Dan Blank, Founder of Wegrowmedia.com, is speaking at our upcoming Self-Publishing Intensive, a three-week virtual intensive dedicated to publishing your own book that kicks off on Thursday.
During his presentation, Blank will be giving advice on how authors can build their brand online and how to market themselves to their target audience to promote their book. In preparing for the session, we asked him to share a tip for self-published authors. Here is what he said:
Well, a common misconception in terms of earning one’s audience (and that is a term that Chuck Wendig uses) is the idea of developing connections with readers and folks who connect with readers one person at a time. Don’t obsess over magical buttons that can blast out your work to millions of people; don’t think that there are efficiencies that bestselling authors know that they are hiding from you. It takes an enormous amount of one-to-one connections with readers and folks who engage in reader communities every day. The bad news here, is of course, this is work. And it takes time because that requires you to effectively commentate, and develop trust slowly over time. The good news is that these are basic skills that most folks have, the ability to just chat with another human being about things they are passionate about.