Review of “Self-Promote & Succeed” by Julie Broad

Score: 96/100 (9.6 out of 10)

So, you've written a book... now, how do you market it?

What if you could market MORE than just your book? What if you could market your BRAND and YOURSELF, leveraging them for sustained growth and opportunities?

Well, Self-Promote & Succeed by Julie Broad, the founder of Book Launchers, can help you do just that!

Self-Promote & Succeed is the direct sequel to Self-Publish & Succeed, our 2021 Non-Fiction Book of the Year! Both books are some of the best books on publishing and book marketing that we've ever read!

As the title suggests, Self-Promote & Succeed focuses on the marketing, advertising, and promotional side of the publishing equation. Alongside editing, this is probably the most painstaking and frustrating part of being an author.

There's nothing more agitating and frustrating than putting all this work into publishing a book only to see it flop and flounder. How do you get your book in front of customers? How do you keep it relevant? How do you sell books?

Even if you haven't published a book yet, this can still be an encouraging and inspiring read. Although you don't want to put the cart before the horse, it helps to have a vision and an idea of where you're going, what you want to accomplish, and what's possible.

And SO MUCH is possible! Not only could you be a best-seller on various lists (like the New York Times or Amazon), but you could also get invaluable media and networking opportunities that can catapult your outreach and career.

And not only does it help to have a vision and to have something to aspire to, this book provides invaluable information how to think about your book marketing and incorporate it before, during, and after writing it.

It helps to know who your target market (reader/audience) is, what you're trying to accomplish, and the message(s) you're trying to put forth.

Book publishing & marketing isn't a one-size-fits-all, linear process. But this book approaches this uncomfortable truth with an aura of excitement and optimism.

Broad tells us that: "Book marketing is one part tried-and-true methods and one part experimentation to find what will work for you, your book, and your audience."

In other words, you'll have a lot of tricks, tips, and tools to try out, play with, and experiment with. Some things will work and others won't. Some things will need to be tweaked, adjusted, and adapted accordingly.

Many strategies work better when they're combined. For example, an author could use the 99-cent Amazon e-book sale to achieve best-seller status while also leveraging Amazon ads, media coverage, partnerships, and quarterly promotions to maintain post-launch sales.

And this book makes it clear that book sales are great, but they aren’t everything. That's not to say you can't sell a lot of books and become a best-seller. Julie Broad herself was a #1 OVERALL best-seller on Amazon with her premier book, More Than Cashflow, which was focused on real-estate. However, she would likely be the first to tell you that the book sales themselves are only the tip of the iceberg. Even more powerful than selling the book itself is building an author brand.

When you have a strong author brand—one associated with prestige, respect, trust, and a good reputation—you can go beyond selling just one book, you could sell multiple books for a sustained length of time!

You could get paid interviews, speaking opportunities, and media exposure. All of these go a long way in establishing credibility around your brand.

Authors can leverage their books to establish themselves leaders and experts in their field. Think about it: How many guests on CNN, Fox News, ABC News, and MSNBC are authors of books on specific socio-political topics?

Being the author of a book on a subject can help make you the go-to person on that subject!

There are so much information and great topics in this book, here are some of our favorite takeaways:

- Broad says there are three main reasons to pay for advertising, those are to:
1. Attract book reviewers
2. Build an email database and author platform
3. Sell books

- A brand's reputation is extremely valuable and should be nurtured and protected. One author brand she talks about sold for $6 million!

- “Strategically align with corporate partnerships, and media events can give your book and brand a huge boost by helping you tap into larger, already-established audiences.”

- Address your readers' hopes, dreams, fears, and aspirations. “Does your book improve your reader’s life? This is true even if you’re writing a memoir. If you’re trying to write something that gives readers hope, how do you address their fears and aspirations?”

- “Hope and inspiration are not enough to sell your book—even if your story is powerful.” You need a good hook and you need to offer practical advice and steps for how your readers can get to where they want to go.

- “You’ll know you have a good grasp on your reader when you can do this exercise easily: Imagine telling someone why you wrote your book and how you know it’s for them.” You need to know your readers intimately. What do they want? What do they like? What makes them tick? What will make them come back for more?

- So much of book marketing is author marketing. We hate to admit it, but a lot of readers purchase books because of name-recognition and familiarity. How many of us buy books by Stephen King, Tom Clancy, or John Grisham because we know what to expect from them and trust that they'll provide it?

- Have fewer calls-to-action in your social media posts and ads so people know what you want and what you're offering.

- This book outlines the “Essential information” to place on author website. You'd be surprised how often we want to reach or learn more about an author only to not have any of that available online!

- Network like Dale L. Roberts, who networks with others in the industry “like a boss”

- When influencer-marketing, don't be all about taking and pushing. Remember that influencers are human too. Be human and be willing to give and support them and their work as well.

- Use different marketing angles, as many as possible! Go where your customers are. Some are digital-only, some are physical-only. Some are on LinkedIn or X, others are on YouTube or Twitch.

- Don't hold back the good stuff that make you memorable, highlight them. “We see many authors hold back the good stuff of who they are out of fear. That makes brand building difficult because the very thing that makes you memorable is you.”

- Learn how to do a zero-sale audit

- Leverage awards, accolades, and endorsements like the Outstanding Creator Awards!

This is a fabulous, fantastic book on publishing and book marketing by one of the best.

Check it out on Amazon!