IN ASSOCIATION WITH
LEARN TO ...
Market Your Novels with
AUTHOR COACH KELLY WEEKES
© iSarah Winterflood Photography
You mentor authors to be able to market themselves and their books effectively and coach them on mindset and confidence challenges , tell us a little about how you do this ?
I work with authors on a one-to-one basis and tailor what we cover according to what they need most help with . For those who need marketing guidance , I mentor them through building their profile and audience , show them how to build a social media presence and other ways of marketing their books . I also coach authors around mindset and confidence challenges . We work together through a number of coaching sessions to identify and understand what is holding them back and why , and then develop a plan and tactics to move past those obstacles so they can move forward with their writing and author career .
Who are your services geared towards ?
I work with both traditional and self-published authors . Often the authors who want help with their marketing are just getting started , or have a book that is coming out soon , and they want to build their audience for it and know how to tell people about it . On the coaching front my clients are often more established as authors but have , for some reason , got stuck whether that ’ s because of burnout , a sudden lack of confidence and self belief or overwhelm and procrastination .
What do you think is the most exciting thing about learning to market yourself as an author ?
The most exciting element I think is that authors have the tools now to build connections with their readers and promote their books themselves .
Have you got any success stories you could tell us about ?
On the coaching front I recently worked with a successful author who was struggling with burnout as she was taking so much on . We worked on boundaries , self care and building a working life that works for her and now she is excited about her writing again and full of ideas . Another author I worked with had stopped writing and was not sure how to get started again , she had fallen out of love with it all . By the end of our time together she was back in a consistent writing routine which she was enjoying , and well on the way to completing her new book .
Why should authors learn to market their books ?
The publishing world is a competitive one , there are a lot of books out there so it is important for authors to find ways to promote their books so that they can be discovered by their readers .
KELLY ’ S TOP TIPS :
• Remember why you want to write - keeping in mind your ‘ vision ’ which will help you keep going through the more challenging moments .
• Take care of yourself - self care is talked about a lot at the moment , but if you don ’ t make sure you ’ re looking after yourself by sleeping , eating well , spending time doing things you love , you won ’ t be able to give the best to your writing .
• Keep focused on you and your work - try not to be distracted by what others are doing .
• Start marketing early and definitely before you publish your book . It takes time to build an audience and awareness .
• Don ’ t be afraid to talk about your book - people sometimes feel uncomfortable promoting their own books . I often remind the authors I work with that they ’ ve written a book to help or entertain people , it can ’ t do that if people don ’ t know it exists .
kellyweekes . co . uk
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