Open Secrets

This handbook will prepare you to take the lead in executing your own publicity plan. It is designed to guide you, step-by-step, through the process of making a success of your book. It’s jam-packed with the essential tools, ideas, and resources you’ll need to achieve that goal, from an independent publisher who has provided a launching pad for authors like Ilya Kaminsky, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Jennifer Michael Hecht, Maggie Smith, Matthew Zapruder, and 250 others.

     

You’ll learn the essentials for book marketing as an indie author in a digital age:

     

—Develop your author image and brand across social channels

—Create an engaging social media presence

—Grow your audience and meaningfully connect with them

—Build an attractive, searchable website—no coding skills needed

—Launch a publicity campaign that gets you reviews

—Ensure your book is on bookstore and library shelves

—Practice mindful literary citizenship

—Learn from Tupelo authors (who were in your shoes not too long ago!)

     

All authors desire to get their books into the hands of as many readers as possible. Though it is a publisher’s role to aid and assist authors in marketing and publicity for every book, the role of any publisher necessarily takes a back seat to your all-important efforts. Nobody else can do this essential work as effectively as you can.

     

Thoroughly and joyfully embrace the notion of self-promotion, knowing that it’s the book—your book—you’re breathing life into. You wouldn’t have written and published your book if you didn’t believe in it, and in yourself, as a writer with important artistic talent to share. Your publisher believes in you. Your family and friends believe in you. Your current readers believe in you. And future readers will believe in you.