Art by Will Terry!
If you are trying to get your book published, or even daydreaming about it, this episode is a must listen!
Your hosts Will, Jake and Lee talk all about how to market that book you worked so hard to create.
Once the book is done, do you pat yourself on the back and leave the marketing to the pros? Or do you get your hands dirty and market the book yourself?
For the most part, they agree that marketing is pretty much a part of making. Unless you are already a top tier illustrator, traditional publishers don’t usually have much of a budget for marketing in Will, Jake and Lee’s experience. And if you go the self-publishing route, the marketing is definitely up to you!
So the key is to treat marketing as part of the creative process, rather than some menial chore. No one is going to champion your project like you would!
“...it’s just as much my job to make sure that the book is successful and to get it out there as it is to create the thing.”
But how do you actually go about marketing your book? Do you go the old school route, and try to do book signings and school visits? Or do you work on building your own following online?
There are some great examples out there of illustrators who went the old school route but with their own creative marketing strategies, like Brian Lies, who constructed a batwagon that helped his book become a bestseller. Or Brandon Mull, who did school visits for free, but then sent kids home with info about his bookstore events to build a following.
But book signings and school visits can eat up a lot of time and money, so another option is to work on building your own fan base and email list, so that ultimately you have more control over your own marketing. But this is something that needs to happen at least a couple years before your book comes out, so be sure to start now!
If there is one takeaway from this episode, it’s that successful marketing is more about owning your marketing efforts and thinking creatively, than simply following a checklist.
“...just know, as an artist you’re creative, you’re already coming up with original stuff, there’s no reason why your marketing ideas can’t be original too. Don’t get caught up in the mindset of always having to ask, ‘How is a book launch done, how is this to be done, where is the list of things I should follow to do a successful book launch?’”
Tune in for all this and more! Plus, hear all about Lee’s hot yoga incident 🧘♂️🔥🤕
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And if you want to join in on this discussion, log onto the Forum and check out the thread on this episode 😀