Why Are You Writing?

Marketing Approaches for Aspiring vs. Career Authors

The marketing strategy for writers varies significantly based on their ultimate goals. Here's how marketing approaches differ between those who simply want to publish a book as a bucket list achievement versus those aiming to become working authors.

The Bucket List Author

For writers who have "publish a book" on their bucket list, marketing is often a secondary consideration to the personal accomplishment of seeing their work in print.

Focus areas:

• Personal networks for sales (friends, family, colleagues)
• Local marketing opportunities (hometown bookstores, community events)
• Minimal investment in long-term platform building
• One-time promotional push around launch
• Emphasis on the physical book as a tangible achievement
• Often willing to consider vanity presses or self-publishing services that handle most logistics

These writers typically invest modest marketing budgets, focusing on creating a quality product that represents their accomplishment rather than maximizing sales or visibility.

The Career Author

Writers aiming to become working authors must approach marketing as an essential business function rather than an afterthought.

Focus areas:

• Building a sustainable author platform and growing an audience over time
• Investing in professional book marketing (cover design, professional editing, strategic pricing)
• Developing an email list of dedicated readers
• Creating a content strategy that spans multiple books and formats
• Networking within publishing industry circles
• Analyzing market trends and reader preferences
• Treating publishing as a business with regular output schedules
• Strategic use of social media and advertising to reach target demographics

Career authors recognize that marketing isn't something that happens only at book launch—it's an ongoing process of audience building that should begin long before the first book is published and continue between releases.

The fundamental difference lies in perspective: bucket list authors see publishing primarily as a personal milestone, while career authors approach it as the foundation of a sustainable business.