Review: Encouraging, step-by-step, stress free
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 14, 2013
A Year of Book Marketing Part 1. Marketing Your Book One Day At A Time by Heather Hart.I was familiar with Mrs. Hart's work from some of the publications she has co-authored like `Book Marketing 101: Marketing Your Book on a Shoestring' and the writers' group of same name in LinkedIn. I asked for a copy of her book when I read her reply to another author who was after novel ways of marketing his book, and a bit tired of `same-old, same-old'. She kindly offered me a free copy in exchange for a review and I'm pleased to be able to respond in kind.The idea behind the book is that it can be used (after reading the first three chapters that contain general advice on marketing, particularly useful to the novice writer) as a daily prompt/calendar, that instead of only having quotations for the day, contains an idea or marketing prompt for each day. The idea is explored in some detail and follows a quotation. Some of the quotations were familiar already (not less useful because of that), some less so, but all were at once reflective and encouraging. The clear message (if it can be simplified into one) is: work hard, consistently, focus on what works for you and you enjoy, but don't be afraid to try new things. And Rome wasn't built in a day.I'm fairly new to self-publishing and marketing, although I have been trying my hand at it for a few months. I found reading Ms. Hart's book that I'd tried some of the ideas suggested, some would not be workable for me at the moment (I've only published e-books so far and some of the ideas require a physical book), and some...Well, I should try. I've left notes to myself, and even before I read the whole book I checked the appendix and started listing my book on some of the free sites I hadn't tried yet.Ms. Hart's style is easy to follow, engaging, and I particularly liked her sharing her own experiences and insights, including things she did not feel comfortable doing, and her less than successful efforts. I also liked the pace of the book, the encouragement it offers, and its emphasis on having a long-term plan, checking what one is doing and trying to maximise that, rather than frantically trying everything at once.I read the whole book at once, rather than using it as it is intended (and that's a limitation of my review), but will definitely be taking her advice at heart and trying some of the ideas I hadn't considered (and some I've been thinking about but haven't quite got around to...).In conclusion I would recommend it to anybody who is into the publishing business, no matter the genre, and who feels they could benefit from encouragement and not heavy-handed expertise. And I will be looking forward to part 2.