marketing

Why You Don’t Want to Get Your Book Done Quickly

April 4, 2025 By LDSPMA Leave a Comment

As a coach, speaker, or business owner, you may have heard that being a bestselling author gives you credibility. After all, having a book helps you:

Get more speaking gigs
Have another revenue stream to support that platform (from online royalties or selling books at the back of the room after a speaking event)
Expand your audience tenfold through a lower-priced product (made available worldwide through online stores and libraries)
Increase your opportunities to pitch to media and do interviews on radio, TV, podcasts, etc.
Connect with clients and potential business partners by showing your expertise (and don’t forget: you can use your book as a gift!)

Strategies for Fast Book Production

So, how do you get a book out there quickly? There are lots of ways to approach this process.

Pick only one small, focused problem and offer the solution for it in fewer than 10,000 words.
Compile all of your blogs, PowerPoint presentations, etc., and roughly organize them around a few key ideas.
Turn your signature speech into a book.
Get together with other like-minded professionals and do a themed compilation book on your individual stories or on how you each solved a problem.

But stop a moment.

What Haven’t You Heard?

While I’m all for helping authors self-publish and build their platforms with quickly produced books, I have learned a thing or two coming from “behind the curtain” of traditional publishing that I think most new authors learn only in hindsight.

Traditional publishers understand the long-term results of good branding.

They won’t take a book that isn’t really compelling in each of these areas:

Well organized; each fresh idea builds momentum gracefully and powerfully, convincing the reader of the value and truth of the ideas being proposed (avoiding redundancy, confusing paragraphs, muddy arguments, etc.)
Full of emotionally impactful stories that concretely support the ideas the author is developing
A strong, unique hook that can get both media and a bookshelf browser’s attention despite all the competition from similar products
Good writing—not just mechanically clean writing (with correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and lack of typos), but prose that captures the stories and ideas with powerful verbs, word economy, precision, and strong voice/compelling style

A publisher wants to make the deepest possible emotional impact on the broadest possible audience: impressed, moved, excited readers mean repeat buyers for future books, converted clients for the author (which means a bigger platform for future books), and excellent reviews and interview requests (which drive book sales). Publishers don’t want to rely on one-time marketing strategies to sell a single book in the short term. They are investing in something; they want long-term buying conversion to that author’s brand.

The quality of the book—from its well-edited guts to its cover to the marketing copy on the back (and even the type of paper it’s printed on)—is a publisher’s best chance to convey the brand experience that will convert readers.

Compromise for the Solution

So, yes, you can jump on the bandwagon and quickly slap your book together, have only one or two other people give you their thoughts, and hire a proofreader to find the typos (which is different from the type of editor who deals with the items in the good-branding list above, FYI).

And you can even sell a lot of books at the back of the room and pay for the kind of marketing that will make it a best seller in some Amazon category. But what’s after that? If someone attends your speech and then buys your signature-speech book, what increased value did you give them? Will they be that interested in the next thing you produce, or will they write you off as a one-hit wonder?

If you want to use your book to grow your business long-term, the smoothest path to success is to have a clear, firm, and impressive book-branding experience in place from the get-go. It will give them more value, more interest in you, and more loyalty as converted clients (and it will be more convincing to any business partners you’re courting). With a higher-quality book, you’ll truly convey the expertise you have.

Do Now

It’s never too late to up-level your branding. If you’ve already published a quick book, don’t sweat it. Let it continue to produce what results it can while you consider if you could take it to the next level. If you’re thinking maybe you should redo the cover or the marketing copy, find a professional in the book industry to help you. Find a good developmental editor (and a deep-line editor) to give you that professional edge. That’s the beauty of self-publishing, after all—you control everything.

If you’re still developing your book, how do you incorporate the lessons of traditional publishing into your plan for quickly producing your book?

Get your content together quickly and, by all means, team up with the marketing power of other professionals if that makes sense for you; but in traditional publishing (where quality equals long-term success), that’s called a draft. It’s not what you go to press with.
Get lots of feedback—not from close friends, your mom, or a single mentor. Use whatever networks you have (including social media and/or the audience for any online courses you’ve created) to refine your ideas by beta testing them to see what gets engagement and interest. (You’ll want to find readers who are actually facing the problem for which you’re providing a solution.)
Hire a professional developmental editor—don’t just get a copyedit or proofread; these latter services are both types of professional editing, but they are final steps. A developmental editor is trained in developing ideas, making sure your book is well organized, and in helping the audience connect with your voice—in short, his/her job is to make sure the market you want to speak to is going to understand your message and be moved by it. If you’re writing a memoir (or a narrative-driven inspirational/how-to), find out if your nonfiction editor also has extensive training in story structure, thematic through-lines, character development, and so on.
When you go to self-publish, hire individuals or teams that have experience in the traditional publishing industry so you can apply that experience to producing a quality book—one that will look as good as what the traditional industry produces. For instance, you want a team who knows what makes a good cover and why. Is the marketing copy actually marketable (has a good hook, covers reader pain points and desires, is well-worded), or is it just a general summary of your content? Does the vendor insist your cover, tagline, and image tell a cohesive genre story and hook your ideal target market? (Most won’t.)

Sound Like This May Take a While?

Actually, we’re talking about adding just a couple of months to your timeline if you bring in professionals to help. In the grand scheme of things, adding two to three months to your release date isn’t much of a bump in the publish-quickly road. (If you have a pressing deadline that’s non-negotiable, just get what you have out and then up-level as soon as you can after that; you want the best version of your book available for bigger audiences as your business grows.)

If speed is your priority, or you’re really starved for time, you can even give your content to a ghostwriter who can spin gold from it, capture your voice, and have it all done within a couple of months.

Spun gold—that’s the kind of book that’ll have your readers coming back for more. That’s the kind of book a traditional publisher may consider picking up after you’ve made a self-pubbed success of it. That’s the kind of book that can be your legacy.

In short? Get it done fast, but get it done right.

This article was written by Angela Eschler and was republished in this condensed form with permission from Eschler Editing. To read the full version, click here.

Creating Your Music Brand

October 6, 2023 By LDSPMA Leave a Comment

You’ve heard the term “branding” thrown around, but let’s talk about what branding really means, how to find yours, and why it is the essential first step to building a sustainable career in the music industry (or any creative industry, really).

“Branding is what people say about you when you’re not in the room,” states Stephen Linn of AmpliFLY Entertainment. Linn also explains that you can’t control it, but only influence it. Your brand secures your identity and makes you unique in a very crowded space.

Steps to Creating Your Brand

List 3 to 4 words that describe your personality. Using these words, create (or hire someone to create) your:

Logo
Photos
Clothing style
Fonts
Wardrobe including jewelry, makeup, clothes, shoes, etc. (on and off stage, yes they can and should be different)

2. Write down your Mission Statement and Elevator Pitch. Music changes the world one song, one artist at a time. Write down your goal for giving back to the world. Whenever you have options, doubts, or decisions to make, referring back to this mission statement can keep you aligned with your brand and will even strengthen your brand identity.

Your elevator pitch is a thirty-second summary of who you are and what your music is like, as well as who it will appeal to. You should have this concise and clever summary not only figured out, but memorized. Avoid statements like “unlike anything you’ve heard before” or “the best music you’ve ever heard.” I once heard someone’s music described as “It sounds as if Keith Urban and Taylor Swift had a baby and that child was raised in San Diego.” You can envision what that would sound like, right? Be clever!

3. Define your vision. What do you see when you envision success? Will you be performing to a stadium full of fans? Will you be living comfortably as a songwriter? Will you be creating 24/7 in your own massive studio space? What does success look like to you? Spell it out in detail.

4. Make a list of all your favorite products, hobbies, restaurants, social spots, etc. Brand extensions and/or partnerships can become part of your brand identity. Not only this, but brand partnerships can become a source of income for you as well as a way to extend your reach. If you have a hobby of skateboarding or yoga or kickboxing or knitting or have a love of Hallmark movies, include this in your list. You will be able to connect with people with similar interests who may not have otherwise come across you and your music. This approach can also prop you up into the visual space of the brands you use and love.

5. Write your story. The contents of your story can later be shaped into an artist bio for your website, press kit, and other sites. What parts of your story make you special and unique? Why do you feel called to be a public figure? What was the defining moment in your childhood when something spoke to your soul and clearly stated that music is what you are destined to do with your life?

6. Make a Brand Binder. This is for you and your team and not for fans or the public. It should include:

Personality traits you narrowed down in the above exercise
Phrases, thoughts, statements, and quotes that you find inspiring and represent who you are and what matters to you
Mission Statement and Elevator Pitch
Vision
Brand Elements – Colors, fonts, pictures, Logo (variations, colors), Look and feel (mood/aesthetic) using pictures, off-stage wardrobe using pictures

Remember, you are not obligated to share every detail of your true personality with the world, only those parts you want them to see. Even if you are enhancing some qualities or hiding others, you are in control of what influences your brand. If you don’t want people to know that you personally have an obsession with collecting mini tea sets, then pull all photos of that down from your social media and pray that doesn’t get out. Or, you could embrace it and make that part of what you share. It’s up to you.

I like the idea of having a physical binder for this, but you could also use something like Pinterest or Trello to organize it.

Using Your Brand

Honestly, I think creating and using your brand is really fun. Who doesn’t like talking about all the things they love? Use your binder to guide every decision you make about what photos are best, what album cover looks best, what you should post on social media, etc. Be patient. Building brand awareness is a marathon and not a sprint. Stay on brand. Create consistently. Contribute always.

Becky Willard

Becky Willard’s music career spans nearly three decades working in nearly every corner of the music industry. Her passion is in finding and working with the most determined artists who are ready to take control of their artistic career.

She’s coached, mentored, and developed a number of artists who’ve been featured on The Voice, American Idol, America’s Got Talent, The X-Factor, and more. You can learn about her here.

Humbly, I Market: 5 Reminders of the Power of Humility in Creating

July 7, 2021 By Emma Heggem 1 Comment

By Emma Heggem

When I first started editing, I thought I had all the necessary job requirements because I knew how to identify weaknesses in a book and recommend solutions. Then I realized I had to convince real humans—people who had spent months or years writing their book—that I had useful advice for them. When I first started, all they saw was a stranger telling them what was wrong with the product of their labors. Until I proved my expertise, we didn’t get anywhere.

Marketing our expertise is true about any product or service. Whatever role you play in the media industries, you are eventually going to put something out into the world and hope other people find it. However, if you want people to actually discover the existence of your work and pay attention, you will have to get involved in some level of marketing.

We’re all marketers in the end.

1. Recognize Humility isn’t About Being Ashamed of Your Talents

Most of us go into publishing or media creation because we have a talent that we want to share. There’s nothing wrong with that. After all, God gave us those talents for a reason. Personally, I have felt His guiding hand in my career, helping me find jobs and pushing me towards opportunities to work with some amazing people.

But He has never convinced someone else of my skills before. He provides the opportunity for me to prove myself, but He doesn’t send promptings to the client or hiring agent that I am the editor they need. He sends me a picture of a job notice from a friend or puts my website in front of a potential client. The rest is up to me. Sometimes I prove my skills through a résumé or an editing sample. Sometimes I do it through social media or by writing blog posts. Regardless of the method, proving what I can do is a necessary part of using my talent to the fullest.

2. Know Where Your Talents Lie

I didn’t just wake up one day and believe I was a good editor. I started out as a student, taking classes and doing industry research. Once I’d learned enough, I began applying those lessons to actual books. Over time, and with feedback from other editors, authors, and readers, I tested those skills. I found some weaknesses that I could work on (some are still works in progress!) and I learned what strengths I have. For example, I have determined that my work is able to help authors write stronger plot lines and engage their audience, but it isn’t great at catching all the typos and grammatical errors. This knowledge gives me the confidence to tell people about my editing skills, but also the humility to know when my services aren’t the right fit.

It isn’t pride to tell people what you can honestly do. If you use known facts and unbiased reviews, you can create marketing messages that genuinely reflect the quality of your work and help the right people find out about it.

You can use beta readers, reviewers, or industry gatekeepers to test your work. You can attend classes and conferences to continually adapt your knowledge to the changing industry and expand your skills. You can even create claims that you know to be true. For example, you may believe that everyone will love your movie. But what a humble creator will tell everyone is that they know the movie is a classic fantasy adventure tale for 12 year olds. You may believe the special effects are unbelievable, but you can know for certain that top industry professionals made them. (Think of all the movie trailers that begin with “From the creators of X.”)

Making factual claims and using reviews to verify your work may not be as flashy as sweeping messages about being the best and the newest, but it allows you to make public claims about your work that are coming from a place of honesty and not a place of pride. This is a huge step in creating a marketing message and still preserving your humility.

3. Get the Word Out

Marketing isn’t just about creating a message. It’s also about spreading it far and wide. In the modern age, there are many ways to do that. Social media ads, TV commercials, pitches to industry professionals, printed advertisements, giveaways, and many more opportunities exist. Because there are so many opportunities, you have to be careful not to over-saturate your audience.

As far as I know, there is no commandment that says, “Thou shalt not tell everyone thou knowest about thy book release.” But I think we all have been annoyed by a marketing attempt at least once in our lives, and I feel there is a commandment about that. I think it’s safe to assume that “love thy neighbor” includes things like not adding them to your email list without their permission and not messaging them weekly about liking your Facebook page. Still, as long as we are being kind and courteous, it’s okay to ask if friends and family are interested every once in a while.

Your current friends and family are not the only people you will likely reach out to. Endorsements from respected industry professionals can be a useful tool. Reviews from popular bloggers can get the word out. People with big email lists or social media followings can help spread the news beyond your own personal connections. Some people may feel that humility prevents them from assuming these big names and large reaches would have any interest in their work. However, asking for help is a principle of the gospel. We are encouraged to allow others to have a chance to serve their fellow man. As long as you are polite and give them a genuine chance to say no, there is no reason to be afraid of reaching out to influencers for help.

Asking for help is a principle of the gospel.

4. Do Not Raise Yourself Above Your Fellow Man

One of my favorite things about the publishing industry is the way it tends to be a supportive community rather than a cutthroat competition. Books and movies are an inclusive interest. It’s not like buying a phone or a house. Just because a customer buys one doesn’t mean they won’t buy another. In fact, in my experience, readers are more likely to buy books later if the first one they bought is good. Good media supports other good media.

Because of this, being a good marketer doesn’t have to be a competition. A humble person can advertise their own book and still leave positive reviews on books by other authors. A humble person can market their own editing skills and still give contract tips to other editors. To be a good member of the media industries, you need to accept help and offer it.

You can offer help in many different ways. An aspiring author can share the news that a publisher or agent is accepting submissions. A humble editor can pass on clients whose work falls outside their realm of expertise to other editors. A bestselling author could speak at conferences or recommend their favorite learning materials to those still trying to make a name for themselves.

Your success does not need to come at the expense of others; an attitude of humility is recognizing that your success puts you in a position to help others instead. Heavenly Father didn’t give us these talents to stop anyone else from creating. If we allow our success to prevent us from caring for our brothers and sisters, we are no longer using our talents to serve the Lord. We are only using them to serve ourselves.

5. Let Your Light Shine

I have felt the guiding hand of my Heavenly Father many times in my career and have seen Him do the same for others. The work we do by putting out good books and movies and other media adds brightness to the world. We should not be ashamed of our talents and should not let a false sense of humility stop us from sharing them with the world.

The world deserves to know what you can create. Whether you provide a service to creators or a final product to consumers, the work you do can be uplifting to those around you as long as you keep in mind that sharing our labors is about spreading joy and goodness into the world.

By realistically representing our talents, accepting negative feedback, and treating competitors, coworkers, and potential customers with kindness, we can share our talents with the world and still remain faithful, humble servants of our Lord.

Emma Heggem is the managing editor at Future House Publishing where she specializes in content editing sci-fi and fantasy novels. When she’s not editing, she loves to attend writers conferences to take pitches, give critiques, and demystify the publishing industry. She also runs a writing/editing advice blog (www.editsbyemma.com). Emma graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English language and a minor in editing.