Jake Larsen @JakeLarsen7: You helped inspire me to write this book –> http://inspirationfromtribulation.com What should I do now so people can find it & read?
ANSWER:
First of all, congratulations. It’s really hard to write a book. I’ll tell you why: it’s boring to write a book. Imagine sitting in a room all day and night for six months and doing nothing but moving your fingers on a fairly flat board while meaningless images pop across the screen. That’s writing a book. So anyone who does one is a hero. You can only do a book if your mind is tinged with obsession and addiction. If, to some extent, you are mentally ill.
Also, congratulations on getting it out there. This is the “choose yourself” era. You don’t need a 23 year old, fresh out of college assistant editor to send you a snotty rejection letter from some elite publishing house. You can choose yourself now. You can publish yourself. You can market yourself. You can create businesses. You can climb your own mountains. I’m really glad you went that route.
Now, what to do?
Set up a facebook page for your book. I’m writing a post soon on how to build fans for your book page and how to use it to drive book sales. Also, start blogging. And start syndicating your blog posts. Send your book to bloggers for free and get the initial reviews to be favorable even if it’s friends and family. Also, try to speak at conferences about the topic of your book.
But REMEMBER, if you’re just doing this one book, it’s not about the book. You’re not going to be on Ellen touting your book. Or Jay Leno.
A book is the new business card. It’s what shows the rest of the world that you are the real deal. That you’ve lived through something worth talking about. That you’ve experienced something precisely so that they don’t have to experience it. Now you can show the way, blaze the path, make someone smarter. Your book shows that you can. Now people will pay you for your knowledge. That”s how you make money with a book.