![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?source=bk&t=beckwithcommu-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=ef37b6bb431716f38ad093554c0b3a96&_cb=1457219267190\")
, features options for parents and teachers who want to opt out of homework, along with other renegade topics like \u201cIt\u2019s OK to Talk to Strangers.\u201d Learn more at\u00a0her website<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\nGuest post: How smart book marketing got me a second publishing contract<\/h2>\n
By Heather Shumaker<\/strong><\/p>\n In the months leading up to my first book\u2019s publication, I worked with Sandy Beckwith to come up with a promotion plan. She was ever professional, ever polite, but the words that stuck in my head were when she said kindly, \u201cI\u2019m amazed you got a book contract with absolutely no platform.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n It was true. I had nothing to start with. No credentials, no fans, no Facebook Page, no blog. All I had was hope and hard work.<\/p>\n That hard work paid off. Since my first book,\u00a0It\u2019s OK Not to Share<\/a> As I\u2019ve learned, that defies the odds. My agent tells me the average traditionally published book sells 3,000 copies total, and sales drop off dramatically after the first six months.<\/p>\n My goal was to be a writer, not just a one-book writer, but a career writer. It took me four years or so to get an agent and secure a publisher for my first book. I devoted the year after its publication to continual promotion. As I\u2019d heard, publishing a first book was hard, but publishing a second book could be harder. Publishers might be willing to take a chance on a new voice for a first book, but after that you had to have a track record of sales. I wanted my book\u2019s track record to be strong enough so I could write a second book.<\/p>\n I tried to do everything<\/em> when I first started. That resulted in feeling that promotion was a big, black hole. No matter how much of my life and time I poured in, there was always more that could be done. I wasn\u2019t writing. Promotion drained me.<\/p>\n So here are seven things\u00a0I learned that led me to my second book contract.<\/p>\n Unless you absolutely love it and social media makes you feel fulfilled, don\u2019t try to do all social media. Pick the ones that fit your personality best. For me that ended up being a blog and a professional Facebook Page.<\/p>\n Concentrate efforts on social media venues you mostly enjoy. Don\u2019t try to be everywhere. Besides, you might already be in more places than you think. By the time I explored Pinterest, I realized my book was already there: Readers who like Pinterest best had already pinned my book cover and pinned blog posts.<\/p>\n Focus your time on selected social media that fits you<\/em>. Then make it easy for readers who like other venues better to post in their worlds (ex: add Tweetables at the end of your posts. That makes it easy for Twitter fans to spread the word).<\/p>\n This is a tip I learned from Sandy and it\u2019s proven its worth time and again. I’m doing this when I’m speaking. At each event I passed a clipboard and collected emails. When my second book came out I had easy access to 1,000-2,000 people who cared about my writing. Now I\u2019m moving to a digital clipboard and passing a tablet \u2013 no data entry!<\/p>\n I was told \u201cFirst you write your book, then you speak your book.\u201d So true. I started speaking for free at libraries, then charged $100 for an appearance, then moved up to bigger events. Three years later I\u2019m keynoting at national conferences and speaking brings in half my income.<\/p>\n Publishers move on to the next book when your book is barely a month old. News media like things to be \u201cnew,\u201d too.<\/p>\n But your book is always new to readers who are just discovering it. Word of mouth has its own timeline.<\/p>\n When I speak to a new audience, it\u2019s as if the book were published yesterday. People are on fire with the novelty. This probably works best if you decide to do long-term speaking, but it also works well with book clubs. Book clubs don\u2019t just choose newly released books. Often it takes years for a title to work its way in and get chosen. Go ahead and contact book clubs or online read along groups and suggest your book as their next pick. Guaranteed to be new again.<\/p>\n Of course, we can\u2019t sit on our laurels, thinking \u201cI wrote a great book, now readers will find it.\u201d Helping people discover your book takes effort. But if your book finds true fans, it will have staying power. People buy multiple copies and share them with their friends. Readers suggest bringing in an author to speak.<\/p>\n My early book promotion was a never-ending time of reaching out to people. People often contact me now because they like the book, and promotion takes much less work.<\/p>\n If you have nothing to start, the way I had, take one step at a time. Today I have the Starlighting Mama blog<\/a>, weekly Renegade Rules podcast show on iTunes <\/a>and Stitcher<\/a>, business fan Page on Facebook<\/a>, a\u00a0Twitter account<\/a>, an email\u00a0newsletter, videos on YouTube<\/a>, and an active speaking calendar<\/a> booking up more than a year in advance.<\/p>\n I started with only a website. I would have been overwhelmed to do everything at once. Since every new step added on gradually, it doesn\u2019t seem hard to balance.<\/p>\n My second book, It\u2019s OK to Go Up the Slide<\/a> I\u2019m excited to share its newness with the world but I also have confidence it will continue to find new readers years from now.<\/p>\n What’s the most important thing you learned while marketing your book?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Heather Shumaker<\/strong><\/p>\n In the months leading up to my first book\u2019s publication, I worked with Sandy Beckwith to come up with a promotion plan. She was ever professional, ever polite, but the words that stuck in my head were when she said kindly, \u201cI\u2019m amazed you got a book contract with absolutely no platform.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n It was true. I had nothing to start with. No credentials, no fans, no Facebook Page, no blog. All I had was hope and hard work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":20044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,20,11],"tags":[96,245,246,680,247],"class_list":["post-7875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-columns","category-news","category-tactics","tag-book-marketing-lessons","tag-heather-shumaker","tag-its-ok-not-to-share","tag-its-ok-to-go-up-the-slide","tag-lessons-learned"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?source=bk&t=beckwithcommu-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=4439c20e79b8d99110de0bdf68cbdf26&_cb=1457130175106\")
Defying the odds<\/h2>\n
![\"smart](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/How-smart-book-marketing-got-me-a-second-publishing-contract-300x251.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n1. Limit social media.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
2. Collect email addresses.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3. Speaking pays.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
4. Keep your book “new.”<\/strong><\/h3>\n
5. Write a good book.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
6. Go gradually.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
7. Set a deadline.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Slide](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Slide-cover-smaller-200x300.jpeg\")
<\/a>Give yourself a timeframe to devote your best effort to promotion. Then stop and get back to writing<\/em>. Once you have a book out you should never go cold turkey and banish all promotion, but give it a discrete time to be top priority, then shift it down to maintenance level.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?source=bk&t=beckwithcommu-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=db875e5cabc5d2500a067b868be06e2a&_cb=1457132160565\")
![\"smart](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Heather-Shumaker-2012_27-4x5-color-218x300.jpeg\")
<\/a>I first met Heather Shumaker when she took my Book Marketing 101 for Nonfiction e-course<\/a> before her first parenting book was published. I was impressed by her willingness to do the hard work required to succeed — rather than to wait for it to happen. I wasn’t surprised, then, to see that just a few years later, Heather has become a national speaker on early childhood topics and an advocate for play-based learning and no homework in elementary school. Her new book, <\/em>It\u2019s OK to Go Up the Slide<\/a>How smart book marketing got me a second publishing contract<\/h3>\n