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In 2010, when valiant indie authors were forging the path to self publishing victory, I was under contract with a small press for my first book — and (since the publisher had recommended expanding that book into a trilogy) hard at work on the sequel. By the time I was ready to publish book 3, and the small press had (alas) vanished off the face of the earth, it was way too late to get in on the ground floor of self publishing; but it was not too late to join the movement! I got my rights back for those first two books, built a website, started an email list, and launched my indie author business in 2017.
Looking back now, another seven years later, I can see that I did a lot of things right. Self publishing tips for indie authors were abundant even then; I had good counsel, and good help, and achieved a few good results. But these past seven years have taught me some fundamental truths about self publishing — truths I wish I’d known, or understood better, when I was first starting out as an indie author.
Thankfully, it’s never too late! Let’s dig into three fundamental indie author tips and explore how they can “level up” your self publishing experience.
Any self publishing guru worth their salt will most likely start here, with the all-important “author branding”. Today, this seems like a no-brainer; but back when I was first starting out as an indie author, I hadn’t developed the book marketing mindset necessary for successful self publishing. Though I knew book marketing was important, I was still partly laboring under the “if you build it, they will come” delusion. I hadn’t grasped how crucially helpful an author brand could be to lay a unified, cohesive foundation for all future book marketing efforts:
Remember: every author — whether self published or traditionally — HAS an author brand. Looking back at my content marketing since starting as an indie author in 2017, a definite “vibe” emerges. BUT how much more powerful (not to mention lucrative!) could that book marketing have been with an intentional author brand as a guideline?!
That’s the value of an author brand: not only does it focus all self publishing outreach through a single narrative lens, but it also shapes YOUR book marketing mindset, helping you start to think like a successful indie author.
As a newbie indie author, not only did I fall prey to the “if you build it they will come” delusion; I also more than half-believed its twin: the “my book is for everyone!” fallacy.
To be fair, the range of folks who had already read (and enjoyed!) my book was rather broad demographically, which helped support my delusion; and (can I get a witness, indie authors???) I really wanted to reach everyone. But — because the self publishing market is crowded — by trying to reach everyone, I ended up not reaching many at all: just one more indie author lost in the book marketing sea.
Part of building your author brand is defining your ideal reader — otherwise known as “finding your target market”, or “book marketing mastery: step ONE”. Your target market is the group of readers who would love your books most: the ideal readers who will eagerly build a community around your author brand.
Like the author brand, knowing your target market helps indie authors in two ways:
And speaking of blogs . . .
I kinda like blogging, okay? I enjoy sharing bits of my life — the story behind my stories — with folks. So when I launched as an indie author, I made sure to have a blog on my website and went full steam ahead: once a week, every week, for over three years.
Nothing wrong with blogging, persay. But since I’d missed those fundamental indie author tips #1 and #2, my content marketing mindset was NOT optimized for self publishing success. My blogs were fun and whimsical and even (occasionally) inspiring, but most did not have a clear call-to-action. Moreover, they were expensive, both in time and creative energy; I rarely had anything left to devote to other content marketing endeavors. (Example: I did have a newsletter, but I was so focused on the blog that I did not use my email list as the book marketing super-tool it could have been. )
Not only was I taking time away from more effective book marketing tactics (and also, y’know, writing more books) in order to maintain the blog, but I wasn’t taking time to review the blog according to content marketing metrics. I was blogging just for the sake of blogging, rather than with the goal of selling more books . . . so (gasp!) the blog did NOT sell more books.
An indie author’s time is precious, friends. That’s why it’s so crucial to follow these fundamental steps: establish your author brand; find your target market; then USE THAT KNOWLEDGE to form a content marketing strategy that is focused, strategic, and effective:
And remember: an effective content marketing strategy is not set in stone. It is self-reflective, analytical, and constantly adaptive, ready both to try (and scrap!) anything towards the goal of selling more books.
To sum up, I wish I’d had REALM CHEF when I was first starting out as an indie author!
Built BY authors FOR authors, Realm Chef’s AI-powered insight into my books makes it stand out from other book marketing tools. I just upload my manuscript; Chef’s AI technology generates an in-depth story bible in seconds; then, with all my book’s details organized and easily accessible, I can use Chef as my own personal book marketing consultant. Through the Book Consultation Chat feature, Chef can help me:
And through all this, I’m not alone.
I’m chatting with an adorable cat wearing a chef’s hat made of clouds.
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My favorite part of self publishing is the autonomy I have as an indie author. No one is setting the timeline but me, which means it’s never too late to start — or to start fresh! Let Realm Chef be your ally as you navigate the book marketing quest, building on these fundamentals towards indie author success — on YOUR terms.
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