When Should I Start Talking About My Book?
When should I start talking about my book?
Writing a book is a very exciting and newsworthy event in your life. The process for writing it is something that takes time to iron out the major themes, intended audience, title, and others. The question becomes at what point in the writing process should you start to promote your book? Depending on your connections and network, you’ll likely want to get the word out sooner rather than later. Is there a danger to talking about it too soon? Wouldn’t it be ideal to start building your book’s buzz earlier rather than later?
Choose your words carefully.
It’s hard to talk about something that’s not in existence yet. There’s a reason that a movie’s trailer is typically created after the movie is finished. Your book will likely evolve over the process and what you thought it would be on day one could be very different from the finished product. You don’t want to paint yourself into a corner by saying something early on in the process regarding what your book will be or the impact it will have or what it’s title is. Let’s say you have a working title for your book early on. The title may be, “The Molehill on the Mountain” and you’re very excited about it. The tendency will be to tease that out to your audience and get them to start thinking of and anticipating your book with that title. What if in the writing process it’s revealed that your book and that initial title are no longer a good fit? You’re going to be kind of trapped with that name. You may not want to appear flaky or unprofessional by having to admit you are changing the title. After all, you probably said you were super excited about this title and can’t wait to see it in bookstores across the nation and world. You’ll face a crossroads of sticking with the original title and hoping it works out or changing the title and having to reintroduce your book to your network. Another scenario could be that you’re pigeon holed into making that initial title work and feel restricted in the writing process to veer into directions that would render that title obsolete. Either way, it’s important to choose your words wisely when you begin. You can still generate buzz for your book without sabotaging a truly effective writing process.
Reveal you’re on a road trip without spoiling the surprise of the destination.
The reality is that your book will likely evolve into something that you couldn’t have imagined when you started on this journey. If this is your first go round as an author then it’s unreasonable to think you’ll know exactly what the finished product will be prior to getting there. That’s not to say that you need to keep your book and the work you’re doing top-secret until you have the hardback copy in your hand. We encourage you to make the rounds, get your name out there, build your author platform and begin your pre-write and pre-release marketing. In the process you can certainly mention the fact that you’re currently in the writing process. In other words, you can hint you’re on a journey somewhere and leave your destination as a cliff hanger.
This is partly being a good marketer - leave them wanting more. But it’s also just truthful. When you’re in the writing process you actually are in the process and don’t have all the answers. These answers will reveal themselves in the future and in an effort to sound professional you don’t want to jump the gun and potentially put a governor on the creative process. If it’s too uncomfortable for you to go on a media tour for a book that hasn’t fully materialized yet then it’d be wise not to do so. If you feel like you owe it to your audience or another influencer’s audience to tell them what to expect from your book then you’ll want to wait until you can do that with integrity - later in the writing process.
This is where working with a team of professionals who have ‘been there, done that’ is so valuable because they can guide you in how to handle these opportunities. Since your book won’t be their first rodeo, they can assure you with confidence that you will have a finished book that you’re going to be proud of when it’s all said and done. You have to trust them in the short-term when inevitable doubts creep in that you’re not worthy, or your story is boring, or you don’t know how this will all play out.
Sharpen the Ax.
Abraham Lincoln said, “give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I’ll spend four hours sharpening the ax.” Writing your book will take a similar trajectory in that it may feel as if there isn’t much action taking place early on. It’s not a perfectly linear process that equals have four pages written each day until it’s finished. The sharpening the ax process means doing a deep dive into your idea, your story, studying the market, laying out a strategy for it’s release and picking a release date, etc. It takes effort to sharpen an ax. Effort that less experienced ax-men may argue would be better spent hacking away at the tree. But the goal isn’t to exert the most effort, it’s to chop down the tree. The more time that is spent intentionally sharpening the blade means the less effort and most efficiency when the time comes to put steel to wood.
Stake a Claim in It.
After doing the necessary work determining your target audience and ideal reader, clarifying your book's focus, doing a through marketing analysis, and outlining your strategic planning, then and only then, put a stake in it! Claim your title. Your title is your best marketing strategy and is not to be slapped on at the end or numerous titles floating out there. Your title is one of the very first aspects that will draw your intended readers to you. Don't blur your branding, marketing or promotion by talking before you know where you're going. what you're doing and have considered all of the pre-write and pre-release considerations and strategies.
