"Online Marketing for Busy Authors" by Fauzia Burke is a must-read guide for any author looking to navigate the complex world of digital book marketing with clarity and confidence. Fauzia Burke, a digital marketing expert with a wealth of experience, provides a comprehensive roadmap for authors to establish their online presence, connect with their target audience, and effectively promote their work. The book is a treasure trove of practical advice, offering step-by-step guidance on everything from defining a personal brand and building a website to creating engaging social media strategies and growing a dedicated fan base.

One of the book's standout qualities is its accessibility. Burke's writing is clear, concise, and tailored specifically to the needs of busy authors. She breaks down complex concepts into manageable steps, ensuring that authors of all backgrounds and expertise levels can follow along. Additionally, the book acknowledges the challenges writers face in balancing their creative work with marketing demands, offering practical solutions to help authors effectively manage their online presence without compromising their writing time.

Fauzia Burke's book is a valuable resource that empowers authors to take control of their online marketing efforts. Her emphasis on personal branding and audience engagement sets a solid foundation for long-term success in the digital age. "Online Marketing for Busy Authors" equips writers with the tools and strategies they need to not only reach a wider readership but also to build lasting connections with their audience. It's an essential read for any author who wants to make the most of the incredible opportunities the internet offers for promoting their work.

5 of 5 stars
Pub Date: 19 Apr 2016
#netgalley #onlinemarketingforbusyauthors

This book provides a basic, solid understanding of how to brand and market yourself as an author. Although much of the information is applicable to both nonfiction and fiction authors, almost all of the examples are for nonfiction authors. In short: if you are a fiction author, pass on this book. I also found most of the information to be dated (although it was written in 2016, so it's no longer applicable in this day).

This is a book I wish I would have had years ago . A lot of good info, checklists, and a toolbox to create your marketing brand even before you become an author. I appreciate Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me to read and review.

I found this author online marketing book to be very helpful. As a first-time author, I am already implementing some of the ideas within my own social media accounts and website. I especially liked how the author explained working through steps instead of jumping into everything at once. I will definitely be keeping this one on my reference bookshelf to read again and again.

Thank you to Netgalley for the providing me an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Online Marketing for Busy Authors A Step-by-Step Guide by Fauzia Burke is an informative read for authors needing a kick-start on their marketing campaign. A book full of useful tips, tricks, and insights that all authors need for marketing their book.

I jumped at the opportunity to review an ARC of “Online Marketing for busy authors” because I have just published my first book and I am a relative novice when it comes to online marketing. This review will take you through the steps this book took me through with my book!

Questions to help you identify your brand

What skills do you possess that you can speak honestly and confidently about?

I was a high-functioning alcoholic for three decades and I spent years researching how not to be one which culminated in my 375-page book with over three hundred academic references.

What do people say about you?

I honestly don’t know. I don’t think they really know me. (What does this mean?)

What is your greatest strength?

I am a trained educator and college lecturer and alcohol addiction CBT Therapist so I can explain complex ideas simply.

What type of information can you share to offer value?

My research on how to stop drinking alcohol and my personal experience becoming permanently clean.

What makes you stand out?

I have a Master’s degree from the University of London and I am building a reputation as the “Alcohol Quit Guru” on YouTube.

How do you differ from others in your same niche?

I back up everything I write with verifiable facts and I talk from the heart in my Vlog about my own struggles.

Write down your brand message and look for clues for your brand voice.

I help people who are unhappy drinking alcohol to stop easily, mindfully and painlessly using carefully selected academic research, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, and an intake reduction and meditation development plan, in my new book, “Holmes’s Complete Guide To Stop Drinking Alcohol”.

And so Chapter 1 concludes, with parting advice to “Thing big – explore your dreams for your book.”
Chapter 2 helped me tick off a fun list of dreams, for example, I agreed I will “sell a zillion copies of my book” (yes, please) and “gain the respect of my peers in the academic world” and “speak at conferences, traveling 50 percent of my time.” I didn’t tick have “2,000 reviews on Amazon” because I want to keep this achievable (and I haven’t even got one yet!)

Chapter 3 helped me complete “My Reader Profile”: Male, Female, Post-graduate, Divorced, Successful professionals, 45-60, USA, UK, read “Quit Lit”, use Facebook, Internet savvy, drink too much and want to control their drinking or curious about stopping altogether. Health a priority.

Chapter 4 helped me “Get Real With Your Goals” by clarifying why I wrote the book (to help people not have to go through what I did) and move my “big-picture dreams closer to earth” by ticking the box “I want to share my knowledge and expertise” and “I want people to benefit from my work.”

Therefore, the early chapters really helped me to focus on what I had to offer the reader and served as an ideal foundation to build further practical advice on book marketing including Website, Mailing List, Blog, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Video within my “Online Marketing Plan.”

An easy-to-read step-by-step guide to online book marketing and a wonderful and timely resource for this newly published author.

Very helpful and informative. As an author myself, these are tips that I will be able to take and apply to my own work.

This is a workbook for authors who are beginners in the world of digital marketing==with the caveat that they should not be complete beginners to the Internet as a whole. Maybe someone with a personal Facebook account but not a professional page there yet. The workbook helps think through your brand, your audience, and your priority list (website, mailing list, etc.)

There is a lot of advice not only from the author herself but many others in the publishing industry. It is a quick read but will help make some inroads in building your online author presence if you apply the advice.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

If You Want to Sell More Books than To Your Family and Friends…

As someone who has helped authors with both editing their books and giving them ideas about marketing, I was intrigued by this book as soon as I saw it was at one of my favorite book review sites. Let me just say as an author services professional that this is an amazing book on book marketing. The author really takes you by the hand and guides you from your first ideas of what you stand for and what you might want out of the author gig (e.g., money, fame, guest poster on important websites, TV show interviews, etc.) to making your vision of what you want a reality. She has checklists and questions to get you thinking and doing things in the most effective way. I'm not just an editor, but I'm an author myself, and I wish that I had this book before my last publishing effort. I think it would have been a substantial help. If you want to go big with your books, this is the blueprint for how to do it.

For an author just starting down the path of online marketing, Burke provides a firm starting point to work from. Competently written and well-organized, there is a lot of solid, basic information here. However, that is also the problem: the information is solid...but basic. Much of this can be learned, with more detail, by engaging in established writing communities where authors talk about the very concepts Burke discusses in general. In fact, Burke does what too many of these books do; glosses over the very real work and time required to implement these concepts. Like far too many "how to" books for authors, it is more interested in selling the dream than guiding the author through the actual real work.

Loved it! I am a book blogger and I am always looking for practical-useful guides on writing and marketing. I have always had difficulty thinking in marketing and promotional terms. Ms. Burke offers tips, advice and suggestions on ways you can implement a successful marketing plan.
I particularly enjoyed the chapters, "Promote without being Promotional" specifically, "How people perceive you online can be very important in your branding." So true! She offers a well rounded- guided tour through the marketing maze that should be thought of as building blocks rather than a massive helpless plunge into an unknown abyss.
Ms Burke has clearly walked the walk and is sharing her wealth of wisdom.
Thank you NetGalley and Berrett-Koehler Publishers for the opportunity to read and review this important book!
jb
https://seniorbooklounge.blogspot.com/

As an wannabe author who's definitely busy (especially right now with everything going on in the world), this book was a very useful and practical read. Would recommend for writers looking to strengthen their online presence, especially social media.

Despite the author is an expert in the topic and has enough knowledge to write a longer book, it bothered me a lot to see too many repeated words. There are several useful tips, but I couldn't concentrate on them due to the repetition of words and ideas. It made it difficult to finish this book depite it was short.

This book is packed with great information for authors who are looking to build their online presence and boost their brand. There's lots of really great advice, with the biggest takeaway being to really engage with your audience and be authentic. Offer lots to your audience (quotes, lists from your books, links about other authors providing great stuff, etc.), be active in social media, and so on. There are lots of fill in the blank sections to brainstorm your marketing and such, though this may be difficult with the ebook (which I agree with other reviewers is priced rather high at $9.99). All in all, though, it's a very helpful book that will be especially useful for self published authors looking to increase their online visibility.

This book is an excellent online marketing guide for authors.

Fauzzia Burke explains in a practical, entertaining and simple way what is necessary to establish an author's brand, create a promotion strategy, as well as the use of each social network for the book marketing.

One of the aspects that I highlight the most are the #TipsForBusyAuthors that are included at the end of each chapter, are simply useful.

I think there is no one who reads this book and doesn't get something out of it.

This is a great guide for writers who want !to market their work. A truly no nonsense guide to getting your writing noticed and earning income. As a writer looking to launch a freelance career, I find this book informative and helpful. I highly recommend it to anyone who is new to the concept and reluctant to market their own work. This book will get you up and running quickly and easily.

This is a book by a big name in the field of publicity. But it was a basic book. Scratch that - it was very very basic. Maybe it will be useful to someone who has zero idea about online marketing or has never heard of the phrase before but to someone who is already out there and eager to learn, top 5 google results may tell more in a lesser time.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley.

A useful book for authors, no matter if they're Indie or already signed with a publisher. Marketing is already fraught with peril and uncertainty, but this book will help the author navigate the waters with sound advice.
Most helpful!

An excellent resource for authors who can't seem to wrap their head around marketing. I will be recommending this to clients and adding it to the resources page on my website.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC.

This book is just pure awesomeness. Burke does an excellent job getting to the point - online marketing for busy authors. I like how she broke everything down and said all that needed to be said, without any extra fluff. While reading the book, I also did an inventory of my own marketing efforts and realized that I still have a lot to learn. Thank you Fawzia for helping me see the light!