A question I get often when coaching or consulting writers on publishing are:
What would be the best path to success?
No, obviously there is not a one size fit all recipe. Yes, there are lucky writers in the world today who post one submission to a massive publisher, gets picked up and now sip Margaritas at some exotic location with an A-List celeb as their drinking buddy.
However, for most writers, it is a hard slog.
A persistent slog.
Sometimes a frustrating slog.
But it can also be a real rewarding slog.
I would always coach and mentor writers through a system with the best probability of success. Remember I cannot make you a better writer. If your writing is not up to standard, then invest in writing classes/courses first.
To determine if your writing is up to standard, ask people to read your work. But don’t ask biased family or friends. Go online and find critique groups. Be prepared to get bad news. Suck it up and go on. Believe me, it is a lot better, getting honest feedback from a fellow writer than receiving bad reviews from actual readers.
Also remember, regardless of which publishing model you want to use, if your writing is poor you have little to no chance for success.
Practice, practice, practice.
So, let’s assume you are a very good writer.
What will give me the best chance of success?
Step 1 – Build your personal brand
Overlooked by almost every new writer is the power of personal branding. We will explain this in detail in a later discussion.
For now, the premise you need to understand is that People buy from People. You need to be known in the world out there. You need to draw people towards your offering, your insight, your magical world.
Trust me people are not queuing, holding their breath and waiting around for your poems, fiction, non-fiction or short stories. They have plenty to keep them busy. However if they know you it is a different story.
Building a personal brand should take as much time as writing.
Luckily, we are blessed with so many options. From starting your own blog, creating a Facebook profile, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, to creating video for YouTube, the opportunities are endless.
Start by getting your own personal blog. Provide valuable content on it. Engage with comments. Get to know the people that like what you have to offer.
Of course, when we consult with writers on this, we strategize a proper content marketing plan based on your unique work and what you are trying to sell. We would look at ways to increase your reach, guest blogging, marketing funneling and a whole lot of other interesting ways to build your brand.
But for now, at least start investigating the possibilities. If money is an issue start with a free WordPress blog.
Just start. Perfection is the killer of progress. Just start.
Also, as a side note.
This might be the single most important thing you can do if you EVER want to be traditionally published (besides writing unbelievable work). With a global decline in book sales, traditional publishers rarely publish the work of a brand-new author. However, if you can show a publisher that you already have an audience you immediately take some of the financial risk of their shoulders. In fact, some submission guidelines these days even ask for your social following stats, website URL and so forth.
Step 2 – Build an email list
There is a saying:
“The money is in the list”
One place people will look at daily is their inbox. You want to live there.
Now, again, email marketing is covered with a whole strategy, but you need to understand how important this is.
All social media and sales channels like Amazon is never owned by the individual. It is a channel but NEVER an asset. They can change their rules (and it has happened to us personally) on a whim, taking thousands of potential dollars of sales away overnight.
All businesses are about assets. And the best asset a writer can have is a name and email address of a fan. When you launch something new, you immediately can expect sales, which better your rank and visibility and get you even more sales. If the last sentence does not make sense right now, its okay, but know this you need to capture your own database of fans via email.
Combine this with your personal blog and spend time on learning the ropes. There are thousands of tutorials out there or give us a shout should you ever wish to investigate this.
Step 3 - Consider your publishing model
Only at step 3 do we encourage you to start thinking of self-publishing or looking for a traditional publisher.
Why?
Because now you have all the mechanisms in place to give yourself the best chance for success.
We will discuss self-publish in more detail later.
I do hope this post gives you some value. I hope it provides you with a better understanding that publishing is (unfortunately) not a question of writing, asking for a publisher and just like that your life changes.
Writing and publishing is hard work and over the 12 years that I have been in this game it truly is only the most persistent that succeed.
Also, times have changed. It is incredibly competitive out there and writers are no longer only competing with other writers. We are competing for the most precious commodity namely time. We are competing with smartphones, video, TV and games. Anything that consumes the time of people.
As always know the game you are about to play. Learn and research.
Please ask questions and have a great day!