“I’ve written a book. Now what?”

It’s such a relief to have gone through that last round of edits and to say with a big sigh, “It’s done!” isn’t it?

Sit back, relax, savor a cup of your favorite coffee, play with the kids, go for a walk, visit your mother — or celebrate now that you’ve completed the manuscript. Then take a deep breath and start thinking about what you need to do next with that Word file.

If you’re self-publishing the book, you’ve got a long to-do list. If you’re working with a traditional publisher, you can shift immediately to creating your book publicity and promotion plan and begin executing some of the elements.

Yes, you have to promote it

For many authors, this is harder than writing the book. They know how to write. They know how to tell their story. They know how to teach, entertain, or inform. But promote the book? “Do I really have to do that?” so many ask. Yes, you do — even when you’ve got a conventional publisher.

If you want people to benefit from all that your book has to offer, you need to make sure that they know your book exists.

I can help.

Training makes a difference

The next four-week, online, “Book Publicity 101: How to Build Book Buzz” e-course starts next week. This course shows you how to start the planning process, details the many tactics and tools available for book promotion, helps you figure out which ones are the most effective for your book, and teaches you how to use and execute them. You might start the course feeling lost and helpless, but you end it empowered and excited.

That’s how Richard Cheu, author of Living Well with Chronic Illness: a practical and spiritual guide, felt after taking the course in June. Here’s his unsolicited testimonial:

“Achieving significant sales of a new book, especially a self-published book, requires a dedicated and sustained effort by a team of experts working with the author. The team should include expertise in publishing, marketing, publicity, distribution, sales and web design. Book Publicity 101: How to Build Book Buzz by Sandra Beckwith is an online course that teaches authors the fundamentals of how to promote a book with maximum effect and at the least cost and effort. The value of the course is many times its reasonable cost. “

I know you want to feel like you understand the promotion process and that you’re in charge of your own plan. Let me show you how to do that in a group environment that includes one-on-one coaching. The course Richard took in June is offered again in October — it starts Monday, October 1, 2012. I’d love to help you feel as confident about what to do next as Richard does! There’s a course for authors who are self-published and one for for those who are traditionally published:

• Self-published authors: https://buildbookbuzz.com/self-published-how-to-build-book-buzz-workshop/
• Authors with traditional publishers: https://buildbookbuzz.com/how-to-build-book-buzz-workshop/

The courses are taught together so you get exposure to as many other authors and their projects as possible, but the self-published course has extra instructional material related to their book’s launch.

Our course forum is a friendly, safe environment where you get one-on-one coaching that helps others learn, too. We’ve got a great group of authors lined-up for this session but there’s room for a few more. Won’t you join us?