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The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Marketing » Page 3

Marketing

In Defense of Social Media

By Dan Balowon January 30, 2018
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Today I am going to stick up for the poor, downtrodden multibillion dollar global public corporations behind social media.

Blamed for everything from the breakdown of the family to the dissolution of meaningful personal relationships, they are supposedly the reason society is on a virtual brink of collapse.

But for authors of books, social media is the simplest and quickest way to create an author platform. This is why traditional publishers want it and self-publishing success demands it.

If every last social media company or system disappeared overnight, authors would still need to have a platform in order to be considered seriously by traditional publishers or succeed at self-publishing.

So, please give the big multinational corporations a break. They are very sensitive to criticism. (Actually, they aren’t, but work with me here, so harmony, understanding, sympathy and trust abound…peace, man)

Prior to social media, an author platform was relatively out of the author’s control. Authors built their platforms slowly by appearing in various print or electronic media, needing first to convince the media they had a worthwhile message and give them an opportunity to communicate to an audience. Authors needed to convince others to allow them to speak in public at various events, like churches for Christian authors.

It was the era of media gatekeepers and the reason decades ago the most successful authors tended to be newspaper or magazine columnists. They had a ready-made audience for their work.

When the internet took off in the mid-90’s, it provided another channel to reach people, but the incredible growth of the medium made it very difficult to get attention. Any communication method available for everyone to use, quickly becomes crowded and “noisy.”

After a decade or so the social media companies started popping up and today we find ourselves virtually swimming in customized communication.

The reason social media has become such a marketing focal-point is it is the simplest and cheapest way to develop a readership or audience in a comparatively short time. If social media didn’t exist, the foundational requirement of an effective author platform would still need to be in place.

What would authors do?

–They would still need to have the credentials to write, a way to reach an audience with a message and an ongoing plan to grow and communicate to their readership.

–They would need to travel more in order to network with people and organizations.

–Publishers and authors would need to spend more time and money convincing media “gatekeepers” to allow them access to their audience through interviews or content placement, with no guarantee of success. Media gatekeepers can say “no.”

–Christian authors would need to spend far more time and money connecting with churches and church leaders, convincing them to allow access to their flocks.

Author platform is not some made-up requirement by traditional publishers. You will struggle more as a self-published author without a good platform as your book is entirely on its own. At least a traditional publisher could take a chance on a non-platform author and still get some retail exposure for the book.

While attending a writer’s conference a while ago, I sat on a panel made up of a variety of publishing and media people. If you have been to a writer’s conference, you can envision this type of eclectic group in your mind.

Questions from attendees covered a wide range of topics, but inevitably circled around to the issue of an author’s platform.

One of the panelists was part of a major online media company and when they mentioned authors needed to focus on writing and not on developing a platform, they were almost carried off on the shoulders of excited conference attendees.

Of course, I needed to be the buzz-kill in the room (it’s one of my gifts) countering with, “I disagree. From your perspective you are correct, but only because you are a platform. You already have an audience and can decide who gets access to it.”

I sensed the attendees about to break out the tar and feathers.

Most aspiring authors do not have a readymade audience waiting for their writing. They need to assemble their own follower-readers, one way or another.

Social media is the easiest way to accomplish it.

 

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Category: Branding, Marketing, Platform, Social MediaTag: Marketing, Platform, Social Media

It’s All About You — Sometimes

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 18, 2018
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When I visit the bookstore or library, I seldom fail to see at least one novel where the entire back cover consists of an author photo. That’s it. No endorsements, no story blurb, no author bio. Just a picture of the author. And usually the front cover doesn’t offer many clues, either. Maybe a vague illustration, along with the title and author’s name. To my mind, this means this author has built …

Read moreIt’s All About You — Sometimes
Category: Branding, MarketingTag: Book Sales, Branding, Marketing

All I Want for Christmas is a Strong Endorsement

By Bob Hostetleron December 13, 2017
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I often tell developing writers that it is never too early to get a strong endorsement for your book project. In fact, I have included endorsements in book proposals—both my own and clients’ proposals.  Every little bit helps, don’t you know. Invariably, when I start talking about endorsements, a flurry of questions comes. In fact, a writer friend (of long and wide experience in publishing) …

Read moreAll I Want for Christmas is a Strong Endorsement
Category: Book Proposals, MarketingTag: book proposals, Endorsements, Marketing

Author Platform and The Laws of Attraction

By Dan Balowon December 5, 2017
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Whenever someone communicates anything in any form, the message will either attract or repel readers, listeners or viewers. All communication is like a magnet, with north and south poles. What you do in social media or blog for your author platform will either cost or earn readers. No matter what you do, the best you can hope for is a net positive, with more people friending, following and …

Read moreAuthor Platform and The Laws of Attraction
Category: Marketing, Platform, Social Media, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Faith, Marketing, Platform, Theology

My 600-lb Book Life

By Bob Hostetleron November 22, 2017
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Recently I spent a few hours visiting a relative in rehab, and the television was tuned to an episode of the television series, My 600-lb Life. This is why I like to control the TV remote at all times. The episode focused on a fairly young mother of two children who weighed nearly six hundred pounds and was hoping to engage a surgeon for weight-reduction surgery. Her first several consultations …

Read moreMy 600-lb Book Life
Category: Marketing, Pitching, Platform, The Writing LifeTag: Marketing, Platform, The Writing Life

Six Easy Steps to Publishing Success

By Dan Balowon November 7, 2017
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Success in publishing is actually quite simple. Honestly I am surprised more people aren’t more successful financially as an author. So many conference workshops are making this entire publishing thing far more complicated than it needs to be. Today, here are six fast, easy, no risk steps to being a successful author in any type of writing. We will all be shaking our heads at the end for missing …

Read moreSix Easy Steps to Publishing Success
Category: Book Business, Get Published, Marketing, PlatformTag: Get Published, Marketing, Platform

Be Published? or Be Read?

By Bob Hostetleron October 18, 2017
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Is your goal “being published” or “being read?” What pieces of writing and publishing advice do professional agents and editors wish would go away…forever? I asked that question of some of my friends in the industry (yes, I have friends, and most are much smarter than me). The last two weeks I have posted (here and here) some of their responses. But I’ve saved one more for last. One savvy, …

Read moreBe Published? or Be Read?
Category: Book Business, Book Sales, Career, Marketing, Platform, The Writing LifeTag: Book Business, Book Sales, Get Published, Marketing

What Makes a Great Hook?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 12, 2017
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Lately, smart publishing professionals have been saying “it needs a great hook” to describe  books they seek. Recently I wrote about the all-important first page, which of course should seize the reader and not let go. However, that’s not the same as the story hook itself. The hook must make the consumer say, “I’ve got to read this!” even before she turns to page one. Nonfiction: The …

Read moreWhat Makes a Great Hook?
Category: Book Proposals, MarketingTag: book proposals, Hooks, Marketing

Marketing vs. Publicity

By Steve Laubeon September 18, 2017
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by Steve Laube

Recent I have run into a common misunderstanding. Some writers use the words "marketing" and "publicity" (or P.R. "public relations") as synonyms when actually one is a subset of the other.

There are marketing departments that have a publicity division or a marketing department that outsources their publicity. The two go hand in hand and should compliment each other.

The …

Read moreMarketing vs. Publicity
Category: Book Business, Marketing, SteveTag: Book Business, Marketing, Publicity

Why I Use That Dirty Word … PLATFORM

By Bob Hostetleron September 6, 2017
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It’s a dirty word to aspiring writers. It is even unpopular among many agents and editors. It elicits snarls and sneers from people who just want to write great stuff and get their writing published. I’m talking, of course, about the word “Platform.” It refers to the extent of a writer’s influence. It answers the questions, “How big is your audience? How many people are already reading what you …

Read moreWhy I Use That Dirty Word … PLATFORM
Category: Marketing, PlatformTag: Marketing, Platform
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