Hello There,
It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, so it’s about time! I thought I’d write a book review of Tim Grahl’s book, Your First 1000 Copies: The Step-by-Step Guide to Marketing your Book.
Your First 1000 Copies: The Step-by-Step Guide to Marketing your Book by Tim Grahl, Out:think Group Publishing, (C) 2013, 137 pp., $9.99.
This is a short book, but meaty. Grahl gives lots of ways for authors to market their books using email mostly and energy boosts using social media.
He uses the analogy of a bucket as the Content System and how to keep the bucket from getting holes or worse, bottoming out.
The Content System
Permission is the first part of the content system. This is getting your readers to sign up for permission to give them content (your book, spinoffs, extras related to your book or project, etc) and to continue a relationship so when your next book comes out, you will have a built-in audience ready to purchase.
Content is the material you share in a systematic way, whether through a blog, newsletter or email. You steadily give them material and converse with your audience, sharing new or revamped stories and articles they are interested in reading.
Outreach is the part where you connect with other platforms by either guest posting or sharing links to other audiences similar to your own. You can have guest posts on your own blog, or guest post for others, to increase your audience and share additional related material.
Sell, the final part of the content system is when you give your audience a new offer or book to purchase. You’ve built up a relationship and if you’ve done it well, this will not come across as salesy but as a good, enthusiastic thing your readers and followers will want because they like and trust you.
There are more details than this of course, but that’s why you read the book for yourself. 🙂
This book explains well the system of getting email addresses and using them to keep your readers informed. The main reason to get a good list of emails is that you own this list and it won’t disappear or change in the way other platforms do (FB, Twitter, etc.).
I recommend this book for those who are just starting out with a new blog or site and for those who don’t understand why having an email list is important.
Happy reading!
~~Michelle
Paddle Creek Writers 