The German Book Office featured a webinar on author branding with Sangram Surve last week. Surve kickstarted his informative session with a famous quote by Jack Welch:
“Control your destiny or someone else will.”
Some Author Branding Lessons from the session
- Understand that whether you have a traditional publisher or you are the publisher, books do not get the kind of production budget that movies and music get, so the onus of investment is on the publisher or you.
- You can be writing a genre or for a particular target audience, but the author brand is key.
- Make your digital presence felt.
- Find unconventional ways to promote the book. Always look for the next big idea and it is always in the book you have written.
- See if your marketing idea is shareable and if collaboration can further your brand.
- Plan to market the book at least two months in advance.
- Create a detailed content plan. If your book is a fiction, you can decide to introduce your main characters, feature illustrations if any and feature your book trailer.
- Once the marketing is done and preorders come rolling in, decide on an impressive launch. In times like these, a digital launch is also a good idea.
So if you’ve written a book, the journey has just begun!