Your marketing plans need to cause a reaction. If you are an author the desired goal is likely for someone to read your book. This topic was inspired by a reader request for a resource guide, and before this riveting read becomes too repetitive with it’s r’s let’s tackle the topic.
The first question is always “how?” How do you do the thing? How do you learn the topic? How do you even start? There are many answers to this. You can get a degree in advertising, you can spend your life mentoring under an advertising executive, or maybe just binge watch Mad Men for research. But, those last three will involve time. Something writers often don’t want to give up because it means less actual writing time. Worse, is they can get expensive. The last season of Mad Men is $35.99 alone! And a “formal education”? Yikes, that can be a painful bill. So, my advice on how and where to learn is with the library, with TedTalks, with the internet in general. Anywhere you’ll be treated more of a patron (or viewer), than a customer. Thanks to libraries and an endless Internet you don’t have to spend money on your quest for knowledge.
But, I want to do more for you then just say, “to google and beyond!” So here are some suggested reads, videos, and really whatever I could collect that offered a new perspective on the matter. I’ve included several different styles since everyone learns a different way. This is just a starting point that I will continuously update when I find more great resources. So fatten up your bookmark bar with this post, or any of the ones below!
Ted Talks:
Seth Godin: How to get your ideas to spread
Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man
Alexis Ohanian: How to make a splash in social media
TEDxPennQuarter – Rohit Bhargava – Reinventing Marketing
We’re All in Marketing: What Evolution Tells Us About Advertising
The Tribes We Lead
Articles:
What TV Networks Still Don’t Understand About Fandom
Be The Meme
Know Thyself, Market Thyself
3 Rules for Talking To Book Bloggers
“Oh, that sounds just like (book)!”
This Is Your Brain on Advertising: Why Sex Doesn’t Sell
Books (Suggestions from Carrie Ann!):
UNmarketing
Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers
Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us
Anything from Digital Book World
Netflix Documentaries:
Art & Copy
TV Shows:
Better Off Ted
(Because I know someone writers love to procrastinate and call it research. But in all seriousness, this comedy shows quirkiness of R&D and marketing.)
Other Topics or Places:
Sensitivity Readers
An introduction to public domain
Writing for Online Engagement
Terrible Minds
How to write back cover copy
I believe if you start with a solid marketing lens based on sociology, all the terminology and methodology you came across in this marketing game will have a more meaningful context. If anything has changed your perspective about marketing, please let us know in the comments!
TLDR: You need to talk about your work in a way that will cause others do the same.
