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January 25, 2021

Market With The Eagles

Susan Reichert


Twenty-five days ago we were all preparing to ring in the new year of 2021. I remember thinking on December 31, had I finished all the steps in my writing plans for 2020. Going through my computer folder for 2020, I found three manuscripts started, each having between 14,000 and 25,000 words. 

Looking over my notes for each manuscript, I could not find reasons for not finishing any of them. Writer's block was not the reason, so what was?

After looking them over, I wondered if it was the marketing part that may have caused me to put them aside.

You see I do not like marketing my own work. Perhaps some of you feel the same way.

Don't get me wrong, I have a marketing background, and can help others with ideas for marketing their books. . .(ot other products) but when it comes to my own, there lies the problem.

When I was a teenager, I was asked if I would like to be in the movies. My answer was no. But if there was a position as director, then yes. I realized at that time, I liked being behind the scenes, not in front of the camera.

Having remembered that, I knew for me to market I would have to think out of the box. 

So beginning now, this latter part of January, I will need to put a plan of marketing together, that is different,  not the norm. But I am not the only one. Many authors are facing this situation because this pandemic  is preventing venues that were used before. . .but is this situation also opening doors of opportunities to invent new ways to market?

I think, for me, I will spend some time in the next few months researching other avenues in the virtual, online, podcast,webinars, and whatever else I can unearth, out-of-the-box!

What about you? Are you willing to spend some time looking at new ways to market your books, to get out of the box, even it it means learning new things? Think about the saying, (have no idea who said it) "I would rather soar with the eagles than peck and scratch around on the ground with the chickens." Don't remember when I heard this but it put a picture in my mind that has lasted.

Perhaps you already have found some new methods to use to market. If you have, we hope you will share with us. As I come up with some possible ways, I will be posting them on this site.

Happy Marketing!

Susan Reichert is the founder of Southern Author Services and Editor of Suite T. Prior to this was the co-publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazine, a national magazine for authors and readers.

She is the author of God’s Prayer Power and Storms in Life, numerous magazine articles, and in 9 anthology books. Speaker at writing conferences, seminars, libraries, and President of Collierville Christian Writers Group (CCWriters Group).


Reichert discovered one of her life’s purposes when she began to write. “First, it was short stories as a child and some Saturday afternoons you could find Susan, her sister and friends acting out the stories. “My first novel I wrote, the manuscript was lost in a move. Now I write using a computer.”

Susan lives in Tennessee with her husband. They have four grown daughters with their own families.

You can visit Susan at www.susanlreichert.com; https:susanreichert.blogspot.com; https://www.facebook.com/SusanLeeReichert; https://twitter.com/swmeditor; https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-reichert-55922a13/;



10 comments:

  1. Susan,

    Thank you for the honesty in this post. Marketing is a challenge for every author (including me) but we continue working at it, learning new things and trying new aspects. One of the tools many bestselling authors use is advertising--running ads like Amazon ads. But you have to be wise how you do it or can waste a lot of money with little results. Someone who knows how to break through and succeed is Mark Dawson in the UK. His course is only open a few weeks a year but is open now if people want to explore it at: Amazon Ads for Authors I hope it helps some of you sell many more books.


    Terry
    author of 10 Publishing Myths, Insights Every Author Needs to Succeed

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    1. Thank you so much Terry. Appreciate your post and the information about Mark Dawson's course being open right now. Will go check that out. Have a great week!

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  2. Thanks for sharing! I also struggle with marketing my books. I think it is related to being humble.

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  3. Thank you Jackie for your response. There is a lot to learn about marketing our books for sure. Being humble can deter us from speaking out about our books...somewhere there is a balance. I hope to find it.

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  4. Susan, thank you for this honest post. Marketing is such an alien talent for me. I struggle to promote my own work, but I'm always open to learning and I look forward to breaking out of that box this year.

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    1. Thank you Kay I appreciate your comment, especially since I too struggle with it. We look forward to hearing some of the ways you break out this year.

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  5. There's a story that goes with that saying. There was an eagle that was raised by chickens. He thought he was a chicken. He watched an eagle soaring overhead and asked what it was. The chickens replied, "That's an eagle, king of the birds. Soaring is what he's supposed to do. But we're just chickens and we do what we're supposed to do--peck on the ground. There are two endings to this story and I prefer the one where the eagle learns he's not a chicken but an eagle and learns to soar.

    Sorry to go off on a tangent. I loved the challenge you gave us!

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    1. Hi Patricia...thanks for the story. I too like the ending where he learns he is an eagle. It just seems we were created to soar!

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  6. Well, it looks like I have a lot of company. Good to know we'll be working on marketing strategies together. It gives me nightmares.

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  7. Tricia, it is a lot more fun to find great ways to get out of our box when we have company. Glad we are all there together, looking for ways that will help us market our books, which in turn can help other authorrs to market theirs.

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