Lisa Tener

Book Writing Coach

book promotion plan

What Do Publishers Expect in Your Book Promotion Plan?

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Your Book Writing and Book Proposal Coach
Your Book Writing and Book Proposal Coach

I just read a linked-in discussion where someone asked for a clearer definition of “platform” and what should go in your book promotion plan (in your book proposal). I responded to the discussion and then thought it would make a useful blog post.

Note: This post has been updated as of 3/3/2021 to reflect changes in book promotion.

Your book promotion plan should:

1. Demonstrate that you know your audience and you know where they hang out online and offline.

2. Provide a detailed plan for how you will reach this audience where they hang out, based on the foundation or platform you have already developed. This includes:

  • Mailing List and Website Traffic: People on your mailing list who open your emails are already engaged with you and likely to buy your book. Those who have bought programs, products or services from you in the past are the most likely to buy. Provide those numbers. Website traffic can also be a benefit to include in your promotions section if the numbers are impressive.
  • facebook_logoOnline media: This includes online news sites and shows, your blog, online articles, social media, YouTube videos, podcasts, social networking sites (they’ll want to see you already have a presence), social bookmarking and more.
  • Public Speaking and In Person Events: Where will you speak? If you list speaking gigs in your plan (which is always a good idea), publishers want to see that you are already speaking to at least some of these targeted companies, associations or conferences. Include numbers of people at the events where you speak. If events are on hold (such as due to COVID-19) see if you can schedule and offer some online events and courses, whether you offer them on your own or through conferences, associations and other groups, and mention recent and upcoming events (in person or virtual) in your proposal.
  • Training: Include workshops, seminars, teleseminars, zoom training, webinars and any teaching you plan to do–on-line or offline. Will companies that hire you to speak or train purchase your book in bulk? State specifics in your book proposal’s book promotion plan.

today show logo

  • Traditional media: TV, Radio, Newspapers and Magazines (both articles by you and articles that cite or quote you). Your plan should show that you know what media your specific readers buy and read. Publishers also love to see that you plan to hire a publicist–especially if you can quote a significant budget for such ventures.
  • Joint Ventures: If you don’t have a large list, the way to reach the most people online is by venturing with other people who have large lists. What’s in it for them? Perhaps a percentage of the profits of a webinar you’re plugging, or you’ll interview them for your list. Again, if this is part of your plan, you need to show you’re doing this or, at the very least, you plan to hire someone who’s facilitated joint ventures before.
  • Your Own Shows: Do you host a TV show, radio show or weekly podcast? This is always a plus to publishers and agents, but they’ll want to know the size of your audience.
  • Endorsements and reviews: Publishers love to see endorsements that are already written by bestselling authors, experts in your field or celebrities. You may want to list those who have already written endorsements, those who have agreed to write an endorsement and/or review in the future and those people you plan to approach for endorsements or reviews (if you have a relationship with them) and the relationship you have with those people. If you don’t have a relationship or connection and they haven’t promised a review or endorsement, don’t list them; you can still contact them later but publishers won’t put much faith in their position on the list. Will they also do anything to promote? Include that.
  • Amazon bestseller campaign: Amazon is such a big player in book sales that you want publishers to know you understand how to leverage Amazon. Have you done keyword research for your title and subtitle? Will you hire someone with a strong track record to organize an Amazon Bestseller campaign for you? Why is this important? Amazon’s algorithm kicks in to show your book more frequently once you hit certain benchmarks, including bestseller in one or most categories. Will you do any paid advertising on Amazon? If so mention that and your Amazon advertising budget.

Your Website Speaks Volumes About Promotion and Platform

Publishers and agents will also look at your website. Be sure to include a media page or press room; speaking gigs, training and events; and other pages that highlight your platform. If you have a blog or podcast, they will also look to see how engaged your audience is. This posts tells you exactly what you need on an author website.

Reader-Focused Book Promotion

When I work with a client on their book proposal, I also tailor my book promotion plan suggestions to their particular book and audience. That’s the creative part. We also include any well-connected close friends or colleagues who have offered to help them make connections in the media or online.

The Favorite Child
One of the ways Dr. Libby developed her platform was to start a blog.

Remember, publishers and agents have been burned in the past (years ago) by authors who wrote a great plan but did not follow through. They’re not so naïve anymore. They’ll want to see that you already have an author platform and that you’ve at least started many of the projects you suggest in your promotion plan.

Platform Legitimizes Your Book Promotion Plan

So, what’s platform? Your platform is the number of people you reach online and in person–through your mailing list, traffic to your website (unique visitors, not hits), your blog, your speaking engagements, TV and radio interviews, podcasts, joint ventures, teleseminars, webinars, magazine articles/interviews, newspaper articles/interviews, online articles, youtube and other video sites, your social media activities and any other way you reach people.

You should indicate your platform in your “about the author” section. Then build on that and add other ideas in the book promotion plan.

If the promotion plan is to “pie-in-the-sky” (meaning you haven’t actually done any of these things yet and it’s all a “plan” but not in motion), publishers will consider you too much of a risk. They want to see that you already have a platform.

Worried you don’t have enough of a platform? Work on it. With time, you will.

Can You Work on Two Books at Once? Is it Wise?

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Eric Pfeiffer, M.D. asks if he will scatter his energy with too many projects.
Eric Pfeiffer, M.D. asks if he will scatter his energy with too many projects.

Dr. Eric Pfeiffer, one of my book proposal clients, just signed a contract with Sunrise River Press for his upcoming book Happy, Healthy and Wealthy: 14 Winning Strategies for Successful  Aging. About a week later he e-mailed me about ideas for his second book, about Alzheimer’s, since he is one of the nation’s top experts on this disease.

“Please tell me if I am crazy,” he wrote me. Of course, Eric isn’t crazy. But is it realistic to write one book and a book proposal for another book at the same time? Does it make sense? As a writing coach, here’s my answer for Eric, and for you, if you are considering more than one project at a time.

Writing a book is obviously a significant undertaking. However, many people write a book while doing other things. Dr. Ellen Weber Libby wrote her book, The Favorite Child, due out later this year from Prometheus Books, while running one of the busiest and fullest psychotherapy practices in the Washington D.C. area.  Most of my clients write their books while continuing demanding careers.

Dr. Pfeiffer, on the other hand, is retired. I’m sure he has obligations to the Suncoast Alzheimer’s Center recently re-named in his honor, family obligations and other activities in his life, but because he’s used to very demanding work, I think it’s worth entertaining the idea of working on a proposal for book two while completing book one.

However, he also needs to be working on his author platform, the foundation for promoting his book, and taking steps to complete his book promotion plan, before the book ever comes out.  These steps are all critical for getting the first book into the hands of his potential readers.

Estimate project hours in detail to "get real" and gain clarity.
Estimate project hours in detail to "get real" and gain clarity.

My advice to Eric was to estimate the number of hours needed for each of the following:

– Writing book one

– Writing the book proposal for the book two

– Developing and beginning to implement the book promotion plan for book one.

I asked him to refine his promotion plan into distinct steps, with an estimated number of hours for each. Then he needs to estimate how many hours a week he will work on each of the three main projects, and how long it will take him to complete these three, given such a schedule.

While we creative types often rebel against these number crunching activities, this is the only way to “get real” about whether this plan is realistic or not.

Ask me your book writing and publishing questions as a comment in this post.
Ask your book writing and publishing questions as a comment in this post and book writing coach Lisa Tener will answer.

The last thing you want to do is overextend yourself and scatter your creative energy in too many directions. On the other hand, different projects, and different aspects of the same project, can certainly feed each other. You can work on one while you hit a block in another area, or where you just need some space from one project to let it ruminate.

The upshot? Work out the details and see if it makes sense. Then try it. If it’s working, great. If not, shelve the second book proposal for now.

Feel free to add your book-writing and publishing questions as a comment to this post. I am happy to answer all questions that come my way.

Good Morning: My Take on Your Chances to Publish

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Good Morning
Good Morning

It’s raining and cloudy this morning. I woke up a tad tired. I remember a time I would not have called it a good morning, especially since I planned to take a walk today.

Oh, yeah, I can walk in the rain. I own boots, a rain jacket with a hood, even rain pants. What do you know? It is a good morning.

What does that have to do with writing and publishing books? Everything.

I hear so many people talk about the publishing climate. What does it mean when bookstores are going out of business and publishers are cutting jobs? What does it mean for you, an author?

Write a great book proposal.
Write a great book proposal.

There is some meaning to be found, of course. It is getting more difficult to get a traditional publisher. And that’s good news. It means you need to really research your book, your audience, competitive and complementary books. It means you need to make an airtight case for your book. It means you need to work hard to develop your platform (your following, mailing list, internet presence, etc.). And it means you need a fantastic promotion plan for your book.

Isn’t that great news? It’s much more likely to insure your book is a big success and reaches even more people.

In my experience, when you write and publish a book, the universe is going to put a few challenges in your path. You set a big goal (like writing a bestseller), the universe will put some opportunities in your path for honing your skills, learning to overcome obstacles, raising your frequency, so to speak. Isn’t that great? All those things you might view as obstacles are actually the universe supporting your vision by making you stronger and better equipped to meet your big, big vision.

Years ago, at a writer’s conference, I heard a whole bunch of women on line to pitch their books to an agent. “It’s nearly impossible to get an agent or get published,” they all agreed.

“Wait, I’m published. I had no credentials for my book when I began. I got tons of rejections. It’s not that hard. You need to be persistent and just keep learning as you get feedback. You’ll get there.”

These women had given up before they even began. They were telling the universe that didn’t believe in themselves. What kind of message is that to put out in a world that delivers what you expect, what you send out vibrationally?

Whoa. Put the stops on that one. If you’re telling yourself it’s difficult or impossible to get published, stop that thought right there. One of my clients just signed a mid-five figure book deal recently. The world of publishing is still alive. Sure, it will continue to change. The internet will continue to become a bigger force in the industry.book-soup

But it isn’t all a bad thing that publishing companies are in trouble. Many of them are poorly run. As someone with a master’s in management (business) from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, I’ve taken my share of business and strategy courses and it’s always amazed me how publishing companies didn’t employ many of the obvious and simple business principles everyone else did.

There are huge opportunities now for publishing companies to manage themselves better–and those that do will flourish. I’m sure of it. It’s not like people have stopped reading.

So, if you want a traditional publisher, go for. Just do your research, hone your proposal, and keep reminding yourself what a good morning it is, rain or sun.

Are You Writing the Next Blockbuster?

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The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article this weekend addressing the huge advances that publishers will pay for a title that goes to auction. Why, in this economy, are they taking such risks? And how can you have it work to your advantage?

Anita Elberse, author of the article and associate professor at the Harvard Business School, points to the fact that blockbusters often bring in the lion’s share of profits at a publishing house. If a publisher backs out of the big auctions, those agents who tend to find the gems won’t include them in the next big opportunity. In essence, they get shut out in the future.

Makes sense, but how do you capitalize on this opportunity? First, you need to gain access to those top agents. Second, you need to convince them that your book is a future hit. Your query letter and book proposal can accomplish this.

Elberse gives the example of Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched The World, a book by a first-time author that attracted a seven figure advance. The book was touted by the agent as “Marley and Me for cat lovers.” Is there a bestseller you can compare your book to?

You’ll need a combination of compelling writing, an entertaining and powerful story (think laugh out loud funny and moving at the same time) and a popular or intriguing subject. And that special ingredient that makes people talk about and share it with others.

It’s exciting to think in terms of blockbuster status–a book so exciting that the publisher will pay seven figures and then spend their own money to promote it heavily in order to recoup the advance and more. However, as a writing coach and book coach, I still encourage aspiring authors to stick to the basics that agents are looking for:

1.  Work on your author platform: Grow your mailing list, create an internet presence, speak to audiences, get your articles printed in national magazines or get yourself some good national publicity on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, if you can.

2.  Make your book fresh and exciting:  Research what’s already out there and find out what’s missing that your audience needs or wants.

3.  Understand your audience:  You’ll hit the mark if you know exactly who your audience is, where your readers are coming from and what they most want and need.

4.  Create a powerful book promotion plan:  Publishers are companies looking for a solid investment. If you show them a compelling book promotion plan for your book, you’re much more likely to get them excited about your book.

Let’s hear from you:

* Is there a bestseller you’d compare your story to?

* Do you have a question on how to entice literary agents and publishers with your book?

* Have concerns about whether your platform is adequate, or whether you really need a platform with your specific book?

Share your ideas and questions for this writing coach as comments to the blog. I’ll be sure to respond and would love to hear from you.


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