Jonathan Stanley wrote a book called ‘Purposeful Performance.’
He self-published it recently and took up space in a bookshop in Pennsylvania to promote it.
Every day, he sat in the bookshop with a stack of books in front of him, waiting for the first buyer. People would either walk by or chat with him for a few minutes. Hardly anyone bought the book.
After days of similar behaviour, Jonathan felt disappointed, and it began showing on his face.
One day, he was approached by a four-year-old girl who told him she was an aspiring author. She took a copy of the book, and Jonathan signed it for her.
A little bit of luck
At the time, Jonathan did not know that the little girl’s mother had videotaped the incident.
The little girl’s mother posted the video on TikTok. She wrote that she saw this dejected, sweet man sitting in a corner of the bookshop, which broke her heart.
The video went viral, and within days, 70 million viewers saw it. Over a few months, Jonathan’s book became a bestseller on Amazon, and he gained more than 700,000 followers.
Some of us are aspiring authors.
Some of us are published authors.
Some of us are somewhere in between.
Showing up consistently
North of the border, my friend John is somewhere in between. When I met him 10 years ago, he had just finished his fiction book.
He refused to self-publish but printed a few copies and gave them to friends. He then started promoting his book to literary agents.
After months, he decided to submit his manuscript to large and small publishing companies. Aware of the thousands of dollars the vanity press industry charged, he contacted a hybrid publisher offering little marketing advantage and inadequate service for a substantial fee.
He finally decided to educate himself on the art of self-publishing. Every day, he sat on his laptop and watched countless videos of coaches discussing technology, marketing, communications, and more.
He did not know where to start. He felt he was sitting in a canoe without a compass or a paddle in a sea of confusing information. At this rate, John realized that even after self-publishing the book, he may not attract readers who would enjoy his passionate work of art.
A small act of kindness made Jonathan a well-known author. Part of it is luck. But most of it was about showing up consistently in as many places, online and offline.
When John reached out for help, he was frustrated. Over the next couple of meetings, we devised a marketing and communications plan. It started with building a solid foundation — his own website. John is now working through that plan to market his book and build a community of ardent readers.
We are storytellers
We are not simply writers. We are storytellers.
We craft narratives that captivate, inspire, and resonate.
As writers, we have an infinite stash of stories — stories about how we got the spark to write the book. Write these stories consistently and publish them on your website.
Look for opportunities to tell your stories. Find events where you can tell your stories. Find a story that fits the theme.
Author’s Playbook
Get the Author’s Playbook which gives an overview of how to build a community of ardent readers. There is an upcoming webinar if you want to learn more about the process and how to implement it. Sign up for my newsletter (below).
Get in touch with me. Let’s take your stories and tell it to the world.
Pic [top] by Lil Artsy, Pexels
