What Do You Want Your Book to Do?
Five book marketing lessons from my Substack Live conversation with David McIlroy
My first book was a guide for trade show exhibitors. One company bought 500,000 copies.
The company built booths for exhibitors. I taught exhibitors how to get more out of their trade shows. We served the same people, and my book gave the company something useful to pass along. It took about two years to build that relationship. The company had the book translated into five languages and gave copies to its distributors to share with clients and prospects.
When David McIlroy asked me about that first book during our Substack Live, it brought me back to a question I wish more nonfiction authors would ask before they plan another promotion. What do you want your book to do?
1. Give your book a job
When I started my trade show training business, I asked a veteran speaker how I could get known in the industry. His advice was to write a book. It was the last thing I wanted to hear, but it gave me a way to show meeting planners and potential clients what I could teach.
Your book can help you land speaking engagements, start conversations with potential clients, or give an organization a resource to put in the hands of the people it serves. The job you choose shapes whom you approach. If you want workshops, for instance, talk to people who plan training. Show them what participants will learn and how they can use the book when they’re back at work.
2. Find out who serves your readers
Once you know whose problem your book solves, ask who helps those people deal with it. My trade show book fit a company whose customers needed guidance on exhibiting. The company had a reason to buy the book and a way to get it to readers.
One of my clients, a retired radiologist, writes about what people can do with their lives once they retire. Financial planners are a natural fit because they work with clients who are preparing for that transition. They can help someone work out what they can afford. His book can help that same person decide what they want their days to look like.
Think of one organization whose clients face the problem your book tackles. When would someone there hand a client your book? If you can picture the moment, you have a reason to start a conversation.
3. Give readers a reason to care
When someone lands on your website or hears you talk about your book, they’re asking a version of the same question. What’s in it for me?
Imagine you’ve written a book about difficult conversations at work. A new manager may be wondering how to address a missed deadline with someone who used to be their peer. If your book can help them find the words to start that conversation, say so. Your credentials can help readers trust your advice once they see where it fits.
Try this sentence on your book description. My book helps [who] solve [what] so they can [outcome]. Use words your reader would use to describe the problem.
4. Start before launch and keep going after it
Before your book comes out, share an idea you’re working through or ask prospective readers how they handle a problem you cover. Their answers can sharpen the way you talk about the book. Once you have a cover, you can give people something to recognize and share.
After launch, keep bringing the book into conversations where it belongs. An author once asked me how long authors had to keep marketing their books. I asked how long they wanted to keep selling them.
If you worry about repeating yourself, change the example. A story from a workshop can give longtime readers a fresh way into an idea someone else is hearing for the first time.
5. Pitch an idea the host can use
As the host of Book Marketing Mentors, I get pitches from people who assume I’ll want to interview their client because the client wrote a book. What I want to know is what my listeners could learn from the conversation and put to work.
Before you pitch a podcast or a Substack Live, listen to an episode. Pay attention to the questions the host asks and where the conversation leaves room for you to add something. If an episode covered how to find speaking gigs, you could offer to walk listeners through how to ask a meeting planner to include a copy of the book for each attendee. The host can picture the episode, and the audience has a reason to tune in.
If you’ve been wondering what to do next with your book, finish this sentence. I want my book to help me ______. Then name one person you could talk with about making it happen. What would make the conversation worth their time?
