Want to Sell Your Book Successfully? You Need Loyal Fans!
I think there’s a common misconception that just writing a book brings fame and a following. Now, that may have been true (and still is to some extent) in traditional publishing, and before the social media era, but it’s not anymore. These days, especially as an Indie author, you kind of have to have a following already to sell your book. Yes, you need to market, and you need to promote, but if you don’t have a clear and trustworthy brand you’ll be overlooked. There are so many options out there that if you don’t stand out, you can get lost in the shuffle. Today’s readers want to know and trust you before they buy your book, just like anything else they may buy. And this is a good thing! Thanks to social media platforms and sites like Goodreads and Amazon you have access to an audience. These platforms allow authors like you, who may not have an agent or publicist, to get out there yourself and be seen! This is where your personal brand is built and where you can build your loyal fan base. But did you know you only really need as little as ten loyal fans to build a trusted brand and sell your book?
Can Just Ten Loyal Fans Really Help You Sell Your Book?
Of course they can! Just like any fledgling brand or business, you have to start somewhere! And of course, it will take some work. As I’m sure you’ve heard before, it also won’t happen overnight. But many authors, speakers, and entrepreneurs before you have done it, so you can too!
If You Build It, They Will Come
Your personal brand is the key to your success. When you take the time to build a strong, trusted personal brand, you will find your fans, and they will find you. You will create a community. And some members of that community will become your loyal, superfans! These loyal fans will promote you because they love your work. They will tell their friends and coworkers, and those friends and coworkers will tell others. They’ll write reviews, they’ll leave comments and share your posts. In other words, they’ll promote you and help you sell your book! You know how this works, right? Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool! It’s exciting when this happens! This is when you have the potential to grow exponentially. If you nurture and engage with your fans, and get to know them, you’ll discover their other communities and their passions, which all translates to new contact points to a larger audience. I’ve covered this in detail before, so if you’re just starting out, or feel your branding may need a little work, READ THIS FIRST!
Feeling Doubtful? Here Are Some Examples
Now you may not rocket to superstardom, but you will grow your fanbase and sell more books. And who knows, maybe you WILL rocket to superstardom.
Every Celebrity Who’s Sold a Memoir
I mention this example because it proves the point that you already have to be known and trusted for readers to want to buy your book. This isn’t really the case anymore, but it used to be that memoirs and autobiographies only sold if you were a somebody. Now, anyone can write a memoir that sells—if they have a following, and it’s a good memoir, of course!
E.L. James
If you don’t know her name (which is unlikely) you know her books. James wrote the best-selling megahit Fifty Shades series. What started as fan fiction turned into a self-published series, which turned into major book and movie deals all through the power of her online community. And I’m going to bet her huge following started with just a few superfans, and of course it grew, and eventually spread like wildfire. That got her noticed by Knopf imprint, Vintage Books. And we all know what happened from there!
Andy Weir
Another tale of superstardom is The Martian author, Andy Weir. Weir, feeling disenfranchised by the publishing industry decided he would self-publish his work. He started with just a blog series, and his fan base grew. Eventually his fans were asking him to publish an ebook, so he did. And that ebook became a virtual (no pun intended) overnight Amazon bestseller— because he already had a loyal fan base! His ebook success snagged him a publishing deal with Crown, and a movie deal, all within a week’s time.
Don’t these examples at least inspire you to grow your fanbase? Well, they should!
Who Are Your Loyal Fans and How Do You Find Them?
If you’ve already established a social media platform, or a Good Reads or Amazon following, you may notice there are some followers that always comment, and always like your posts, or those that subscribe to your blog, and even share your content. These are your loyal superfans! This is the audience where you want to cultivate loyalty. How does one do that, you ask?
Research!
Find out what else these superfans are into. Check out their profiles, see who else they follow. See who those people follow. Really dig in and find the commonalities and where you fit in. It’s likely there will be a cross-section of interests, at the very least, that appeal to your target audience. These new audiences may become part of your fanbase, which can mean new superfans!
Engage, Engage, Engage!
Now that you know what else your fans are into, get involved! Join a Facebook Group. Jump on a Reddit thread. Recommend books in comments! Chime in on the discussion in general. Oh, and follow your superfans and interact with their content. Become part of the community and you will be noticed, trusted, and appreciated!
Create Content!
Here I go again with the pushing content creation.[link] But I do this for a reason. It’s so necessary that you create good content, and create it often. Whether it be engaging social media posts, pinning favorite things to Pinterest, adding favorite books on Goodreads, or writing your blog posts regularly—this is what keeps your fans engaged and creates superfans. It’s a must. Plus, it builds your authority and trust. Remember what I said about that? If you don’t create new content for people to love, how are they going to become a fan? How are they going to know they love your work if it doesn’t exist?
Yes, I’m asking you to do more work, and to do it with focus. That’s what I do! But the beautiful thing about all this is, if you love it and you’re passionate about it, it won’t seem too much like work. That passion will show in all you do, and it will create equally passionate fans, and superfans. And you just need to start with a few of those superfans to help you reach success, sell more books, and maybe launch you into something really big and exciting!
