30-Day Book Marketing Challenge by @BadRedheadMedia AKA @RachelintheOC #bookreview

I’ve decided to share some of my favourite non-fiction books here on the blog.

THE SINGLE BEST TOOL every writer needs NOW to build, boost, and grow their author platform.

Unsure how to market your book or feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of author platform options out there (or not even sure what the term means)? Ever wish someone could break it down for you in simple steps? 

Then this is the book for you! 

Over the course of one month, Rachel provides you daily challenges containing a wealth of information, and easy to follow assignments to help energize your book sales. If you haven’t released your book yet, this book will help you set the stage necessary to build the strongest foundation possible for success. 

Topics include: 
* Twitter secrets 
* Facebook page must do’s 
* Social media ideas you might not know or haven’t thought of 
* Promotion, giveaways, and other book marketing secrets 
* Website, blogging, and SEO tips designed just for authors 

All writers, bloggers, and small businesses can benefit can benefit from this guide.

See on Goodreads.

Review:

I first stumbled upon the author’s blog when I searched for how to properly create my brand. I’ve been an avid reader of her blog since. (She also wrote a guest post for my blog. You can check out “The Reasons Branding Confuses You and How to Fix that Right Now” for more help.)

This book expands on what she regularly teaches on her blog: brand the author, not the book.

I’ve updated my twitter profile after reading the first section (again!) with the updated tips about how to use twitter today.

A lot of great resources. Lots of great tips. The section on writing a proper author bio is my favourite – it is what drew me to her blog in the first place.

My only problem is her advice to only email newsletter subscribers with new releases. I get that people’s email inboxes get filled up (mine certainly does), but if you only email people when you have something new out, they’ll forget who you are and that they’ve signed up for your newsletter. I’ve unsubscribed to a lot of newsletters because I didn’t recognise the person who wants me to buy something…

I haven’t thought of adding my Beta Readers to my marketing plan before, though she gives a lot of great reasons why they will be a great resource (other than what they were initially intended for). Most of my Beta Readers love to read the finished product and leave reviews, anyway, so perhaps adding another dozen Beta Readers to the mix would be beneficial – for the marketing aspect, at least.

Honestly, I skipped the section about Facebook. Readers of my blog know that Facebook decided that I’m not a real person, so I’ve decided that it’s not a real marketing platform. (Though things always change.)

I am intrigued about the section “How important is YouTube to your Author Platform?”. I’m not a big user of this platform, but looking at the stats and common-sense advice in this section, I’m surprised that I haven’t used it properly in my marketing plan. I also like the idea of video teasers for upcoming books (pre-marketing). So I guess I’m going to be working on learning how to use this platform efficiently.

I’m glad I got the ebook instead of the print edition (though I totally love print books): I could easily open the book on my kindle app on my PC to do all the assignments. With the website grader, my site came in at 84. And honestly, the stuff they want to fix doesn’t affect the user experience (though many of my readers will complain if I remove these “culprits”).

I recommend this book to all authors – and anyone wishing to make a living online – no matter what stage of the game you’re at.

Shelves: writing craft, writing career, non-fiction

There you have it! Go check out this awesome book if you need marketing advice.

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