Your Writer Platform

Build your platform. Engage your fans. Sell more books.

Why Every Author Needs a Book Sales Funnel and How to Get Started Today

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author sales funnel

A book sales funnel is a series of steps carefully designed to guide readers toward your book, your brand, and ultimately toward making the decision to purchase from you. In this guest post, bestselling author and co-founder of BookAds.co, Brian Berni, shares his insights on why book sales funnels are a critical component to growing your book sales (while still allowing time to write).

Most writers got into the game to write, not spend every waking hour of the day promoting their books. 

However, there is a way to sell more books, reach new readers, and build your audience, all while giving you more time to write. 

It’s through building a book sales funnel.

Ultimately, the goal of a book sales funnel is to bring new readers into your world. A solid book sales funnel will help you get reader email addresses, so you can stay in touch, build a connection, and sell more books with ease.

Below you’ll learn how book funnels can help your author career, and the steps you can take to build a funnel today.

Why You Need a Book Sales Funnel

Imagine spending hours pouring over your new book. You’ve done rounds of editing, have the cover designed, book copy all finished up, now it’s time to launch your book to the world. 

[Read more…]

Writing in Multiple Genres: How It Impacts Your Platform and Book Sales

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Today I’m going to answer one of the top questions I get asked: “I write in multiple genres (or hope to), how does this influence my platform and potential book sales?”

We’ll look at traditional vs. self-published authors, the impact on your author brand, your readers’ expectations and how genre-hopping ultimately plays out in terms of your writing career.

So, if you’re thinking of writing in multiple genres, watch the video below, and I’ll share exactly what you need to know.

[Read more…]

Generating Book Sales: How to Convert Potential Readers into Buyers

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In Parts 1 and 2 of our series, we talked about how to target your ideal audience and how to connect with the people who want to read your work.

Now comes the part you’ve probably been waiting for—how to get that audience to actually buy your book.

For many folks, this is all they think about when they think “marketing”—how to get someone to pay you money for the thing you do or the product you have.

But this is Part 3 for a reason.

It’s actually the least important bit.

You see, if you’ve done things right in Parts 1 and 2, identifying and connecting with potential fans and followers, you’re already well on your way to having a paying customer base.

Remember what we said in Part 2 about continually providing value to your audience? (No? Go read that post again. I’ll wait.)

Yeah. That. That is the key to generating sales and making an income as an author—or as any sort of creative professional or entrepreneur.

Identify your audience. Provide them with real, legitimate value.

The rest will come.

How? Glad you asked! Let’s take a look. [Read more…]

The Writer’s Weekly Wrap-Up: The Definition of Marketing (Issue #28)

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The Writer's Weekly Wrap-Up #28 _ YourWriterPlatform.com

This post is part of a weekly series on YWP, aptly titled “The Writer’s Weekly Wrap-Up”.

Each Sunday, I will endeavour to provide you with a curated list of the best articles I have seen throughout the week that relate to building your platform.

The featured articles cover topics on book marketing and promotion, blogging, social media and self-publishing. (I may even throw in a few inspirational and fun posts, just so that it’s not all work and no play!)

Marketing May Have to Change Its Name

Marketing is simply the process and activities involved in creating awareness for a product or service, typically aimed at a specific group.

And, although there can be many definitions and variations on the theme (based on the intentions and the values of the one actually doing the marketing), the core concept itself isn’t especially unfavourable.

Intuitively it makes sense that there be a mechanism for connecting what you have to offer, to the group you’d like to offer it to.

The issue that arises for many authors is the suspicion and negativity associated with marketing that has evolved over time: smarmy undertones, cheesy or self-serving tactics, and the in-your-face aggressiveness of mediocre marketing strategies gone bad.

But, I think ‘marketing’ has gotten a bad rap.

The theory is sound, it’s the application that is–in many cases–somewhat less than stellar.

But, marketing your work as an author is a must, so if it still makes you feel dirty, just think of it this way: [Read more…]

34 Strategic Ways You Can Use Pinterest to Market Your Book and Your Author Brand

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34 Strategic Ways You Can Use Pinterest to Market Your Book and Author Brand _ YourWriterPlatform.com

Pinterest is exploding!

And with it, so too are the opportunities for authors to expand their reach and increase their book promotion and brand awareness.

Now the third largest social network, Pinterest acts as a virtual pin board that helps you organize and share things you find on the web. As you surf, you can pin images from other sites onto Pinterest where others can re-pin those same images.

People head to Pinterest to find solutions, get ideas and to be inspired. Plus pinners are buyers. 

Hmmm…

So how do we encourage them to be book buyers–your book buyers?

Well, like with all social media, it’s important to avoid the incessant self-promotion. Pinterest is a quieter platform where you express yourself primarily through images. No witty banter required.

Plus, over 80% of pins are re-pins, which means if you are in that 20% of pinners that are sharing original content, you can add real value. If you provide remarkable content, your fellow pinners will happily circulate it for you.

What’s important on Pinterest is to market indirectly by building trust, loyalty and engagement. You want to give people a reason to click through to your site for more.

“Pinterest drives more referral traffic to websites than Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube combined.”

~ Mashable

Your goal should be to teach, entertain and inspire your audience on Pinterest. In return, Pinterest will grant you the ability to increase awareness of your author brand, drive more relevant traffic to your website and increase your book sales. [Read more…]

Authors with Platforms Sell Books.

It’s that simple.

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