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

Tim has worked with over 100 different authors from top best sellers such as Hugh Howey, Daniel Pink, Charles Duhigg, Chip and Dan Heath, Ramit Sethi and Pamela Slim to authors just get started on their first writing project. He has worked with authors across all fiction and non-fiction genres. Along with his client work, he has studied many other successful authors to learn what works and what doesn’t.

The result is Your First 1000 Copies where he walks you through the Connection System, a plan that every author can immediately start using. The plan looks like this:

Permission – How to open up communication with your readers where you can reliably engage them and invite them to be involved.
Content – How to use content to engage with current readers and connect with new ones.
Outreach – How to ethically and politely introduce yourself to new readers.
Sell – How all of these steps can naturally lead to book sales without being pushy or annoying
Track – How to use modern online tools to see what’s working and what’s not working, and how to make decisions based on data.

This is a system that any author can immediately put in place to start building their platform. Whether you’re a seasoned author looking to step into the new publishing landscape, or you’re a brand new author, Your First 1000 Copies will give you the tools to connect with readers and sell more books.

See on Goodreads.

Review:

I first heard of Tim Grahl in a podcast/email series by another author whose marketing advice I follow. Since joining Tim’s email list and listening to his advice, my author platform has been growing steadily. Getting his book was the next logical step.

“Your First 1000 Copies” gives logical, sound advice on how to build your platform and make sales – in other words, market your book.

What stood out for me, what I hadn’t done before, is to install a pop-up for my newsletter and that it won’t negatively affect my website or irritate my readers (as I had feared).

I like his approach to marketing: being relentlessly helpful. I also like his Connection System – it has made all the difference in how I spend my marketing time. As he said in one of his webinars: if it isn’t working towards the Connection System (outreach, content, permission) then you shouldn’t do it. I like to see it as getting off the social media hamster wheel.

There is so much advice out there on how to successfully market your book – most of it only working for that specific author – that it gets confusing as to what you should be doing. Tim makes it easy: do one thing and stick to it for six months to see proper results, then reassess. Doing only one thing? That’s so much easier than juggling everything that you “must do” to be successful.

An absolute gem that I wish I had read years ago. I highly recommend this book – and joining Tim’s newsletter for regular updates and confidence boosters.

Shelves: writing craft, writing career, non-fiction

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

Sign up for my newsletter and receive a free ebook. I won’t share your information and I’ll only email you once a month with updates on new releases, special offers, and a bit of news.