I Just Learned About Publishing and Marketing as an Authorprenuer

This afternoon I had the extreme pleasure of watching local writer Schan B. Ellis interview Sharon Jenkins, author of Will the R.E.A.L. Authorpreneur Please Stand Up?. The interview was streamed live over Blab, Twitter, and Periscope. I didn't even know what Periscope was until today, and really, I'm still not too sure.

Hey look, it's me! Thanks for the picture, Schan!

What I did learn is that as an author, I am a brand. I am a product. I am essentially trying to sell myself. This is especially true because the personal essay is my bread and butter. I am trying to get people to be interested enough in me to want to read things about me, written by me.

Sharon Jenkins seems to have this down to a fine science and her new book is full of stories from successful authors on just how they branded and marketed themselves. I find the concept of Will the R.E.A.L. Authorpreneur Please Stand Up? especially interesting because each of the authors tells their story (or gives their testimony, if you prefer) in their own words. This is what I am all about here at First Person Narrative. What's my tagline, people?

"Everybody has a story. What's yours?"

My biggest takeaway from this afternoon is that I have got to step up my social media game. While I don't know if I can handle being on as many forms of social media as Sharon, I do need to pick some and be consistently active on them.

I have got to figure out how Google+ works. I should attempt to divine the point of Twitter. I would be wise to continue making YouTube videos. And I might want to start using that First Person Narrative Facebook account I started. Or figure out how to set my personal account to gain followers instead of friends. I'm drawing the line at Periscope though. It's all terribly complicated and I've never been a fan of social media.

I was floored when Sharon said this: You should begin marketing your book as soon as you start writing it. What a concept! This is of course where all that social media comes into play. We are marketing ourselves via these platforms. No one is going to sell us other than us. As I am currently in the revision stage myself, I am clearly very far behind.

Another interesting point: You should start with a book proposal, which is essentially an artistic business proposal. This should include your target audience and your marketing strategies as well as a tentative table of contents and a synopsis. I am very excited to explore this idea. I wonder if it will be easier to create said book proposal since the manuscript in already finished?

* I should note that Sharon was speaking specifically about non-fiction books, but not necessarily essay collections. In a research driven work, the book proposal would most assuredly need to come first as it would also include your preliminary research on the topic. This is an area which I, for the most part, do not need to trouble myself with.

The last little tidbit that got me really excited was the idea of getting and also being a mentor. I would love that. As you well know, I am desperate for community. I am going to start reaching out to some authors and see if anyone seems interested in taking me under their wing. I'm also going to see about finding an elder care facility that would let me teach a creative writing workshop. How cool is it that Sharon has done this exact thing, and with great success?

My VEDA video is about karaoke today, but there's also a quick shout out to Schan and Sharon at the beginning.

Learn more about Schan's book here!

Learn more about Sharon's books here!

What are your thoughts on marketing yourself as a writer? Let me know in the comments!