What Spells Author Success?

Author success does not happen overnight, as I say over and over again. It is like bamboo–it takes TIME.

It also takes four other things. I call them the Four Rs.

You must do the right things the right way,  in the right sequence, to the right people.

Let’s break this down.

The Right Things

There are two main things any author needs to do consistently over time in order to become successful.

1. Master your craft.

Without craft–and by this, I mean the freshness both of your message and your delivery–you will be here today, gone tomorrow. We’ve heard everything before. What fresh approach are you bringing to the table? What bling do you bring?

If you’re not really a writer, and don’t care to be one, you must put up the money to hire a very good writer. Period. Schlock never sells for long.

There’s something else you must master, or pay for.

A message is must reach its audience. So you must:

2. Market your message.

Everything you do as an author (or speaker, or business person, in fact) comes down to these two things.

Master your craft–the what–and your marketing–the how.

Which brings us to …

The Right Way

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of ways to reach your audience.

Nowadays there’s a plethora of social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, forums), as well as blogs, YouTube, apps for all sorts of technology.

There are article directories, magazines (online and off), speaking opportunities, podcasting, radio, television, YouTube, to name just a few things.

The right way means you do the right things consistently. That you test and evaluate regularly, discarding what doesn’t work.

But you must know not only where to start, but how to proceed, so you need …

The Right Sequence

So where do you start? And how do you continue from there, in the right sequence, so you’re building with a strategy, according to a blueprint, and not just performing a lot of frenzied activities?

That brings us to …

The Right People

You start with your who.

The people you are trying to reach is your who, and where you should start.

You must know your intended audience intimately. You must bring your message to the right who.

Know who they are (age, gender, economic status), what they like to do, where they “hang out” (online and offline). What they read. How much time and money they have for what you have to offer.

What you’re looking for is a connection. The vital link between your message and your audience.

Do you know what that key is that unlocks all these “right” approaches?

YOU!

You are the key. Knowing what you want to accomplish, what you want to say, what motivates you to reach your audience–this is the starting point.

Knowing yourself also shows you where to start with the how. As I said, there are thousands of ways to promote your book. Where do you start?

You start with the who–who your audience is, and who you are.

You connect the dots, using the approaches you enjoy (which will probably boil down to either writing or speaking primarily) that will also reach the people you want to reach.

You like to write primarily? Then you can focus on articles, blogs, forums and the like. But make sure your audience hangs out in these places as well. Or, if they’re not online, that you know how to reach the journals and magazines they read.

You like to speak? There are opportunities galore here, both online and offline. Again, make sure you focus on where your audiences likes to hang out.

What spells author success? The four Rs, and most of all, the connection.

And if you want more help with the four Rs and the connection, I invite you to check out “Write Your Book Right,” and/or my personal coaching to set up a plan that is right for you.