Build a System You Own

6. Your personal Rube Goldberg machine for finding readers.

I’m used to it now where the greatest insight comes as an embarrassment because the absolute truth of it is so obvious, I can’t understand why I didn’t see it earlier. It happens all the time with my fiction, and I feel like Hercule Poirot cursing his own foolishness. Only now, it’s happened here, and the insight came from

Xavier Macfarlane

when he said “You’ve created a marketing plan that actually hunts readers.”

This is marketing? This is a marketing plan?

In this past, I’ve been challenged to come up with a marketing plan, and I’ve been reminded that marketing is not the same thing as advertising. Great. So what is it? No explanation really helped. My marketing plans were always different places I could advertise.

When I had the idea for what I’m calling The Right Reader System, I didn’t know it was marketing. I never stopped long enough to wonder what to call it.

That one conversation with Xavier has blown my mind in that embarrassing way that says it’s so obviously correct I should have seen it all along.

In that context, what has me so excited, what has me making big, bold claims, is this isn’t just a list of things we can try.* This is a cohesive strategy that lures in an audience primed for our fiction.**

*Some of you like parts of the system and are building hybrid plans. Go for it, but the promise I see inherent in the plan can’t apply in those situations. You’re making your own marketing plan, and it’s for you to see the promise of what your plan can deliver.

**No, not everyone this system brings in will be the “right reader,” but the lure it uses will create a subscriber base with a higher percentage of people who connect with your fiction. It really depends on the theme(s) you identify and how you present them. I’m certain we’ll spend a great deal of time on that subject in future articles.

I’m reminded of a Rube Goldberg machine.

We’re taking on some complicated tasks to accomplish was seems like a simple goal: attract readers. It’s not easy though, is it?

This morning while I’m meant to be doing other things, I’m wondering about how what we’re talking about here compares to other marketing plans. What will Google tell us? I found a 2020 blog on BuildBookBuzzz by guest blogger Victoria Jayne, author of The Prophecy Trilogy. These are her talking points:

• create a website

• set up social media accounts specifically for your author persona

• create a BookBub partner account for authors

• use Booksprout to get reviews

• sign up for AllAuthor and BookBrush

• create a Canva design account

• use BookSweeps

• sign up for Bookfunnel and StoryOrigin

• research book bloggers / booktubers / book podcasters in your genre

• research book blogs in your genre and pitch guest posts

• sign up for a blog tour

• don’t waste money on advertising

• keep writing

Create a Website

Here, she means an author website. When you need one, Substack is great free alternative. My plan does call for this to be a separate publication from your accounts employing the Right Reader system.

Social Media

Outside of Notes, this is beyond the scope of the Right Reader system, but can absolutely be added to it. My only significant social media presence is Twitter so that’s what I use.

BookBub

Outside our scope here, but if you can get featured on BookBub, it’s said to be worth the price.

Booksprout

This looks like an ARC / review service like Book Sirens or NetGalley. Again, this is beyond the scope of the plan but can definitely been used in addition to it for writers with new books to promote.

AllAuthor and Bookbrush

More eBook bargain sites, which sounds dismissive when I put it that way. I didn’t mean it that way. Again, outside of the scope here but can be used to promote books.

Canva

Great resource. I use it often.

Blog Tours and YouTube Interviews, etc.

Outside the scope but great to promote your books.

Blogs and Guest Posts

At last, yes, this is definitely applicable to the plan, both within Substack and beyond the platform—and in this case you have more to talk about that the fact you’ve written a book. You don’t have to be marketing a book. You’re writing guest posts to build your presence in the non-fiction arena.

Bookfunnel and StoryOrigin

I’m accidentally out of order, but this works well because Bookfunnel is something I wanted to discuss. They aren’t in the scope here, because I’m trying to present a marketing plan that doesn’t cost you any money to implement. I will be recommending Laterpress as an alternative for delivering free and paid Ebooks and Web-Native books, however, Laterpress doesn’t do the extra things you’d pay Bookfunnel or StoryOrigin for, which is mainly cross promoting deals between subscriber lists as a growth strategy. At $20 or $100 a year, these are affordable options to consider. Once again, these are outside the scope of my strategy here but very much worth your consideration.

If you’re not going to cross-promote between other mailing lists, however, the only advantage over Laterpress is you can give away Ebooks with more security. Laterpress is either free for anyone who knows the address for that particular book or it requires payment. Those are currently the only options.

Why are so many of the points outside the scope of the system?

More than the fact that I’m suggesting a no-cost plan, this is a very focused system. You can do a great deal more than this if you have books to promote. This is about presenting fiction on Substack in a way that corrals pre-selected readers as a more receptive audience. In a sense then, what we’re doing here is comparable to many of the things she’s listed, and you could add to that list: Subscribe to Literary Salon and the Right-Reader System. Bookfunnel does its thing and isn’t trying to be Bookbub. They are focused aspects of a complete marketing plan. The difference here is that I’m giving you a plan to build a system you own. You subscribe here as long as you need the articles or as long as you want to express gratitude if and when this produces results. I own none of what you build, and none of it goes away if you one day unsubscribe from the Literary Salon.

It may be a Rube Goldberg machine for attracting readers, but it will be your Rube Goldberg machine. I can’t wait to see what you’ll do with it.

Until then,

I’m Thaddeus Thomas.

P.S. the original post for today was about multiple accounts, but I decided that one needs a rewrite.