner Tolkien and spend 10 pages describing the attributes of a tree if your goal is to write a commercially successful novel.

Everything is shorter—except title length.

Not surprisingly, I’ve seen a marked decrease in the length of synopses, back cover copy, and review excerpts … even press releases are getting shorter. Everything is more concise, more condensed, more to the point. The days of back cover copy filling up the entire back cover are long gone. Is anyone really going to read it? (Answer: No, probably not.)

I’ve written thousands of reviews for companies like Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, the Chicago Tribune, and BN.com—and many of those review excerpts have appeared on book covers. While not a radical change, I have noticed that over the last decade or so publishers are using fewer words in these excerpts. Back in 2011, for example, HarperCollins released The Breaking by Marcus Pelegrimas and they used an excerpt from a review I wrote for BN.com on the front cover. It was three full lines of text—21 words! I rarely see that any more on front covers. Nowadays review excerpts are generally just a few words: “extraordinary,” “A masterwork,” etc. While not a big deal, it is indicative of the trend towards marketing to mayfly attention spans.

And, strangely enough, as all of these elements are decreasing in size, book titles are getting longer. An article published on TowardsDataScience.com in 2019 found that fiction titles are getting longer as the actual page counts are shrinking. The researcher who wrote the article calculated the title lengths of all New York Times bestsellers from 2011 and found that the average title increased from 2.5 words to 3 words during that time. The number of bestsellers with seven or more words was also noteworthy: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, to name a few.

So, what’s the big takeaway here? As a writer, you should know your audience—or, more specifically, understand your audience’s attention span. Utilize the tools and techniques that will keep readers engaged and turning pages.

Ask yourselves these questions before you submit anything for publication:

• Have I trimmed the narrative fat off my story?

• Is the initial hook as close to the beginning as I can get it?

• Do my chapters end with a brass knuckle statement, intriguing image, or jaw-dropping revelation?

• Do I have some form of intensity powering all of my sequences?

• Is my synopsis and/or back cover copy focused and concise?

If you’ve actually read this entire article to its end, congratulations. You’re not a mayfly yet!

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The post Mayfly Marketing appeared first on Writer's Digest.

(The One Thing I Wish I’d Known Before I Got Published.)

Back then, if you’d told me I’d grow up to be a writer who had to share, post, and pretty much expose every part of who I am to the world, I wouldn’t have believed you.

Once upon a time, being a writer was the stuff of dreams. Romantic, even. To be a writer was this elusive thing. You got an idea for a story, wrote it, pitched it, and got paid enough money to go away for months at a time and create.

When a book came out, there was fanfare. Sometimes even a paid book tour. You traveled, you signed books, you chatted with readers, and then you disappeared back into your creative cave. If readers wanted to know about you, they had to show up for an event or hunt for interviews. The more reclusive you were, the more interesting. Your whole life was never on display. It was about the work, always the work. Years could pass before you published another book. You had time to think, to pine, to process, to ideate, to rest. To ride the wave of your first book, maybe your only book, before the seeds of a new idea began to sprout.

Fast forward to today, and being an author seems like an advertisement for a bad dating app:

“Underpaid, introverted author turned social media wizard who spends all their time marketing, posting other people’s books, and figuring out the best ways to reach readers and get their books into the world seeks major success in a world with a short attention span and no guarantees.”

Not only is there less time for writing than ever before, every author who wants to be traditionally published is told some version of the same thing: “Marketing falls completely on the author’s shoulders. It’s just the way it is.”

Is it?

I remember in a not too distant past, authors wrote books. Publishers sold books. Everyone was happy. The end.

But now, the onus is on authors to reach and engage thousands of readers. We aren’t published unless we’ve amassed a following. Also, how’s our engagement? What’s our newsletter open rate? How many books have we sold? Do we have a podcast? A Substack? A Patreon? Are we on TikTok? In no universe were writers ever supposed to manage this much.

And yet, it feels…

We are only as good as our numbers, not our stories.

We are only as valuable as our followers, not our creativity.

We are only as successful as our last book sales, not how much readers love it.

We are only measured by lists, sales, and bestseller status, not raw talent and drive.

Over the last 20 years, I’ve realized the more I reach, the more I share, the more I chase, the emptier I feel.

As someone who has seen the massive shifts in the industry from then to now, I am here to say:

Writers were never meant to be marketers.

Our gifts lie in our creativity, writing stories, and our introverted (i.e., private!) nature. The demands from the industry take us further away from what we were put on this earth to do: WRITE.

Authors deserve uninterrupted time to write. Not between posts. Not between building author platforms. Not between edits. Not between book tours.

After one failed novel, four nonfiction books, and six novels with big publishers, I feel dizzy from my furious output. I still haven’t hit the New York Times bestseller list, despite selling thousands and thousands of books. I still haven’t had a hardback release. I still haven’t become a literary darling, and it’s not for lack of work ethic, good storytelling, or proper positioning. (It’s also not my bad attitude, I swear; I used to be hopeful!)

Check out Rea Frey’s In Every Life here:

Bookshop | Amazon

(WD uses affiliate links)

This is not to say I haven’t had fabulous help along the way, because I have. I am so fortunate to work with publishers who really care, who take the time to push so hard behind the scenes to get my books in front of readers. It is an important job, and I am beyond grateful.

However, even though publishers work hard, the expectation has shifted, and there’s a new game to play where the author is out front and center much of the time.

For me, the “game” isn’t one I’m much interested in playing, because it feels like chasing. It feels like hustle. It feels like there’s no destination in sight, no metric to hit where I can sit back, sigh, and say, “There. I’ve arrived. Look at what I did.”

Instead, to play this game feels like denying who I truly am and how I want to spend my precious time…

And it’s not on social media.

It’s not making reels of my writing life.

It’s not connecting with readers all day, every day.

Or writing social media posts that never have an end in sight.

Don’t get me wrong: I’ve done all of these things and more. I’ve spent so much time and money trying to find the “magic” button of success. I’ve reached some. I’ve failed. I’ve landed everywhere and nowhere in between.

But you know what I really love?

Writing. I love sitting down and having hours pass not even knowing where I am. I love creating something and going deep. I love the finished product. I love the process.

But I don’t always love what comes after… all of the expectations and unknowns and running around like a chicken without a head. And you know what I’ve discovered along the way in working with countless authors?

They don’t love it either. They don’t love pushing themselves beyond their physical, mental, and emotional limits, book after book after book. They don’t love grinning and bearing it. They don’t love “not knowing” how their books will do. They don’t love making reels of themselves typing with text bubbles above their heads. (I mean, if you do love any of those things, that’s cool, but I don’t.)

Until authors say no to doing things we weren’t ever meant to do, nothing will change. Authors have the power to change the industry. And some do. Bestselling authors like Cal Newport, who refuse to have an email address or social media. There are rules, yes, but we can still break them.

At the end of our day, there are our stories, our books, and our intellectual property that make the publishing world go round.

So what kind of writer do you want to be?

I know that I want to write, and I want to feel good doing it. I chose this profession so I could have seasons of output and seasons of rest. But there is no rest. Ever. If you’re not putting out one book a year (or, in my case, two!), you’re editing another and pitching a third at the same time. It’s exhausting in a world that moves so fast and is so full of things to do, it’s hard to keep up.

What would happen if we just stopped spreading ourselves thin by sharing every single detail about ourselves? What if authors’ privacy became sacred again, became the new currency? What if we stopped tuning into what everyone else is doing and lived our lives the way we wanted?

What if authors never had to market a single thing?

What if we took the responsibility off the creative’s shoulders and let us get back to what we are good at?

What then? 

The post Protecting Authors’ Privacy: The Cost of Marketing Our Own Books appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Unfortunately, unless you’re one of the “lucky ones,” probably not.

Most of us who do manage to land book deals accept what we can get, zip our lips, sit back, and take it all as it comes. The highs. The lows. The crippling uncertainty. The annoying questions like, “So, have you quit your day job yet?” Or, “Did you hit the New York Times bestseller list?” We bottle the anxiety. We’re okay with not knowing our sales numbers or understanding how it all works.

I’ve been in this game a long, long time. I’ve had way more failures than successes and have worked in all facets of publishing—as an author, as an editor, a co-writer, a ghostwriter, and working directly with agents and publishers. Now, as a book doula helping other authors birth their books into the world, I work with public figures, first-time authors, bestselling authors, and have been on the receiving end of accolades and accomplishments as an author myself.

During this time, I’ve scoured every corner of the publishing earth, asking about the secret sauce to really “making it” in this business, and I’ve gotten the same canned answers time and time again:

• It’s all about luck and timing!
• It’s really just a long game.
• Just write a good book and the readers will come. 
• Sales aren’t in your control, so just enjoy the process.

On and on they go.

You know what’s missing from all those answers? Even one iota of how this business really works.

After working on hundreds of other people’s books and 11 of my own, I have narrowed it down to the one thing I wish I had known before I ever tried to get published. While I used to spout off the fact that publishing is a business and your book is a product to sell, that just doesn’t seem like the right answer anymore. Instead, I’ve coined a new one. Are you ready? Here it is:

You have to know what questions to ask in order to get what you want from publishing.

Today, being an author means way more than just writing a good story. In fact, good storytelling is often the last item on a very long to-do list, most of which revolves around:

1. Sales and marketing
2. Social Media Promotion
3. Building a solid author platform

I don’t know about you, but when I decided to become a writer, I wanted to, you know, write. I wanted to sit in a comfy chair with a cup of coffee in my pajamas and peck away at a keyboard. ALONE. Away from humans. When I was done, I then wanted to find professionals to usher my book into the world so that I could get to work on the next book.

You see, I’m one of those “weird” writers who actually like to write. Putting myself out there constantly on social media, building the buzz for each book, and doing whatever it takes, both in-person and virtually, drains most introverts I know, but it seems it’s just the “price” we all have to pay as creatives now, right?

Again, I’m not so sure.

When you become a published author, it’s true you have to figure out a lot of things: what your startup expenses are, where you’re spending money, how you’re making money, how you will launch your book into the world, and how you will make a living at this thing you love. And it’s also true that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to (even if social media makes it seem like you do).

But before you do decide what you actually want, you first have to know how it all works.

1. If you have a book idea, what do you do first?
2. If you want a literary agent or publisher, how does that work?
3. If you offered a book deal, how do you negotiate or read a contract?
4. If you indie publish, what’s the proper protocol to bring your book to market?

If you don’t know the answers to any of these questions, then you’re not ready to publish a book.

If you’re a nonfiction author, this might make a tad more sense. Because with nonfiction, your book serves your brand, business, or area of expertise in so many other ways . . . but if you’re writing fiction? Well then, good luck. It seems we are here to entertain, not solve world peace, and it’s easier to get someone to buy a house than a $15 book. Go figure.

Order a copy of Rea Frey’s The Other Year today. 

Bookshop | Amazon
[WD uses affiliate links.]

So how does this one tiny sliver of advice—you have to know what questions to ask in order to get what you want—help you on your author journey?

It absolutely changes the game in every way. Here’s how.

1. When you understand that publishing is a business, it means you can learn everything you need to know. I cannot tell you how many authors have come to me, paid me thousands and thousands of dollars to help them create a book proposal or land them an agent or book deal, and then not know a thing about how it all works in order to get a book published. I would never wake up one day, decide I’m going to be a stockbroker, and then close my eyes and hope for the best. Publishing isn’t about writing a good book. Getting a book deal isn’t about writing a good book. It’s about relationships and contracts and paperwork and negotiations and understanding how it all works. My advice? Find a mentor. Find a few! Do your research before you ever decide to put yourself out there so you are not surprised, left in the dark, or ultimately disappointed along the way.
2. Understand how you get paid. Are you aware of how you get paid as an author? What an advance is, how you earn royalties, what percentage your agent gets, and how often you get paid? Unlike other businesses, when an author only receives payment twice a year, you can see how hard it is to make a living, which is why it is vital to go in with eyes wide open.
3. Before you ever sign on the dotted line, talk to other authors. If you are getting a job, it might be nice to talk to some of the current employees to see what your new boss is like, how much turnover they have, and if you would be a cultural fit, right? The same goes for publishing. Talk to other authors, poke around, and do your due diligence before you sign on the dotted line. Contrary to popular belief, while it seems like you are just sitting around waiting to get picked, it’s really the other way around. There is no publishing industry without your work. So make sure you are choosing the best fit for you.
4. Ask all the questions. The reason I left my previous publisher was because they were not meeting my expectations. I know that sounds a bit diva, but it’s not. I went in with eyes wide open. I asked lots of questions, asked for full transparency, and they told me one thing while doing another. I was not quiet about my bewilderment. In fact, I started advocating for other authors by advocating for myself. No one cares about your career more than you do, and as a friend recently told me, “No matter what you do, the publishing industry is never going to love you back.” You have to care the most about your career. Remember that.

If I could go back and do it all over again, this is what I would do: I would study the industry. I would ask all the questions. I would find authors I look up to and ask them questions. (Don’t worry. We’re a friendly bunch.) I would take it seriously, understand this is a business, and if I want to succeed, then I better understand exactly what I’m getting myself into.

At the end of the day, there are so many ways to thrive as an author. But none of them can happen without you understanding what you are getting yourself into first.

Wherever you are in your journey, take it a single, informed step at a time.

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The post The One Thing I Wish I’d Known Before I Got Published appeared first on Writer's Digest.

The Anatomy of a Best Seller: 3 Steps to Deconstruct Winning Books and Teach Yourself Craft; 8 Steps to Side Characters: How to Craft Supporting Roles With Intention, Purpose, and Power; The Anatomy of Prose: 12 Steps to Sensational Sentences; 10 Steps to Hero: How to Craft a Kickass Protagonist; 13 Steps to Evil: How to Craft Superbad Villains; A Game of Hearts and Heists

(Nonfiction writing craft; sapphic fantasy romance; Atlas Black Publishing)

Why self-publish?

I wanted to keep control and maximize the use of my intellectual property. That doesn’t mean I won’t work with traditional publishers. In fact, my nonfiction books were translated into Korean through a publisher. But when you’re an indie, you can choose which rights you sell and which ones you keep. I like the fact I can make these choices based on the publishing route I think would benefit the book best.

Had you considered traditional publishing?

I have a sapphic young adult book I’m editing. The YA LGBTQ+ market is currently dominated by the traditional market so to give the book the best chance, I’d like to query it.

Order a copy of The Anatomy of a Best Seller: 3 Steps to Deconstruct Winning Books and Teach Yourself Craft by Sacha Black.

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Self-publishing appeal?

The ability to control my work life. I work how I want at the pace that works for me. Meaning, I get to set the timelines, the formats, the methods, and the marketing. Plus, I’m able to pivot quickly to utilize new tools and marketing strategies. It really is the heart of freedom.

Biggest challenge?

When you work in a team or corporate environment, you have a team to support you if something goes wrong or you encounter a problem. As an indie, everything rests on your shoulders. That’s a lot of problem solving, a lot of troubleshooting and having to work out how to fix and resolve things on your own. That can be grueling at times, especially if you’re the kind of person who likes to bounce ideas around. It can also be confidence building when you do fix something on your own and you realize you can absolutely do anything you set your mind to.

Order a copy of The Anatomy of Prose: 12 Steps to Sensational Sentences by Sacha Black.

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Wish I’d known:

I wish I’d understood the power of simplicity in story. When I wrote my first book, I thought everything had to be completely unique and original which resulted in a complex world, plot, and storyline. It was too much. Just because you use a simpler plotline or story structure doesn’t make the story “lesser.” Readers love tropes for a reason, there’s safety in familiarity and lots of flexibility to be creative. I wish I’d understood how to deliver what readers want sooner, but it takes time to understand both how to craft a story and how to match it to reader desires.

Writing advice:

The best action I ever took for my writing craft and business was to learn how to deconstruct what the bestselling authors are doing. What literary tools and devices are they using, how long are their books, do they have clean prose or rich descriptions? What tropes are they using and how pacey is the story? I go to a forensic level and pattern spot the commonalities across multiple books in whatever genre I’m writing in. This helps me deliver a story to readers that I know they’ll enjoy.

Then I do the same but for the author platforms and marketing. What platforms are they using? Are they running ads and if so, on what platforms? Do they content market? Do they rapid release books or do one a year? I sign up to their mailing lists so I can see the frequency of emails and content, I look at their branding and color schemes the way they present themselves online. This, just like with craft, enables me to build a business that I know will appeal to readers, create a platform that attracts them and driving advertising that I know works.

Order a copy of A Game of Hearts and Heists by Ruby Roe.

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Marketing Strategy:

We are in a pay-to-play market. There are a lot of books out there and if you want readers to see your books, you need to find a method of driving traffic to them. I do that through a combination of paid advertising, like AMS ads, paid newsletters, and content marketing. For content marketing, I use TikTok, podcasting, interviews, speaking, and social media.

The most important part of my marketing, though, is getting the right reader magnet to encourage sign-ups on my mailing list. Your mailing list is always your best asset because it gives you direct access to readers who know and like you and want to read more of your work. You control your list, no one can take it away from you, and even if the big bookstores fall, you can still sell books directly to readers through your mailing list.

Don’t Skimp On:

I don’t think it will come as news to anyone, but do not—under any circumstances—skimp on the cover. Don’t do it yourself; just don’t. Readers will one click buy if the cover is good enough, and they’ll one click leave if it’s not. Even as an author myself, I will refuse to pick up a book if the cover isn’t good enough. Your cover is your first marketing tool. It’s the first thing readers see and therefore the first opportunity for them to pass on your book. Pay a designer. Get the best cover you can.

Website:

SachaBlack.co.uk
RubyRoe.co.uk
pod.link/rebelauthor
Instagram.com/sachablackauthor/
TikKok.com/@rubyroeauthor

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Why Back Matter Matters

In marketing, it generally costs less to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones. A book’s back matter offers an opportunity to retain those readers who enjoyed and engaged with your work enough to read it through to the end.

It’s where we can help readers look ahead to the next book, make a connection with them, and offer bonus content to either support the understanding readers have of the story or delight them with more of what they’ve already enjoyed.

Rather than being an afterthought, back matter is a key part of any book.

What Goes Into the Back Matter

While there are various things that can be included in a book’s back matter, there are a few that are pretty standard.

Acknowledgments

Many authors include some acknowledgments in the back matter. These typically call out people who helped in the writing and publishing process (whether professionally or personally). This is where the people who supported the process or who supported a previous book get their shout-outs.

You may also want to call out larger situations affecting you and your readers, especially if something about these events is echoed in the theme, setting, or plot of your story.

About the Author

Even if you’re a shy introvert, including some information about yourself in the back matter is a good idea. People respond to human connections.

It can also be a way for people with opportunities to see if you’re a fit for their websites, publications, or podcasts. If you’ve pulled something about yourself into your work, that could be interesting for people with opportunities to know—and to interview you about or invite you to write or speak about.

[8 Steps To Prepare for Podcasts and Radio Interviews To Promote Your Forthcoming Book]

Not sure what to say? Focus on what’s relevant to your work: experience, education, accolades, or hobbies. If you feel comfortable doing so, you could also include a photo of yourself.

Series Info

Many indie authors find it beneficial to write series, but not all readers start on Book One. Including a list of the books in the series so far can help those who joined partway through know where they need to go back and start.

If you have multiple series, even under different pen names, also including those offers readers the opportunity to explore and fall in love with your full catalog.

Praise

If you’ve gotten any editorial reviews or won awards for your work, you could add those in the back matter. Some authors will include a blurb on the front or back cover, but if you’re concerned about cluttering the design and aesthetics, then the back matter is a good place for it.

Of course, all of this is optional. If you don’t have some of it or don’t want to include it, that’s OK!

Let’s look at some of the other material that can go into the back matter.

Looking Ahead

The back matter can also be a place to pitch your next book. Depending on your release strategy, you may have the first chapter of the next book ready to go before publication. If that’s the case, including it can hook readers into the next part of the story and get them excited to buy it. (Don’t forget to include a buy link if one is available!)

Even if you don’t have a first chapter ready yet, you may have a title or a general idea of the book’s plot. If that’s the case—and if you’re reasonably certain it won’t change by the time you publish—you could include little teasers about where the story is going next or how readers can stay in touch to get news about the next book.

Making a Connection

If a reader has gone all the way to the end of the book and is continuing to flip through the additional material, you have a real fan! The back matter is a great place to make a connection with these fans. Here are some of the ways you can do that.

Website

An author’s website should be the hub of their online presence and activity. It’s where readers and those with opportunities to offer can learn more information about you as the author, your work, and anything you’re open to considering, from podcast appearances to freelance writing.

There are a few different ways to get more out of your book links, like special landing pages or tracking links to see how many people are discovering your website via the back matter. If that’s too technical for you, a simple URL to your homepage is fine!

Newsletter

Newsletter sign ups are valuable for authors. By including your newsletter sign-up link, you’re filling your list with people who are your fans. Be sure to mention what they can expect or what they’ll get out of signing up. This could be a simple call to action like, “Sign up for my monthly newsletter to receive updates about the next book.”

Caveat: there are some legal considerations for email, including laws like CAN-SPAM and GDPR. Be sure you’re aware of your responsibilities before gathering email addresses or sending emails.

Social Media

If you’re active on social media, be sure to include links to your profiles in the back matter as well. While a reader might have discovered you via social, not all readers do. Many learn of books via word of mouth, book club picks, or advertising. Some may receive your book as a gift.

Make it easier for readers who love your work to connect with you—and don’t forget to make it worth their while to stay once they’ve followed you.

Subscription Platforms

If you have a lot of deleted scenes or you write other story content that doesn’t make it into the final version of the book, setting up on a subscription platform can be a way to share these.

Subscription platforms like Patreon or Ko-fi allow creatives to set up virtual tip jars for their work. Creators can set up tiers with a range of expectations: up to a few dollars simply to support them or show appreciation for their work, ranging up to tens or hundreds of dollars. Higher tiers tend to offer something in exchange, with a value in line with the cost of the tier.

Readers who finish your books and love your worlds may be willing to offer additional support in order to receive these goodies. Including them in the back matter is win-win—it offers the opportunity for readers to stay in your world and lessen their book hangover, while authors get some additional financial support to keep writing.

Informational Content

There’s plenty of other material you could include if it makes sense:

• Glossaries
• A dramatis personae, for books with a large cast
• Discussion guides for book clubs
• Reading guides outlining research or critiques that informed the book

When considering informational content, think about what would be most useful or appreciated by your readers. Adding content adds to the length (and potentially the price) of the book, so anything included should be done with the goal of adding value to the reader in mind.

*****

Even after writing the end of the story, there’s more to say to readers. Keep engaging with them via your book’s back matter to feed their reading cravings, promote your work, and support your ability to keep writing.

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(I Attended My First Writing Retreat. Here’s What I Learned)

When you boast on someone else’s work, genuinely and sincerely, most often that person will want to do the same for you. And, of course, that’s not why you boast on another writer, but it usually turns out to be an added benefit.

If we each do our part to toot someone else’s horn, then we can make beautiful music together, supporting and encouraging and helping one another along this writing journey. And all that horn blowing, played harmoniously turns into a symphony.

Try out a few of these notes to contribute to a writers’ SYMPHONY:

SHARE: Boast about your writer friends on social media and in your newsletter

• Share authors’ books on social media and be sure to share links to the books, too.
• Share friends’ latest blog posts.
• Share something about their writing successes in a newsletter.
• Start a video series to share on social media and include authors.
• Snap pictures when you find author friends’ books in a store and share on your media
• Share favorite lines from friends’ books.
• Join writing Facebook groups and when members mention new releases, make sure to share that information.

YIELD: Yield your spotlight to other authors

• Host author friends on your podcast and do book giveaways.
• Host author friends as guest bloggers on your website and do book giveaways.
• Offer an extra bedroom to a favorite writing friend if they’re ever passing through your city and help them secure a book signing by utilizing local contacts.

MAGNIFY: Sing the praises of fellow author friends

• Tell a conference director that you enjoyed an author’s class.
• If you’re friends with a conference director, suggest an author friend you know as a speaker.
• Take your favorite author’s book with you to doctor and dental appointments. Find someone there to tell about the book. You could even say, “I’ve just finished it while I was here. Why don’t you take it home and read it and then share it with someone else?”
• Boast to your family and friends about a favorite author.
• Boast about authors’ works on social media, either on your own page or as a comment on the author’s page.

PETITION: Make requests directly related to authors’ books

• Request their books at your local library.
• Request their books at every bookstore in town.
• Ask the church librarian to get a copy of their book or even buy one to donate.
• Mark in Goodreads that you want to read their book.
• Mark in BookBub that you want to read their book.
• Ask your child’s school librarian to have copies of your friends’ books, age appropriate, of course.
• Put all of your friends’ books on your wish list on Amazon and be sure to tell your family about the list so they can purchase the books for you. When you share that list with others who are buying you gifts, they just might decide they want a copy of that book too!

HONOR: Support and treat author friends in ways that honor their talent

• Buy their books.
• Give their books as baby gifts or holiday gifts.
• Give a silly gift or inexpensive gift when you see them at a conference, book signing, or writers’ meeting. Look for trinkets that relate to their brand or books whenever you’re out and about. When you share the gift, take a picture of the two of you in preparation for sharing. When you share, you can say, “By the way, this friend wrote this really great book…”
• Serve on an author’s launch team.
• Attend virtual launch parties.
• Attend book signings, even if you’ve never heard of the author, and get to know them. And post about the signing on your social media.
• If you’re a member of a book club, make sure to pick friends’ books as suggestions for the group to read.
• If you’re sponsoring a drawing on your website or Facebook to bring awareness to your website or social media, give away one of your own books but give away friends’ books there, too. Make sure to boast about that several days ahead.
• Watch authors’ videos or interviews.
• Listen to their podcasts.

OPINE: Write reviews to support your author friends

• Write a review on Amazon and share on your social media.
• Write a review on Barnes & Noble and share on your social media.
• Write a review on Books-A-Million and share on your social media.
• Write a review on the author’s publishing house site and share on your social media.
• Be a beta reader so that you can start posting about the person’s book early and stir up excitement and anticipation for the book.
• Be willing to endorse a book.

NOURISH: Encourage and motivate author friends

• Text them occasionally just to say “hello.”
• Send an encouraging email.
• Send a thank you note for writing a particular book.
• Give smiles, hugs, handshakes, fist bumps, or elbow taps at conferences.
• Congratulate author friends via text or email or social media when they win awards and publish books. Share those accomplishments on your social media.

YAK: Tell others about your author friends and their work

• Turn their books face forward when you visit bookstores.
• When you’re in the bookstore, if there’s someone on the same aisle as you, quickly pull out your favorite author’s book in that section and say to the person with you (or that stranger in the aisle), “Hey, have you read this book? It is so good! I highly recommend it.”
• If you are a teacher, read children’s books of your favorite authors to the kids and make sure your schools have copies of those books. If you’re a high school teacher and it’s allowed, assign some of your friends’ books as extra credit reading or part of an assignment.
• Take copies of your friends’ books to work and leave them in a prominent place is to be seen.
• Tell family members about your friends’ books.
• Tell friends about your author friends’ books.

With just a small amount of time and effort, writers can help writers through support and encouragement. Working together, yet individually, authors compose a magnificent symphony.

Let’s make beautiful music TOGETHER.

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Her partner said, “…by subjects?”

(The Importance of Grief and Loss in Fiction)

“No,” she said, “We already do that. I’m talking about our fiction.” As she spoke, she was staring at their science shelf and the spine of Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species. “We could arrange them by different genuses?”

It was a short journey from there to the birth of genres.

Creative experiments by writers, ever-greater literacy, the creation of the paperback, and the explosion in the number of published books gave birth to publishers—or at least imprints—specializing in mysteries or literary fiction or science fiction or YA or romance, and so forth.

The publishing world said, “It is good,” and it was, until marketing departments decided much more could be squeezed from the stone.

Saying a book was a mystery, for example, was no longer sufficient. The sub-genre was born.

And with the rise of algorithm-driven, online sales, the deal was done. If we can’t pigeonhole a book, publishers seemed to say to authors, readers, and bookstore managers alike, it won’t exist. If an author can’t rhyme off several comps—that is the comparative titles you see on book jackets, online stores, and book pitches—they aren’t going to get far in this town.

Those last few words would be from a noir detective story. Not a British-style police procedural. Not a cozy. Not a psychological thriller. Not a … you get my drift, right?

That’s what has confronted me with my Jen Lu near-future mystery series with strong social themes set in the charged political environment of Washington, D.C. You’re starting to guess where this is heading, right? Although it’s set in 2034 and the climate crisis is exploding, it isn’t another grim dystopian novel. You know, one of those that might as well come packaged with a cyanide capsule glued onto the last page. There’s a strong sense of realistic hope, born out of the human capacity to change.

Moreover, it’s clearly a feminist, anti-racist, LGBTQ+ work—although it’s an entertaining story and certainly not a textbook. And it’s science fiction-y in that half of The Last Resort is narrated by Chandler, the bio-computer implanted into D.C. cop Jen Lu’s brain. But still, it’s more often found in the mystery section of bookstores.

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This series crosses a lot of genres.

But here’s the thing I know: Readers aren’t computer-driven algorithms. Readers are on the lookout for something new. The books we cherish most are not the 10th rewrite by the 10th different author of the same story. It’s the mint story. The first off the press. The one that sees both the world and the word in a slightly different way.

Here’s the other thing I know: The world is an awfully complex place. Our tendency to slice it up into neat parcels of experience has a hard time capturing either reality or our dreams. Crossing genres can be a way to do that. Why shouldn’t a mystery, for example, speak to the consuming issues of the day? Can’t it still be page-turning fun (if that is your goal) while dealing with serious questions?

And yet another thing I know: Cross-genre writing has the inbuilt ability to baffle and delight. Because it doesn’t fit neatly into a genre formula, the story can be like a dazzling reflection off water. Things you expect are there, but never quite the way you’ve seen it before.

You might notice a couple of provisos in the above paragraphs. Crossing genres can be … such books have the ability to. In other words, we’re talking about a possibility and not an iron-law of writing success.

Crossing genres for the sake of crossing genres is a recipe for gimmickry and, ultimately, a lousy book.

Here’s the thing my agent said to me when we first discussed my Jen Lu series. “You’re a good writer,” she said, “and can tell a good story. I can’t wait to read it.”

And that is the thought I share with my fellow writers who are fretting about how their book might fit into the computer-driven world of book sales. You might have to work twice as hard to get it just right. You might get rejections from editors who say they loved it, but when they pitched it to their marketing kingmakers, they were told it didn’t quite fit into their list.

But if you know how to write, if you can tell a good story, and if you don’t mind persevering, then go for it.

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(How to Crowdfund Your Book)

In 1986, as we were preparing to float Juliana’s on the stock exchange, I had the overwhelming urge to capture all my memories of parties and business dealings on paper. The book, called No Ordinary Experience—the Juliana’s story, turned out to be easy to write and it was serialized in The Daily Telegraph later that year.

My debut novel, The Other Side of Loss, about a priest finding a winning lottery ticket in his collection plate, I was not so lucky with. It seems that I am not alone: These days, writing a book is hard enough but getting it published even harder. The dominance of Amazon and increasing commercial pressures in the book world means that publishers are no longer so keen to take risks on unknown authors—especially, I believe, those of a certain age. (I’m 73.)

I hit a blank wall and grew really demoralized—saved only by the advice of a literary agent who told me to stop wasting my time and go down the self-publishing route. It was not the advice I was expecting but nevertheless I took it, and I’m forever indebted to her for her advice.

Now eight years later, The Other Side Of Loss is a hit in self-publishing terms. So far it has sold over 10,000 copies and been featured on bestseller lists—quite a respectable figure considering most self-published books sell around 500. I have just self-published my second book, Hope…And The Hedgehog, a digestible exploration of the meaning of life, which is out now.

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The Key Lesson: Channel Your Inner “Authorpreneur”

Many people would have given up at the first hurdle, but I was brought up to believe that I could do anything if I set my mind to it. My time as an entrepreneur—or “vigorous muddler” as I prefer to call myself—taught me that you should embrace setbacks and never see problems as insurmountable. Anyone in the same boat as I was should try to find their inner “authorpreneur.”

I’ve learnt many lessons from self-publishing, the most important one being to go into it with your eyes open. Come to terms that you won’t make a fortune—you will need to sell hundreds of thousands of books to do that (I doubt if I’ve even made £1000 from The Other Side Of Loss).

Accept That Self-Publishing Is a Labor of Love

Understand that, because of the sheer volume of books out there and the fierce competition, it’s highly unlikely you will go viral. The chances of repeating an E.L. James’ surprise self-published hit Fifty Shades of Grey which went on to become a global sensation in 2011, is one in a million.

If you go into this accepting you are self-publishing for the love, not the money, you will discover how liberating it can be.

The sheer brilliance is that you can write about your passion and be as niche as you want to be; you have no publishers breathing sales figures down your neck. There is always an audience out there for any book, however small—it’s just a question of getting it in front of them. In this way, it can be time consuming.

This is especially true if you are doing it yourself directly on Amazon, as an ebook or print (through Amazon’s print on demand service). This is the budget option, so be forewarned—it’s a long process and you will need to get your head round things like SEO (Search Engine Optimization) which is vital for making your book rank on the page so your customers can find it. In the early stages, you will also need to keep tending your book like a lawn—which means monitoring your listing price (Amazon recommends you start low and gradually increase it to find the optimum price). Follow the recommended how-to guides online.

Self-publishing is no walk in the park, but you will reap the benefits. You can get your book out there faster and not have to wait years tracking down a literary agent. Royalty fees are higher than traditional publishing and you get to keep the rights—so, if a Hollywood producer chances on your book and wants to turn it into a global box office hit, then you’re in the money, not your agent.

What to Spend On and What To Save

If designing covers and proofreading becomes too much, reach out to your network—I found my wonderful cover illustrator, Miranda Harris, that way. There are also several writers’ organizations on Facebook you can join that are great places to start for advice.

Hire a good editor and keep hold of him/her! Mine is called Clive Dickinson. I met him by chance over 20 years ago and he is my right-hand man, helping me not only with the editing process but also steering me through the self-publishing minefield.

You can also proof your book yourself but in my opinion, this is one area you should not cut corners on, so hire a good copy editor. Even the biggest writers in the land need someone else’s eye.

The Halfway House of Self-Publishing

You can also plump for the easier option of hiring a self-publishing firm like I did. Amongst their many services, they can guide you through the system of getting ISBN (International Standard Book) numbers—a requirement for print books (not e-books).

Shop around; these companies charge competitive rates and often aren’t as expensive as you might think, plus you can pick from a menu of options according to your budget and how much work you’re prepared to put in for yourself.

I got my self-publishing house to do most of the legwork for both books so I could be free to go out and do book talks. I love meeting people. I think, if anything, that’s a huge advantage of self-publishing that no one talks about as often—there’s no ‘marketing team’ editing your copy or deciding where and who to sell it to; you get to put it out there, meet your readers and listen to their direct feedback. I think that makes you a better writer in the long run.

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(3 Ways To Manage Pitch Panic)

Now it’s time to switch gears and think about how you’re going to get your forthcoming book in front of your intended audience. One of the best ways to do this is to pitch directly to editors of magazines and newspapers.

Many writers shy away from self-promotion because it feels complicated. We’re writers, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to being marketers. Unfortunately, most presses, especially small presses, no longer have big marketing and publicity teams, and unless your book is a top pick, it’s not going to get the attention it deserves. This means you need to put on your marketing hat and step outside your comfort zone.

Luckily, writing a four-paragraph pitch letter is a cakewalk once you know the formula.

I wrote a stellar pitch letter for my book Knocked Down: A High-Risk Memoir that resulted in nine companion pieces, 10 reviews, five excerpts, six written interviews, three high-traffic newsletters, and numerous podcasts and radio shows, including NPR. Here’s how I did it.

Step 1: Do your research.

Before pitching, find out which publications have content similar to your book and see how it is presented. This means figuring out if you are going to be pitching an excerpt, a companion piece, an interview, a review, or even offering them a book giveaway. Pick one or two options that fit the publication. Don’t see any excerpts? Chances are they aren’t going to publish one of yours. If a publication doesn’t review books, stick with pitching a companion piece around your book’s topic, and include the angle you plan to write about.

Step 2: Make a genuine connection.

Follow the editor on social media, ideally long before you begin pitching. See if they recently changed jobs or received a promotion. Start your pitch letter by congratulating them. Like everybody else, editors enjoy being acknowledged for their work, and it’s helpful when forming a hopefully long-term professional relationship. If there is an essay or article they’ve just published that resonates with you, mention that, too. Keep it brief and be authentic.

Step 3: Dive right in.

Hook the editor from the first line of your pitch and get to the meat of your story immediately. This is your opportunity to give the editor a sense of both your voice and your book. Most editors’ inboxes are a dumpster fire, and some get up to 100 pitches a day. You have about 10 seconds to wow them.

Knocked Down: A High-Risk Memoir is about how I spent five months on pregnancy-related bedrest due to unusually large fibroids. The first lines for my pitch are:

Example:

At four months pregnant I was walking around New York City with my new husband, when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my lower belly. An emergency sonogram showed that I had fibroids growing in my uterus, right alongside the baby. One of them was pressing directly on my cervix, causing early effacement. The prognosis: Go to bed, and don’t get up—at least not until the baby starts to crown. I spent the next five months on strict bed rest.

I immediately catch the editor’s attention by creating a sense of danger and setting the stakes high. Will I be rushed to the hospital? Will my baby survive? What will the final outcome be?

This paragraph should be no more than three lines and tailored as needed to the focus of each publication.

Step 4: Craft your synopsis.

This is your elevator pitch and can be pulled directly from the press release your publisher has created or your book’s jacket copy. Don’t forget to include the name of your press and the pub date. Again, this should be about three to four lines.

Example:

My forthcoming book, Knocked Down: A High-Risk Memoir (March 1, 2022; University of Nebraska Press) is a humorous story about a free-spirited, commitment-phobic Brooklyn girl who, after a whirlwind romance, finds herself living in a rickety farmhouse, pregnant, and faced with five months of doctor-prescribed bed rest because of unusually large fibroids. As the farmhouse collapses around her and her marriage does the same, she confronts her grief for her father while fighting for the survival of her unborn baby. In her precarious condition, will she stay or will she run away from it all?

Step 5: Write a standout bio.

This is where you get to brag about all your accomplishments. Don’t be shy. Include three to four publications where your work has been featured and any other relevant accolades such as awards, previously published books, or appearances. Keep this to four lines max and add hyperlinks for ease, including one for your website.

Step 6: Close your pitch letter.

Clearly state the purpose of the pitch and how you hope to collaborate. If possible, offer to send an advanced reader copy of your book.

Example:

If you think Knocked Down is a good fit for [insert name of publication], I’d be happy to send you an ARC for review and perhaps we can set up an interview. I’d also be happy to provide an excerpt for publication.

Sign off by stating that you hope to have an opportunity to work together or that you are open to collaborative ideas. You would be surprised how often editors suggest other options you may not have thought about.

Step 7: Write a show-stopping subject line.

This is the last step because it’s important to craft and hone your pitch letter first, so you know exactly what type of content you are offering. Include the title of your book along with key information relevant to the publication. If you are a local author pitching a local publication, include that in your subject line. If the editor has been referred to you by a mutual, include “referred by.”

Step 8: Compile your editor “pitch list.”

You can often find editor email addresses on mastheads or in Twitter bios. Reach out to the editors you already have a relationship with first. Next, approach editors whom you’ve connected with on social media. Finally, cold pitch.

Bonus tip: When pitching your book to bookstores and libraries, you can use the bones of your editor pitch letter and tweak as needed.

Remember, no one cares about your book more than you do. By researching publications and honing your pitch letter, you are giving both you and your book the opportunity to find a larger audience.

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