One of the biggest mistakes many emerging authors make when writing their first book is neglecting to build their audience. I don’t know if they think that the audience will just magically show up as a result of writing the book or what (it doesn’t…). However whether you choose to write your book as an independent publisher or via a traditional publishing outlet, building an audience is essential to the success of not just your book, but your career as an expert.

Tip #1: Write posts that are relevant to your book.

Your blog can be used as a sounding board for your book or your book idea. For example, if you want to write a book on how to avoid financial disaster as an entrepreneur while building a business, then you can write posts on

• How entrepreneurs can save money for retirement
• How to plan for marriage and family as an entrepreneur
• Top 5 most important financial documents for entrepreneurs

I can go on, but I think you get the point. Each of these blog post topics can very well be included as a chapter in the book. When you write the posts, be sure to monitor which get the most shares, likes, and comments. This feedback is essential to your success as it gives you an idea of what your readers are most interested in learning about.

Tip #2: Share photos and videos of people, places, and things that inspired you to write your book.

Photography and video are part of what make surfing the internet exciting. While written posts are still the foundation of your blog success, your photos and videos can bring more focused traffic to your blog in a shorter amount of time. Was it your trip to Brazil 5 years ago that spawned your interest in writing a book about traditional herbs and medicine? Why not showcase pictures of some of the more unusual plants and herbs and what they were used for. If you are a health coach, do you have before and after pictures of your transition into creating a more healthy body? Are you a family therapist who wants to write a book about how to create open lines of communication with your children? Do you have video of you and your children using gardening as a suggested activity to help families communicate with one another? There are a million ways to share photos and video from your own life that are relevant to your book or book idea. Bonus tip — Repurpose your photos and videos as content on Facebook, Instagram, and/or Pinterest to get even MORE traffic.

Tip #3: Create a relevant call to action that asks readers to join your email list.

While capturing people’s attention on social media is a great strategy to grow your business, you still want to direct your fans and followers to your email list. Why? Because your email list is the space you own and control. Instagram has been hinting at making changes in its algorithm making it more challenging for people with a big audience to get their photos seen on the platform. Facebook’s algorithm changes almost daily. The point here is that you cannot depend 100% on a platform you don’t own to grow your business. You have to be flexible while making sure to migrate everyone back to your home base.

So how do you get more people on your email list? First, create an irresistible lead magnet. What is one small thing that you can offer to your readers that will help them solve a problem. Is it a template, a short audio course, a webinar — whatever it is, make it good! Finally, be sure to remind them that only those on your email list will get exclusive updates on your book.

Tip #4: Share posts with related groups in social media.

Once you have the posts on your website, you have to incentivize people to go to your site and read it. There are a wealth of affinity groups on Facebook and Linkedin. Join a few of these groups with a spirit of connection and sharing. Once you join the group, be sure to introduce yourself and tell them about the book you are working on. Next, make nice and read other people’s posts and make helpful comments. Add even more value to the group by posting your own blog posts. However, just don’t drop a link and leave. Let people know why they should take the time to read your post by leaving a brief description of what you are posting. Tell them why reading your post will be worth their while.

Tip #5: Write guest posts for people with a larger audience than yours.

Yes, writing guest posts is still relevant.  In my e-course, Easy Publicity for Authorpreneurs: How to Grow Your Business with Interviews, I talk about how to use other people’s platforms to grow your visibility. The trick is to find blogs that have a larger audience than your own. It is also important to find blogs that connect with a similar audience as your own. If your business is all about teaching menopausal women how to move through this new stage in life with confidence, it doesn’t make sense to approach a blog on ice fishing in Canada about doing a guest post — even if it does have 100,000 readers. When writing your post, again, be sure to lead readers back to your site by offering your lead magnet in your bio.

The BIGGEST Key to Audience Growth for Authors

Growing your audience for your book using your blog requires a calculated content strategy. Doing so from the very beginning will help you to know exactly what you need to write and when. So many emerging authors miss out on the opportunity to grow their audience simply because they leave their content until the last minute.

If you are looking for support in creating your personalized content strategy that will help you create buzz for your book — or even just your book idea — email me at Hello (at) DigitalWellPublisher (dot) com and ask for a 1-hour consultation.