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Part 1: Long-Distance Relationships for the Lifecycle of Your Book

I once heard John Kremer, one of the leading experts on book marketing, give a presentation on book marketing in which he said, “Book marketing is all about relationships. And you’d better get good at doing them long-distance, because you’re never going to meet most of the people face-to-face.”

While the telephone and e-mail may be sufficient for basic communications with these people once you’ve identified them, the Internet provides a wealth of other opportunities to meet and connect with other authors, agents, publishers, retailers, readers, and others who can help you throughout the lifecycle of your book. Here are some ideas and resources for all you authorpreneurs to help you find and maintain those long-distance relationships.

Before you even type the first keystroke of your book

The process of marketing your book starts before you even start writing it.

You will also find that you will be wanting help and input regarding various aspects of the book-writing process. Some things you can use the Internet for before you start are:

• Market research—Who will be interested in this book, where can I find them, and how can I reach them?

• Competitive analysis—What other books exist on my topic, how are they marketing, and how are they doing?

• Education about the industry—Take teleclasses, meet other authors and publishers, and learn about the various choices and challenges involved in writing a book and getting it to market.

• Start building a network—Above all, start making those connections sooner, rather than later. If you just suddenly blast onto the scene when your book comes out, expecting everyone to greet you with open arms (and open little black books), forget it. Start building trusted relationships now, so that you will have the credibility and the support you need in 6-12-18-24 months when your book is done and when it gets published.

While you’re writing your book
Very few books are truly written by one person with no other input. Non-fiction books need research for credibility and real-world stories for depth. Even fiction writers need brainstorming ideas, and just the general stimulation that comes from interacting with people. Some places you might want to spend time online during the writing process include:

• Writer’s forums—Most cities have some sort of group for authors, and there are hundreds more online. Online, you’ll be able to select the group by genre, rather than by geography.

• Topical online communities—You’ve done your market research and you know where your target audience hangs out… better start hanging out there yourself. Get to know the people—what motivates them? What are the hot, timely topics right now? Bounce ideas off of people you get to know and trust. Solicit stories and anecdotes for your book. That input will help you write a much better book.

Part 2: Leveraging Your Network to Market Your Book

Preparing to publish Some people get an agent and a publisher before they ever even start. Some write the book first and then take months or even years to get a publishing contract. The vast majority lie somewhere in between. You can turn to your online network for a variety of help with the process:

• Deciding on a publishing route—Talk to authors who have done similar projects to yours to help you get a better idea which publishing route (self-publishing, print-on-demand, small press, major publishing house) may be best for your situation. Get input from multiple people.

• Get referrals to agents and publishers—There are so many people trying to write books these days, and the market is so deflated, that it now can be as difficult to find an agent as it once was to find a publisher.

• A personal referral won’t get you the contract, but it will get your proposal looked at in front of the hundreds of other unsolicited proposals they receive.

• Get feedback on your proposal—If you have built strong enough relationships, people will want to help. My co-authors and I had over a dozen people, mostly published authors, editors, and publishers, review our proposal for free. Their input certainly made it a much stronger proposal.

• Get endorsements—Yes, you can get endorsements even on a proposal. Remember, the agent or publisher probably doesn’t know your industry intimately, so look for household names, or at least people whose organization and position makes them sound important.

Marketing your book The day has finally arrived—your book is hot off the press! Now, how are you going to make it a best-seller? Assuming you have a very limited travel and advertising budget, the only other way to reach large numbers of people is to turn again to your growing network to help you get the word out. But it’s not going to be just to them and their immediate contacts—the idea is to now leverage those connections to help you reach a much larger audience. Here are just a few of the ways you can do this:

• Mailing list / forum announcements—Assuming you’re an active member of that community.[, a book release is considered a major enough event that most mailing lists and discussion forums won’t object to you announcing it one time, so long as you haven’t been overly self-promotional all along.

• Media referrals-Remember the “R” in “PR”. Develop relationships with media throughout the writing of your book. Once your book’s done, now is the time to press them to be a guest on their show, to publish an article or book excerpt on their Web site or in their magazine, or to do a review of your book.

• Referrals to bulk buyers—Turn to your network for referrals to possible bulk purchasers of your book: corporations in your industry, professional associations, clubs, service organizations, etc.

From cradle to grave (or at least to the used book store shelves), a strong online network can help you write the right book, find the right agent and publisher, and market it to the right people.Let’s take a look now at some of the specific web sites and communities where you can start building such a network to support your book project.

Part 3: Online Communities for Authors

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of online resources for authors—you can find that at some of the sites below. The focus here is on online communities where you can network and meet people—real people, and lots of them—who can help with your book project. Remember, though, that while you will undoubtedly receive even more than you give, you must give first. Contribute to these communities and add value yourself before you start asking for it in return.About Freelance Writers offers a wealth of information about the writing business, including sample book proposals, query letters, and more. The discussion forums focus mostly on smaller projects—articles, screenplays, etc.—but also have some discussion relevant to book authors.

Author Zone is a very robust online community for authors, offering personal profiles, discussion forums, private messages, news, reviews, events calendar, and an e-mail newsletter—pretty much everything you could want, all in one place.

WritersNet is by far the most active online community for writers, agents, editors, and publishers.

This is the place where professional writers come and discuss the business of writing and publishing books—editors, agents, printing/publishing options, and even wordcrafting.

Ecademy Authors offers conversation of consistently excellent quality, and the networking opportunities benefit greatly from the surrounding context of Ecademy, another one of the largest business networking sites. Ecademy also offers free blogging and article posting, so it’s an excellent place to demonstrate your writing skills and create some visibility for what you’re doing.

Lit.org is a stylish, well-maintained hub site for authors, offering over 40 different forums, publishing news, reviews, and interviews with writers. The focus here is on stories, essays, poetry, and other short fiction.

WritingForums.com, a sister site of Lit.org, offers 20 or so very active forums on topics including various genres, critique forums, resources for writers, markets and contests, and writing challenges.

The Writer’s BBS is one of the longest-running online communities for authors, with over 50 writers’ discussion and critique forums, “covering both fiction and non-fiction with topics ranging from poetry to politics, and almost everything in between.” The articles and reviews appear not to have been updated in a while, but the forums themselves are extremely active. They also offer a free small web site for members.

Self-Publishing Yahoo Group is co-sponsored by Small Publishers Association of America (SPAN), and is one of the most active communities for authors. Currently monthly volume is over 30 messages a day. Even if you’re not self-publishing, the discussion here about the book business and general, and more specifically about book marketing, is invaluable.

Internet-Authors Yahoo Group is a discussion group for authors, both self-published or traditionally published, to share ideas about marketing their books (print or e-books) on the Internet.

Booksigners Yahoo Group offers information and discussion about book signings for authors. This is the place to learn how to maximize the effectiveness of your in-person marketing efforts.

Conclusion
The Internet offers a wealth of resources for authors. Don’t forget, though, that it’s still about people. Make the right connections, nurture those relationships, and you’ll have all the support you need for your book project.

By Scott Allen
http://www.about.com/

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