I promised to talk about how to get a million views, so I’ll do that quick here – even though this email is already WAY longer than expected. In brief, and this is one of the major lessons behind my Creativindie brand, it’s much easier to gain traction when you talk about other people or provide useful tips. So I don’t just build content to talk about myself or my books: I build useful content that helps or features other people, like the guide to self editing that was quoted up above. I also got featured in CNN for renting castles; and I’ve had my content shared by bestselling authors like Lauren Kate (who has half a million followers) because I made it about THEM. I didn’t ask them to share, I just featured and promoted their content.
Also, by following the principles in this email, I’ve gotten over a million views on YouTube alone, despite the fact that my videos are rough and unedited. I focused on producing lots of useful content, NOT polishing it up. Now that I have a pretty big platform and a lot of visibility, I can slow down and be more deliberate about what kind of content I share or create.
ALSO, I’ll point out that getting a million views sounds cool but isn’t that meaningful unless you can get people on your email list and use it to build a real relationship with them. Don’t fall for “book marketing services” that claim to blast your book to a million people – that’s just spam. You don’t want a million views, you want a thousand targeted views by the right readers: readers who will buy, love and review your books.
Recently I’ve heard from a lot of authors who don’t want to build a relationship with readers, or don’t see the point in an email list. And you don’t *have* to – but with 1000 true fans you can launch a bestseller easily, without any marketing, advertising or promotion. This week we’ll just focus on preparing your book for publication, and how to make it a #1 bestseller on launch.
