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The 3 Step Plan is designed to be used by authors who need marketing help. Typically, these authors already have a book published either through self-publishing or possibly by a small indie publishing house. The goal of these authors is to increase the effectiveness of their marketing efforts by strengthening the book's landing page and the author's platform.

If you are looking for a self-publishing help, you can visit my Self-publishing Plan

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Marketing a book is a very different phase from the other phases of a book project: planning, writing and publishing.

In fact, there is nothing in planning, writing and publishing that will prepare you for the daunting challenges marketing your book.

This board will provide a new author with valuable information on the marketing phase, advice based on my experience which says that marketing is a waste of time and money unless and until a basic marketing foundation has been established.

One last word of advice: you can do this!

(Hmm, that's four words isn't it?)

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The Three Step Plan builds the marketing foundation for your book. Steps 1 and 2 are the foundational steps. Step 3 is where the actual marketing begins.

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If you acquire a publisher, it will develop the content in steps 1 and 2. It may (or may not) get involved in step 3. Don't assume the landing page the publisher created is as strong as it can be. Go through the 3 Step Plan to see if you can strengthen your landing page

If you self-published your book, developing all the content in the 3 Step Plan falls on the author

For a self-published book much of Step 1 was completed when the manuscript files were uploaded to the packager.

It is possible (even probable) that much of this material was arrived at by guessing or superficial research. In other words, the content required for Step 1 needs strengthening and that's what this whiteboard will do.

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You may be surprised to learn that successful book marketing can be mathematically represented by an equation. It doesn’t make the marketing easier, but it does simplify the concept. The equation looks like this:

SBM = ((QBP+ ∑R + Esub(lp) + ∑(A + P)+ EsubM + ∑SM))L

where

SBM stands for Successful Book Marketing

QBP means Quality Book Package

∑r is the summation of all book reviews

Esub(lp) stands for the effectiveness of book’s Landing Page

P is for Promotions

A is for Ads

(A + P) means the summation of all results for ads and promotions

EsubM is for email

∑SM means the accumulation of all your social media effectiveness

L stands for the Luck Factor (note: Luck can be a negative number)

The 3 Step Plan includes many but not all of the components in the equation

This equation is one of the more useless pieces of information you’ll ever come across but it rather nicely illustrates the complexity of the situation. Simply put, book marketing is a complex project involving a lot of disparate moving parts. Once you accumulate all these components in the equation and mix in a bit of luck, you’re on your way to a successful marketing campaign.

The rub here is creating all the content required by the equation. That requires a lot of work.

Now the luck component may sound like a downer, but consider this: almost everything in life requires a bit of luck so why not marketing.

Here is another equation:

No Marketing = No Royalties

This one is a mantra:

Marketing First; Royalties Second

Print these to two pieces of information out and place them close to your desk.

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There are a lot of tasks involved in completing the 3 Step Plan. If you don't have the time or don't wish to do it yourself, you can hire me to do the work.

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The landing page is where the sale is clinched or lost. So, it stands to reason that the landing page is where you have to invest your maximum creativity.  If you self-published your book, it is probable that your book's landing page needs to be strengthened because inexperienced authors often guess at how the landing page is to be constructed.

If your book was put out by a small indie publisher, similar logic applies: strengthen the landing page as much as possible.

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The components, in the order a visitor sees them, are:

The cover

The ratings

The price

The blurb

The description

Any one of these components can drive a visitor away if they aren't developed correctly. If the components all mesh together, the present a compelling story that may convince the visitor to buy the book.

With the exception of the ratings, all of this landing page material was added by the packager when the author uploaded the manuscript files. In the case of Kindle, it populated the Amazon page for the book. These components can be modified by going back into the Kindle app. Ratings are added by Amazon after someone rates the book on the landing page.

Let's go over each component.

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How do you come up with a price for your book?  I’ll answer that in a moment.  First, a few words of advice.  Don’t let your ego get in the way of making a rational decision on this subject.  It’s true you may have spent years producing this masterpiece, and you think the book’s value is enormous and that thousands of readers will be happy to pay a premium price to get a chance to own their very own copy.  Well, you’re wrong.  You are an unknown author and unknown authors can’t command premium prices.  It’ll be hard enough selling your book without the added burden of an unrealistically high price.

Print books

Let’s consider print books first.  The best place to do this research is on Amazon or some other major book site, although you can do this in a bookstore or even a library.  Once on the site, search for books that are similar to yours.  If your book is non-fiction and covers plumbing repairs, search for other plumbing repair books.  Note the price for the ones that have similar subject matter and a similar number of pages.  That is the target price of your book.  If your research reveals four similar print books and their prices range from $15.99 to $24.99, your book should be priced somewhere within that range.  You can also make a pricing decision to make your book available at a lower price if you wish.

If your book is fiction, search for other books within your genre.  This may be a tougher job than with nonfiction books.  Genre books have superstar authors who command premium prices.  Ignore them.  You don’t have the clout to demand a premium price — yet.  Your search should be for lesser known authors in your genre.  If your book has three-hundred pages, you should search for other similar genre books with three-hundred pages, approximately.  Comparing your three-hundred page book to a six-hundred page one isn’t very productive. The six-hundred page print book will cost more to produce because of the larger number of pages and subsequent production costs, so that book will require a higher price than a three-hundred page print book.  Set your price to get the best possible sales at your current status as a new author.

Ebook prices

For an ebook, the search process is similar but you’ll probably come up with a confusing array of data. A bit of explanation is in order.  There is a debate going on about ebook pricing.  Many voices claim that ebooks sell best if they’re priced at $0.99.  Others contend that a higher price yields more profits but fewer sales.  There are studies that conclude the sweet spot for an ebook is $2.99 to $5.99.  Obviously, an ebook selling for $2.99 will bring in more revenue for an author than an ebook selling at $0.99.  On the other hand, an ebook selling for $.99 could sell more books than a higher priced ebook.  You can ask for advice on web sites like LinkedIn and you’ll get replies, many of them contradictory.  After reading the replies, it still comes down to you making a decision.  Make sure this is a business decision.

Another complicating factor is the presence of best-selling authors.  Their ebooks come from the major publishing houses.  Their price will be closer to $10.00 or even higher.  It will not even be close to $.99.  Here again, the premium price is due to name recognition and clout.  If you price your ebook close to $10.00 you won’t have to worry about tracking sales; you won’t get any.  A first-time self-published author simply can’t expect to use premium pricing and sell any books, no matter how great the content is.

Fiction ebooks are very sensitive to price. The books are selling entertainment and readers will compare prices before making a buy decision. That’s why your ebooks can’t compete with well-known authors on price.

Nonfiction ebooks are not as sensitive. Most nonfiction books provide a solution to a problem. If the reader sees the book as a way to solve her problem, she won’t be as concerned about the price.

Print books are far less sensitive to price concerns although it is possible to price your book out of consideration.

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A unique book cover is an important element in getting your book noticed.  Studies have shown that many readers are initially attracted to a book by the cover.  Consequently, a shoddy cover won’t attract potential readers.  Look at a book page on Amazon.  One of the first things you’ll see is the cover image.  This image can go a long way towards attracting a buyer’s attention.

My advice is to hire a competent cover artist to create a cover for your book.  If you already know such an artist, great.  In this case, you may be able to get a cover at an attractive price.  If you don’t know such an artist or if you can’t afford a hefty expense, the question comes down to this: How do you find someone who can produce the cover for your book?  The usual way to find such an artist is to use the internet.

A web search can produce a slew of names for artists willing to work on your book.  I don’t recommend contacting any of these names.  Why?  There is a possibility that some of the names aren’t legitimate artists but are rather scammers hoping to get contacted to make some money.  Other names will be mediocre artists who will oversell their ability.

In your web searches, you’ll find a number of artists who have produced a number of pre-made ebook covers you can buy at an inexpensive price.  Once you pay for it, the artist will add your title and name to the cover and send it to you.  While this may sound like an ideal solution, it comes with a few drawbacks.  First, the covers are generic and won’t match your story very well.  Second, a generic cover may tell the potential buyer the content will also be generic.  Third, the artist retains the copyright to the cover blank and can sell it again to another author.  So there is a strong possibility you will see ‘your’ cover on someone else’s book.

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Ratings come from readers who take the time to rate the book or write reviews. In the beginning, the rating number may be non-existent or very low. Getting more reviews is a never-ending task for authors because there is no such thing as "too many" reviews.

Reviews will be covered in more depth in Step 3

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The purpose of the book blurb is to grab the attention of a potential reader.  Once you have her attention by means of a great pitch line as the opening sentence, you need to follow that up with a few more sentences that tell her what’s different about your book and what’s in it for her.

Many new authors consider a book blurb to be a short synopsis.  This is a mistake.  Book blurbs and a short synopsis are two different animals, and they have very different purposes.

The blurb has many uses: social media posts, emails etc., but its main purpose on the landing page is to entice visitors to read the description. Hence, the blurb must be positioned as the lead-in to the book description. A synopsis (used as the blurb) will never get a visitor to stay on the page must less read the description.

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Book Blurbs  an important marketing tool

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For fiction, the description should get the visitor interested in the main character and that character’s problem. You want the visitor to say to herself, “Oh! I wonder how the character will get out of the mess she’s in.” Once you get the visitor thinking like that, you’re close to getting a sale.

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For a nonfiction book description use this formula

1: Book blurb (include a promise)

2: Book benefits (at least two)

3: Build your authority (why are you an expert on the book’s subject)

4: Describe the contents (not the TOC)

5: Repeat the promise a second time

6 Forceful call to action

Consolidate all these points into a series of well-written paragraphs.

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One early task in your book marketing is to establish a platform for your book and your author persona.

If this is your first foray into book marketing, these activities will take some time, but they are worth it.

Some of these activities can’t be completed until your book is either published or is in pre-order, in other words, until it has a presence on the internet. You’ll need the cover image and other information about the book before you can complete these activities.

A few of these of these activities may already be completed, such as social media accounts. Many people have them. That’s good, but you’ll probably need a few more.

This step will cover:

Website page

Sig files

Author Central

Social media accounts

Media kit

Each activity will be covered in depth.

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As a new author, you have to face the fact your book is published in the 21st century. Readers search for and find books by using the internet. Readers also search the internet for information about authors.

The implication of these statements is that you and your book need a website.

These days, there are many apps that simplify the task of creating a website, especially if the website will be small two page site. You will require two pages at a minimum: one for the book (another landing page) and the second about you (a bio, a head shot and a media kit at a minimum). A blog post feature will be a very useful item to promote your marketing campaigns.

Establishing a website will require a domain name that will have to be purchased. An ideal domain name will incorporate your author's name. An example is https://myauthorname.com. A domain name, also referred to as a URL, will have a annual fee associated with it.

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Sig files are a free way to promote your book, your website etc by add a link below your signature on emails. A signature file can be created in your email program to add these links everything time you send to an email.

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An author’s media kit is basically your chance to show off your books—and yourself—in a way that makes it super easy for journalists, bloggers, and event hosts to feature you. Here’s what should go in. Put the media kit on your webpage as a downloadable PDF file.

About Me: Write your story like you’re chatting with a friend. Share quirky details, how you started writing, and why you love what you do. Keep a short version handy (100 words or less) for the times people just want the basics.

Contact Info: Don’t make folks hunt for your details. Drop your email, maybe a phone number if you’re cool with that, and your social accounts.

Fun Author Photos: Use professional headshots if you have them, but a crisp phone pic works if it captures your style.

Books and Covers: On each book, share the cover image, a snappy blurb, genre, ISBN, page count, price, and where people can buy it (link to Amazon or the like).

Cool Reviews and Testimonials: Grab a couple of nice quotes people have said—could be from readers, other authors, or press. Show off your best feedback.

Sample Excerpt or Chapter: Give one juicy bit from your book so folks can get hooked instantly—just a few pages or the first chapter.

Past Media Appearances: If you’ve been on podcasts, radio, TV, or got press coverage, add the links or a few quotes to boost your credibility.

Event Topics: Mention any topics you can speak about at events, book clubs, or workshops. Share if you’ve done panels or interviews before.

Press Release: If you’ve just launched a new book or won an award, tack on your latest press release. Make it easy for people to share your news

Suggested Interview Questions: Give media a cheat sheet—tips for great questions, or topics you love to discuss. It helps interviewers shape the conversation in fun ways.

Buy Links: Direct links for where to snap up your books. Make it easy.

Other Fun Stuff: If you’ve got a logo, social stats, upcoming projects, or anything that makes you unique—throw it in.

A media kit isn’t about being fancy; it’s about making life easy for anyone wanting to feature you or your book. Keep it friendly, clear, and keep updating it whenever something new happens worth sharing.

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Keywords don't show up on the landing page but they operate behind the scenes as part of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that can influence what readers searching for a book see in their search results. Check your keywords to ensure they are appropriate for your book

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Budgeting for marketing campaigns is impossible to forecast. The best approach is to establish a budget based on what you can afford to spend then find marketing tactics that fit your budget. While the 3 Step Plan is free (if you can do the work) it will require research and an AI app like Perplexity.AI will be a great resource.

Some marketing tactics are free, others are inexpensive (like $25) and others are very expensive ($1000 and more).

Budgeting hint: do NOT take out a second mortgage to fund your marketing campaigns. Only fund what you can afford to lose.

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This whiteboard is a sample of what you get when you sign up with my 3 step book marketing service.