Julie Broad's "Self-Promote and Succeed" offers a comprehensive guide for nonfiction authors to effectively market their books and build their personal brands.
Here are my key learning points:
Understanding Marketing vs. Sales
Marketing is about gaining attention and building your brand, while sales focus on transactions. Prioritize marketing to increase your platform and ultimately drive book sales.
Developing Your Author Brand
1. Craft your personal story and find your unique voice.
2. Create a visual brand identity.
3. Develop messaging that resonates with your target audience.
Effective Marketing Strategies
1. Build relationships through social media, not just focusing on sales.
2. Implement email marketing and create a content calendar.
3. Leverage networking opportunities, even for introverts.
4. Utilize podcast promotions and public speaking engagements.
5. Explore library marketing and acquire ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) readers.
Measuring Success
Learn to measure and assess your marketing efforts to make meaningful adjustments.
Key Principles
1. Write for your ideal reader, not everyone.
2. Treat your book launch like a birth - it's a significant event.
3. Focus on building relationships rather than immediate sales.
4. Be authentic in your self-promotion efforts.
Practical Tips
1. Create newsletter lists and develop reader/lead magnets.
2. Leverage events to promote your book.
3. Use your book to establish yourself as an industry thought leader.
4. Consider creating an audiobook version.
Mindset Shifts
1. Overcome self-limiting beliefs about self-promotion.
2. Recognize that your book isn't for everyone, and that's okay.
3. Set realistic expectations, especially regarding bookstore marketing.
By implementing these strategies, nonfiction authors can effectively promote their books, build their personal brands, and leverage their work for broader business growth.
Successful self-promotion is about authenticity, providing value, and building meaningful relationships with your audience.

A great book for authors to gain some more insight into how to get their book out there. It's filled with a lot of practical types, but would be great for someone looking for a more comprehensive plan as to what they should do for their book promotion.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for an arc. All opinions expressed are my own.

Lots of writers struggle with wanting to contribute value to the world while also not really enjoying attention or being in the spotlight. This book has a high-energy, straightforward approach that will help you turn your book "baby" into a powerful tool for personal brand growth and industry recognition - helping you actually contribute value and make the intended impact of helping others.

With practical advice and insider tips, she shows you how to market your book effectively, connect with your readers, and even use speaking gigs to boost sales. If you're ready to take your author journey to the next level, this book would be worth checking out.

Writing a book is only a part of the journey, promoting a book is a different chapter. This book has a good outline of instructions on how to help promoting a book. There are many useful tips and resources that can be applied while bringing a book to the market. Some of them are well known and some I found new. Still this book is worth reading for new ideas.

This book was such a surprising read for me! Mostly because it is *not* about self-promotion only (and that’s a good thing). I’m sure there is not a single person out there who is not weirded out by the idea of going out there, putting themselves out there, and doing all the self-promoting things. Ewww. That’s yucky. That’s tacky. That’s ewww! Right?
Yeah, so this book is not about it.
It is mostly a common sense talk. With lots of points that really make sense.
Like, one for me? The one that was the biggest YES for me? I got validation for my years-long experience and observation that social media is not the magic place to get sales from. No influencer will bring in sales just because they look cute doing whatever it is they get for free from me. And here I was, thinking I was doing something wrong because everyone else acts like it works for them! Nope, it doesn’t work. at least not to that extent.
This reads more like a chitchat with a friend, one who is just sharing their own experience, not someone who is telling you what to do or promising you a magic formula to a zillion sales.

This is not what I expected but in a good way — just know that it’s NOT about self promotion on social media (although there’s a small part about that in there) but it is specifically written for authors who are handling their own self publishing and promotion. It’s very comprehensive in that aspect and includes the latest technologies and avenues for promotion such as social media. Highly recommend IF you are an author looking to promote your own books.