The creative process is something we all go through. Whether we are writing a book, creating a business, or starting a new adventure... the process we go through to create this new thing in our lives is probably about as different as our DNA and yet as similar as drawing a breath.
The creative process is messy, scary, confusing, liberating, exciting, life-giving, and more! I thought sharing what I go through in this process might help somebody else not feel as crazy as I do because it always works out. Always.
If you've missed it, check out The Birth Of An Idea, The Oh Shits!, How I Buckled Down & Got Shit Done, and How to Face Your Fears.
In the last installment of "The Creative Process," I ended it by saying that I didn't know what my next step was - that I was in uncharted territory. That hasn't really changed, but I can say that I have kept going, and some new and exciting things have come to me as a result.
Before we get into the meat and potatoes, I want to explain myself. A typical book in the US sells 500 copies. Five hundred copies?! Are you kidding me?! I have WAY bigger expectations for my book than a mere 500 copies. That is just a drop in the bucket.
But that got me thinking. That means that authors' "normal" and "go-to" marketing methods simply don't work. So all of the marketing techniques I am "supposed" to do wouldn't come close to getting me toward my goal of selling over 100 million books. That's right. It's a lot of books, I know. BUT this book is evergreen and can change people's lives. It's a hot one!
Anyways... I realized I needed to market my book differently than other authors.
Probably the biggest thing I did was to ask a question before I went to sleep. That question was, "How can I effectively market my book?"
If you've never asked a question before bed and stayed open to the answer, I cannot recommend it enough. You will get your answer, and it will blow you away.
After asking the question, I would always find my way to an answer the next morning, and that answer would be a big, "of course!"
So far, I am implementing two big ideas for book marketing:
Bulk sales
TikTok
To be honest, I'm not sure how bulk sales of my physical book will do because the price needs to be pretty high because of how many pages there are. But, nothing is stopping me from doing bulk sales on ebooks. (Plus, it has spurred me on to a much shorter book that will be suitable for bulk sales!) And the YouTube videos have turned out to be a no-brainer. TikTok is a stretch for me because I deplore being on camera, but I'm coming up with ideas, so I don't have to be. I haven't implemented that one yet, but I will soon.
There you have it! I have been doing things even when I didn't know what to do. It's all about putting one foot in front of the other and keeping your momentum and energy going. And by all means - start asking questions before you go to bed!
For those wondering how it went with me sending out requests for blurbs and the forward, here is the down low...
After I sent out those emails, I felt refreshed. I did it, and I did as good as I knew how! I was proud of myself! But then a strange thing happened. I realized I didn't need them. There are MANY books on the market without them. I did hear back from Pam Grout! (I totally fangirled.) She said she doesn't do blurbs anymore. But she emailed me back!!! After about a month of sending the emails, I also heard back from Sarah McCrum! She apologized for the long delay and told me to send her the book, and if it resonated with her, she would be happy to write a blurb. What?! That was awesome! I sent her the book about a week ago, so we'll see what she says.
There will be one more installment of The Creative Process. Again - I'm not sure what that one will be about. But I guarantee you that if it is anything like this past one, it will be about allowing it to unfold before you.
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