Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Book publishers want to increase sales with new books and find new ways to market them. However, in practice, they wait for authors to submit manuscripts and then sell the published books through bookstores and online. The quest for innovation is lost to habit and tradition.
It doesn’t have to (and shouldn’t) be that way. In fact, there is a reliable, systematic process for developing new, different, and more successful ways to publish books profitably and simultaneously grow your business. The objective is to close the growth gap (the area between where you are now and where you want to be). There are four basic steps in this process. Let’s dive in.
Table of Contents:
• Step 1: Define your growth gap
• Step 2: Focus your creativity
• Step 3: Form a team to develop your ideas
• Step 4: Implement your ideas
• Bring your book to fruition
Step 1: Define your growth gap
Where are you now and where do you want to be in the future? Once you know the extremes of this continuum, you can direct your creative efforts to close it. You can do this in two ways — the first is innovation that extends your current core business, and the second is innovation that generates long-term, profitable growth. These should be addressed sequentially to strengthen your ongoing business (core innovation) and fund exploration with growth innovation.
New-growth initiatives push the edges of your book marketing strategy by offering new or complementary products to existing customers, moving into adjacent product or geographic markets, or developing a new business model. The larger your growth gap, the greater the creative stretch.
Step 2: Focus your creativity
Most likely, you have limited resources of time and money. If so, it makes sense to productively channel your innovative thinking to a small number of opportunity areas. How do you choose them? One way is to ask potential readers what they want. Do this at trade shows, in discussion groups, make some phone calls, or hire a telemarketing firm or an intern to do it for you. In any case, what will you look for?
- A new group of readers that could enjoy your books
- An unsatisfied need for information or delivery of your information (printed books, eBooks, audiobooks, book translation, etc.)
- An author with a new twist on a topic
- Different places to sell your books
- A way to export your core business model to another market
Qualify and prioritize your findings. Do not try to do too much at one time, act too soon, or move too quickly into unfamiliar territory. Choose opportunities for which you can exploit your core strengths and avoid your weak areas. Direct your energies and resources to creating ways to resolve problems that need solving.
Step 3: Form a team to develop your ideas
As an independent author, you may be a sole proprietor or have a small staff without pertinent experience. You can still get the job done without an army to help you.
Hire a business coach
There are people who can walk you through the steps to codify your initial ideas. Others can do the work for you.Join or create a mastermind group
Seek out peer-to-peer mentoring. Find other writers and entrepreneurs who will meet on a regular basis to help each other solve business problems.
Step 4: Implement your ideas
You now have a list of potentially profitable ideas, the names of prospective book buyers, and a team of people in place to help you implement your ideas. The next obvious step is to do it.
Did you ever hear the question, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer is, “One bite at a time.” It is not necessary to do too much too soon, but do something and evaluate your progress regularly. Start with your best idea and take steps today to make it happen to close your growth gap this year.
Bring your book to fruition
From book cover design and interior formatting to distribution and book advertising, BookBaby is here to help you grow your market and turn a profit on your self-published book.
