Award-winning, bestselling author Cara C. Putman says as much as you might not like it, book marketing needs to be a priority for authors. Many authors struggle with finding time to market their books and Putman is no different. As a college professor and practicing attorney with a busy family and writing life, she finds it challenging to do it on her own. All of her 40+ books have been published, so there is a need to continue nurturing them if she wants to sell books. Even if you collaborate with a publisher, she says, the majority of the marketing work is up to the author.
Putman advises authors to find what you enjoy most about marketing and focus on that. For her, an author newsletter is essential because she can manage the content and the distribution. With social media constantly changing, email marketing is one thing that she can control. By hiring out help with her social media management and podcast production, Putman is able to put time into strategizing her overall author brand and platform. She can control the messaging she wants to communicate to fans on her email marketing list and when. She believes that focusing on these types of connections adds greater value than daily social media posts.