What are your book marketing goals for 2013?
I’m a goal setter.
I’d like you to be one, too.
You might be making resolutions today. Performance consultant and author Donna Hartney reports that “lose weight” is the most popular New Year’s resolution, and maybe that’s on your list, too. But I hope that you’ve set book marketing goals, as well. They might relate to specific milestones or accomplishments, such as selling a certain number of books or getting interviewed on your book’s topic by an influential media outlet. Perhaps one of your book marketing resolutions is to learn more about your target audience and how to reach it.
No matter what you’d like to accomplish for your book this year, it’s less likely to happen if you don’t set goals for yourself. And today’s a good day to do that.
What did you accomplish last year?
I started my annual goal-setting process a few weeks ago using Leonie Dawson’s “Create your incredible year workbook and planner” and its companion business year calendar for 2013. Both were given to me by my goal buddy, Marcia Turner, founder of the Association of Ghostwriters.
What really struck me about Leonie’s process is how she forces you to recall the current year’s highlights before she lets you plan for the coming year. I’ve always reviewed the present year’s goals as I planned for the following year, noting where I had succeeded and which goals needed to be carried over to the following year or deleted because they were no longer relevant.
Leonie adds another key step that I found useful, though. Her process includes listing the year’s accomplishments. This was pivotal to my attitude going forward, quite frankly, because 2012 was a tough year for me. Family issues pulled me away from my business, and I ended the year feeling like I hadn’t accomplished as much as I would have liked. Yet, when this workbook forced me to list the year’s highlights, I was able to fill an entire page. That was a big surprise for me — and it got me thinking about what I might achieve with slightly different circumstances in 2013.
Find a process that works for you
No matter what process or method you use, though, please do use one. Take some time to think about what you want to accomplish with your book in 2013. Maybe you want to share your message through public speaking. Perhaps you want to use social media more effectively to promote your book. Or maybe you want to learn more about the various tactics available to you and which of them are the best fit for your book.
Remember to:
- Write your goals down.
- Create an action plan that will help you reach them.
- Review your goals and your plan periodically so that you stay on track.
- Make adjustments as you learn.
- Record your accomplishments.
- Celebrate when you achieve a goal.
As you get organized, let me know how I can help. If you don’t subscribe to my Build Book Buzz newsletter yet, consider doing so as an investment in your education. It’s free . . . you just need to make the time to read it.
Finally, happy new year! I wish you much peace, happiness, and book marketing success in 2013. Let’s move forward with hope and optimism.
What’s your single most important book marketing goal for 2013?
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My goal is to complete my edits and revisions within six months. Then query agents and publishers. I plan to have my novel, a psychological thriller, in the hands of a traditional publisher who will offer an acceptible contract.
That’s exciting, Ronnie! Start learning how to promote it while you’re writing it, too, because you’ll want to address that in your book proposal. Good luck!
Sandy
These are great ideas, Sandra, but I guess I’m looking for more specifics. My book has been published since December, 2010 and I am not selling many right now. I need more ideas of how to get it out there. I’ve done B&N, I blog, I’m in several social networks, my website is nice, I was in schools, but now schools do not have money to support author visits, so I’m growing stale on ideas. Can you give more specific ideas of where and how to get more attention to my children’s chapter book, No Tildes on Tuesday? It is about a 13 year old biracial girl who doesn’t think that she’ll fit into her new neighborhood. She fears that the children there will not understand her because she doesn’t speak Spanish. She’ll biracial, but not bilingual.
Hi Cherrye,
You might be a candidate for my Book Publicity 101: How to Build Book Buzz e-course; the next course starts February 4. Learn more at http://buildbookbuzz.com/how-to-build-book-buzz-workshop/.
I also offer one-on-one telephone coaching. You can start that process by purchasing the first hour with this link: http://bit.ly/VqqPrn or by e-mailing me at sbATbuildbookbuzz.com.
Sandy
My single most important book marketing goal is to get our book in the hands of as many culinary enthusiasts as possible, to set the stage for the next one that will come out this summer! These are excellent points, and especially liked – make adjustments as you go along – because, like in writing, refining and retuning is most critical even for book marketing. Thank you for this great post!
That’s a smart goal, Ranjini! Get as many fans as you can so that they will be anxious for your next cookbook. I know you’ll do a great job!
: )
Sandy