Thinking Beyond the Book
It's
all about content!
Back when personal computers were first
introduced I was an early adapter. Heck, I had an Apple II+ and a word
processing program called WordStar before most people knew personal
computers were even a possibility. Of course, my primary reason was
because it would check my spelling!
I also was early to the web because I
recognized it as simply another publishing medium. But somewhere along
the line I've gotten behind. Oh, I blog (www.thegoldenpencil.com),
I run a forum (http://www.aboutfreelancewriting.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl)
and I sell a few ebooks (http://aboutfreelancewriting.com/store/books.htm),
but I don't podcast, do videos on youtube, and who knows what else.
Audience Age
If the only people I want to talk to with my writing
is people my own age, the fact that my books are primarily in print of
one form or another is okay. But, if I want to reach out to folks
younger than me, I'd better begin to think about getting caught up.
Premium Content
Then there's the whole business of
what's generically called "premium content." Simply put, premium content
is information that's for sale on the world wide web. Although much of
what's on the web is free, the truth is there is a whole bunch of money
to be made with good content.
Books Offer Multiple
Opportunities
The point, perhaps obviously, is to think
beyond your book when you're thinking about marketing. A seminar based
on your book may be in order, and if it is, that means you can also sell
CDs or DVDs of the seminar and even sell them as webinars and podcasts.
Don't try to put all these things
together at one time... it can be overwhelming. But stay open to ideas
as they crop up and as you can integrate them into your thinking and
marketing plans.
That's what I'm doing. The truth is,
much of my product is scattered and my marketing efforts are all over
the map. Gradually, I'm beginning to bring them together. You can't
really see the results yet, but I know it's happening.
It's a process... I'll keep you posted.
Write well and often.
