Ideal Relationships
Marketing Yourself Through the Cultivated Relationships Between Authors, Readers, and Publishers
Why you should Cultivate
Branding is more than distinguishable cover art and targeted marketing plans. It encompasses…
The connections you make with your audience
How you navigate partnerships and contracts
The way you present yourself to your audience.
This is all very important to consider to the grand scheme of how you plan to present yourself to your audience and build authority.
Consider…
When a consumer sees your name, outside of your novel how will they interact with you?
When a consumer hears who published and represented the work will they find you appealing?
Ways to Cultivate
The relationships you hold with both who you work with and who you write should be maintained. For authors and publishers building a brand in today’s post-pandemic market it is important to understand that everyone wants authenticity, adaptability, and empathy according to Yanyn S. in “Cultivating Relationships Post-Pandemic.” Buyers want to know the person behind the pages, now especially, in this media driven society.
You can engage through social media…
This allows readers and publishers to feel as if they ‘know you.’ It cultivates a personal relationship with your audience that is engaging and outside of book promotion, which can make the consumer feel like more than a customer and build trust in you and your brand.
Utilize book review sites (good reads, literary review) and pages (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X) so an audience can hear your direct thought on other works and allows readers reach out directly though likes, comments, shares, and dms.
You can cultivate relationships by collaborating through partnerships with libraries, bookstores, and other authors…
This will allow consumers to get to know you through proximity. It can be done online and offline. Working with another author would allow you to tap into other consumer bases as well and show publishers that you are a desired and well-rounded author who can work well with others in an isolated field.
Partnerships can look like book signings and media tours so audiences can meet you all over and get to interact in person or support you through familiar spaces.
How This Will Help You
Being open to new opportunities is essential. Authors should consider being flexible with their market and the values that shift over time in order to continue to appeal to their audience. It can help maintain the trust built with repeat consumers and attract new ones.
What else you can do - Linguistic Mirroring
In the article, “Want to Win Someone Over? Talk Like They Do” by Max Sytch and Yong H. Kim there is an emphasis on linguistic choices a person can make to appear more relatable. Outside of interfacing with an audience, being able to mirror the way they speak, use one, and write is important. Authors and Publishers can adopt this into their writing style and personal brand for targeted audiences that prefer a certain tone and format thus making them appear more relevant. Overall, this would help with credibility and sales. Readers are buying not only the book but the person on the jacket cover and through the utilization of strategies, authors and publishers and maximize their authority and place in the market.
