Looking for author attention for your book? Books published through traditional channels usually benefit from pre-writing research, manuscript refining, and promotional efforts of a publisher who brings attention to an author and their work. Self published authors, by contrast, are responsible for all of the work that goes into writing, revising and marketing a book themselves, including generating author attention.
But just because an author self-publishes their work doesn’t mean that they can’t also follow the same game plan that publishing houses do to bring author attention to their book. Self published authors can get noticed by readers when they follow a strategy that will help ensure that their book looks great before it is printed and then the right potential readers learn about the new book through author attention.
- Do Your Research
- 1. Author Attention — Identify Your Reader
- 2. Author Attention — Research Comparable Titles
- 3. Author Attention — Learn the Characteristics of a Bestseller in Your Genre
- 4. Author Attention — Analyze Titles and Cover Design
- 5. Author Attention — Read Book Descriptions
- 6. Author Attention — Evaluate Book Reviews
- 7. Author Attention — Consider Where Your Book Fits in the Market
- 8. Author Attention — Pricing
- Make Adjustments
Do Your Research
The work that will ensure your writing gets noticed by readers mostly happens before your book is written or even sent off to the printer. Specific, meaningful research about many aspects of a book’s potential market will reveal what readers enjoy about the genre and what details in the marketing process will be pivotal in positioning a self-published book correctly so it will be noticed by potential readers through author attention.
1. Author Attention — Identify Your Reader
Ideally, before a writer even begins to develop their story concept, identifying who the target reader will be helps authors write a book that readers will love. By homing in on exactly what kind of reader the book will appeal to, authors can use the reader’s characteristics, interests, and habits to select critical details within a book. Authors can tailor things like word choice, settings, and even pop culture injections toward their readers, giving their work a slight advantage over other books that don’t cater directly to their readers.
Some writers even pick two target readers so that their ideal readers can represent two diverse types of readers to try to reach with their work. Whether you create one or two ideal readers, the assessment should include the following details so that authors can picture exactly who they are writing for.
- Gender
- Age or generation (Gen Z, Boomer, etc.)
- Where they spend their time (flea markets, upscale shops, kid’s activities, sporting events)
- Reading preferences (genre, book style, favorite titles)
- Unique characteristics that set them apart from other people (they love to travel or have expensive tastes)
2. Author Attention — Research Comparable Titles
The next step for self published authors trying to get author attention for their work is to thoroughly review the other titles in the genre prior to writing or at least completing their own book. Knowing what the competition looks like and how readers are responding to those books is a critical step for writers so they can craft a book that is appealing to their target readers and unique within their literary space. Paying special attention to the top-selling books can help self published authors grasp what types of books readers are looking for and what characteristics may lead them to pick up a book by a new or unfamiliar author.
3. Author Attention — Learn the Characteristics of a Bestseller in Your Genre
The next phase of research focuses on looking at books like you plan to write. Look at these bestsellers in your genre to determine what they have in common and what makes them so popular. Taking the top 5-10 books similar to yours, evaluate each for their unique characteristics.
- book content
- cover design
- design elements
- how the book engages readers
- length
- price
- publisher (self, indie, or traditional)
- reviews (volume, locations, and what readers are saying)
4. Author Attention — Analyze Titles and Cover Design
The next step in researching comparable books is to analyze the titles other authors chose as well as how they market their book’s contents through the book cover design. Genres often follow similar patterns in both the way a book is titled as well as the font, design, color, and stylistic choices of the book’s cover. Create a chart to track each of these elements to discover what fonts are popular, how design elements are included, what color palates are common, and recurring themes and imagery found on covers.
Consider the subtitles used on comparable books with an eye toward how one could help your book generate more author attention. Compare and contrast the subtitles other authors in your genre use and why this extra searchable phrase helped readers find those books.
5. Author Attention — Read Book Descriptions
One of the most important ways that people consider whether or not they may like a book is by reading the book description. This one or two-paragraph book summary is the way that authors advertise their book’s contents and hint at the elements that make it special. Crafting a description that demonstrates the book’s value over others in the genre is key to getting author attention by potential readers.
6. Author Attention — Evaluate Book Reviews
Book reviews, whether on sites like Goodreads or formats like BookTok, tell authors what authentic readers think. Carefully evaluate what readers are saying about the top books, what readers like and what they don’t as well as the compelling characters, storylines, or other elements that make readers love that book. Consider how your work can include aspects that readers want to see as well as how you can avoid the pitfalls of other books.
7. Author Attention — Consider Where Your Book Fits in the Market
Are there multiple titles already on the market that sound, look, or read like your book? Will your title sound similar to another book’s title, either in your genre or in another, potentially causing confusion when your book is published? With a little tweaking, could your book concept fit into a niche or subgenre better than where you initially planned for your book to be placed?
Before finalizing your book, consider if there are any holes in the market where your book can fit so it will stand out from other titles. Or, think about whether your book will stand out in a jammed market with a large volume of books with the same genre, themes, and overall concept. To help a book get noticed, self published authors need to make sure that their books are ones that readers will be able to find and will actually want to read, so knowing where their book fits in the market is a big part of this development stage.
8. Author Attention — Pricing
Finally, self published authors have the ability to make every decision about their books including how the book is priced. But correctly pricing books is very nuanced with many facets to think about. The initial reaction of many writers who publish nontraditionally is to price their work high and avoid discounting because it feels like their book pricing reflects their hard work.
But the reality is that a too-high price can turn off some readers while an undervalued price can imply that the book is not worth reading. Word count and book length play a part in getting the price of a book right. Evaluate other titles with similar word count, page numbers, and formatting to see where their retail price ends up so your book won’t be priced too high or too low.
Make Adjustments
All of the pre-writing and preprinting research is only beneficial if an author does something with the knowledge. Knowing where your title fits into the marketplace will help you anticipate how readers will embrace your take on the genre. Changing small elements of your story to reflect current interests, choosing a title and book cover that will fit in with genre norms while still helping your book title to stand out and crafting a book description that will sell your book’s uniqueness all are excellent outcomes from thoughtful research.
In the end, these small changes all will help readers notice your book and hopefully buy your book, getting your work into more readers’ hands in the end. The freedom that comes with being a self published author means that the responsibility of creating a book that readers will love, from concept to writing to publishing, all lands on your shoulders. But that freedom to develop a book that integrates the best of the marketplace with your own creativity also means that you can make small adjustments that will help readers fall in love with your story, characters, and writing just as easily.
And partnering with a proven printer like Dazzle Printing can help you turn your researched concept into a beautifully printed book, ready to catch the eye of potential readers.
