By W. Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

From my earliest days as a journalist, I love to write a good story. Our world is filled with an infinite number of these stories. Someone must put their fingers on the keyboard and write these tales—whether true or created. An unfortunate aspect of the world of writing and publishing is writers do more than write. Often new writers will say, “I don’t want to market my writing. I just want to write.” While just writing sounds wonderful, if you want to sell your writing, you have to do much more in this business.

While it is not my favorite activity, I do spend consistent time marketing my work and reaching my readers. Our lives as writers are a careful balancing act. Sometimes we keep our fingers on the keyboard and tell stories. Other times we are involved in the details of reaching others and telling them about our writing (marketing). Years ago I did very little marketing and I could not understand why my books were not selling. I had the negative royalty statements from my publishers to prove it.

In 2007, Mark Victor Hansen, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul invited me on the faculty of Mega Book Marketing University in Los Angeles. I had a small literary agency at the time and took pitches from writers. I attended every session and had a wake up experience. I had written over 50 books for traditional publishers with advances and attractive books. I learned publishers make beautiful books and get them out to bookstores. But authors are the ones who drive readers into those bookstores to buy the books so they sell—not the publisher. 

I decided to change and begin reaching my readers through email, social media, radio, podcasts and multiple other ways. Many people call this process a platform. Your way of building these connections will be different from mine. It is critical for you as an author to have these connections. As an editor and a writer, I do more than speak with my authors about the importance of having readers, I model it with my actions. 

While many writers search for a formula or path to become a bestseller, I believe there is no silver bullet or exact formula. If a formula existed, every publisher would use it to sell books—and that doesn’t happen. While I can’t give you an exact path and formula to become a bestselling author, there are well-defined practices for every author—at least the ones who consistently sell books.

Here are some of the well-defined practices for selling authors: 

• Their own website presence and blog. If you don’t have a website or a blog, learn how to start one, get it going, then use it over and over. If you blog (and I recommend you do), blog in a regular consistent pattern. 
• Their own email list. If you don’t have an email list, then go to convert kit or mail chimp, sign up for free and begin then grow your list creating and using lead magnets and other ways to grow your list.
• A social media presence and a consistent pattern of posting and engagement. Pick one or two social media platforms and use it consistently.
• Advertising (Facebook, Amazon, Book Bub and others). If you don’t know what you are doing for advertising, you can waste a lot of money with little results. Learn from experts like bestselling author Mark Dawson whose course is only open a few weeks a year (check this link). 
• Speaking Engagements
• Radio Interviews
• Podcast Interviews
• Plus there are many other methods to engage and reach readers.

Professional writers are taking action, experimenting with different paths and persistent to find the path for them and their book. As I wrote about several months ago, it’s critical for every author to take their 100% responsibility for their own success and seize the opportunities which are open to them. There is a world of opportunity open to each of us for the right book at the right time and place.

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in Colorado. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. Get Terry’s newest book, 10 Publishing Myths for only $10, free shipping and bonuses worth over $200. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. Check out his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.