Step Two: Know Your Marketing Weaknesses
I was talking to an author a couple years ago who said she was going to hire a freelance publicist to help land her a bunch of radio interviews. Knowing she (1) hates talking in public, and (2) has what could charitably be termed a shrill voice, I simply asked her, "Uh… why?" She rolled her eyes. "Because that's what everyone EXPECTS, Chip. I need to be on the radio, blathering about my book!" I suggested that was a lousy idea. She's uncomfortable with the whole thing, it wouldn't put her in the best light, and I didn't see how it was going to help her sell her book, which was a traditional romance novel. The author remained unconvinced, so if you were driving down the street and listening to an author blather uncomfortably in a voice that sounds like fingers on a chalkboard, you'll know who it was….
Why do some people seem to think they must do some marketing activities just because some other author did those marketing activities? Look, once you know what your strengths are (both the strengths of your book as well as the strengths of your marketing abilities), you need to take an honest look at what your weaknesses are. Who does your book NOT appeal to? (You can skip those websites and e-zines.) Who will NOT find your topic fascinating? (No sense trying to get in front of them.) What are you not good at? (Maybe you could focus the bulk of your efforts on areas in which you shine.)
Strategic planning types used to do what they called their "SWOT" analysis — where they would make a list of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Doing this while creating a marketing plan simply helps you remember what NOT to do. Where are you weak? Where will you struggle? What threats are there to your overall plan? By looking at those questions, you get to balance your thinking with thoughts like, "What are the opportunities I have ahead of me that I'd like to exploit?"
Because every author has them. In the past year, I represented a novelist who noticed the popularity of Amish stories, but really did NOT want to do the Amish thing. She has attitude. She isn't a "quiet life" sort. And she had no love for people who want to wear black and ride around in horse-drawn buggies. But she had an idea… what if she did an "anti-Amish" novel? One where a character thinks the whole Amish thing is wacked, and goes undercover to figure out the whole appeal? The story worked, and Kimberly Stuart's Operation Bonnet sold more than 30,000 copies. The author researched where her audience was, got in front of them, and used those opportunities to talk about the difference of her unique take on all things Amish.
Balancing opportunity and threat, strength and weakness — that's where you'll start your marketing plan. Focus on your strengths. As a matter of fact, focus 95% of your time and efforts on your strengths, rather than worrying about your weaknesses. It's a much better investment of your time. But take a clear-eyed look at what your writing has going for it, and what it doesn't; who it will appeal to, and who it won't; what you like to do, and what you don't.