The Best Book Marketing / Book Publishing How-To Books
Save Time & Money and LEARN with these Five Fabulous Books, Authors!
Every week I share specific resources for paid subscribers in a special Book Marketing Resource Roundup post.
These resources, ideas, and motivations will come as one topic at a time because more than can give you a headache but just one can motivate and inspire you to action to do something fabulous to market your book. These will be ideas curated from years of research, experience and current trends. I hope you try them, think on them and pass them on to your author friends!
Authors and aspiring authors, whether you decide to traditionally publish, self-publish, or hybrid publish, learning the process of book publishing and book marketing - the breadth of both processes - will position you for success. One reason is because you will take the “unknown” or “scary” out of book publishing and book marketing. The second reason is that, with this knowledge, you can pick and choose what works for you, your goals, and your book’s message thereby saving oodles of money. Here are My Five Favorite Book Publishing and Book Marketing Books for authors in order of suggested use.
Publishing and Marketing Overview: Get Your Book Seen and Sold: The Essential Book Marketing and Publishing Guide - the hubris, you may be thinking, of including my co-authored book. I promise you.. it is not hubris, it’s honesty. Julie Murkette and I wrote this 125 page book as your first step to learn what may be a brand new business to you - publishing and marketing. The books hits the most important elements for the beginner by first covering publishing options and the publishing process in colorful, graphic form. Most of the book focuses on how book marketing works and a review of the specific things an author should consider for an overall book marketing plan - the fundamentals.
Don’t take our word for how great it is for authors. Midwest Book Review, a trade reviewer, reviewed the book as “.. an ideal and invaluable resource for aspiring, published authors who are new to the publishing industry and the effective promotion, publicity, marketing, and selling of books to their intended readerships, as well as bookstore placements and library acquisitions.”
Authors like you have raved about the book’s simplicity, sharing that it has easy to understand information, colorful graphics and exercises that other resources simply do not have. In a nutshell, it is a great resource and starting point for authors. Plus, it’s fun to use. Julie and I are thrilled that author are finding it fun, helpful and informative - exactly our goal.
The Publishing Process: Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual
Whether you decide to self-publish, hybrid publish, independent publish or traditionally publish, reading Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual is a must. The book is the best resource I have read that describes the details behind self-publishing (and traditional publishing) in an easy to understand way. Where Get Your Book Seen and Sold offers an overview of publishing, Mr Poynter gets into the details of the book creation and publishing process. Some of what is in the book is outdated, especially regarding book distribution specifics and what distribution is available to a one-book author, but the overall description of publishing, the publishing timeline, and creating a book publishing company holds true. As an added bonus, the type face of the text is large and you can read it in one or two sittings.
Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Guide holds a special place in my heart. When I was trying to find an agent / publisher for my first book, It Gets Easier and Other Lies We Tell New Mothers, with no luck, I finally decided to self-publish to get it out into the world - specifically, I decided to create my own publishing company and publish my book under the imprint that I created or said another way, to traditionally publish my book through my own company. Mr Poynter’s Guide was an invaluable resource and I followed his advice, successfully, to the letter. Even if you decide NOT to self-publish your book, reading the guide is the quickest way for you understand the whole publishing process. It is well worth your time.
Once your book is written and you are ready to publish, you may decide to reach out to agents and publishers to publish your masterpiece. Write the Perfect Book Proposal by Jeff Hermann and Deborah Levine Herman is the next must-have resource. In this fabulous book, literary agents Jeff Merman and Deborah Levine Herman introduce the query - how to write one and what is important to include in it. As you may know, a query is how you pitch to agents and publishers. Most of the brief, but potent book describes book proposals - how to create one and what elements need to be included. Most valuably, however, is that the authors include ACTUAL book proposals that were submitted and landed a deal with a publisher. In the margins of the book proposals, the authors point out what was great about the different parts of the book proposal. I love examples, don’t you? This valuable resource is chock-full of examples.
Dr Jan Yager has written over 50 books - both traditionally published and self-published. She has pretty much see it all and decided that the authors reaching out for help needed a detailed guide for how to market their book. Where Get Your Book Seen and Sold focuses on the fundamentals of book marketing - explaining what book marketing is and how it works plus exercises to get the writer to start to think about their message, audience, and hook, Dr Jan Yager’s book, How To Promote Your Book, is the next step in book promotion and offers the details behind the next steps on your book marketing journey. Dr Jan Yager offers specific resources and dives deep into each aspect of book marketing: Sections of her book are easily laid out: what to do before your book is published, what to do after your book is published and specific website and resources ideas to help you to sell your book. Dr Jan Yager’s book is up to date having been published in 2023 and is the perfect complement to Get Your Book Seen and Sold! I interviewed Dr Jan Yager in a podcast episode - she is a delight and is sincere in her desire to help authors to promote their book.
Adair Lara’s book Naked, Drunk and Writing is on this list for an important reason. It is to remind you as a writer that even though you may be knee-deep in book marketing and book publishing at this moment, that at heart, you are a writer! Naked, Drunk, and Writing is Adair Lara’s love letter to writers. For one thing, she includes the word “Naked” in the title of her book because she read that books with the word Naked in the title sell better… now, that is my kind of author…already thinking about book marketing. The book is Lara’s advice for writers on writing essays and memoirs. Remember that essay writing is a great way for you to promote your book. She also includes a section on publishing and promotion using examples from her own experience and experiences of colleagues and students. The entire book is a delight!
Well..there you have it. Five books that you want to read to help publish and market your book. Each one could be found at the library at zero cost and you’ll be well-prepared to tackle publishing and book marketing after reading them.
More special resource posts to come, stay turned. Thanks for reading and feel free to ask any questions, leave a comment, or add inspiration.
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Remember, I am available for consulting to talk through your publishing or book marketing plan in addition to the advice found on this Substack. I offer 30 minute consultations for $75 or 60 minute consultations for $125. Remember, if you subscribe to this substack at the $100 level, you get 30 minutes with me AND access to all posts and podcasts on Substack!
Let’s come up with a plan to get your book seen and sold!