The only person in a long term relationship with your career is...

Spoiler alert: it's not your publisher

The only person in a long term relationship with your career is YOU

Want to get a preview of the Book Launch Navigator, my 8 week launch content planner for authors? Click here to get a sneak peek into the welcome video I’ve put together, where I take you through each of the different modules in the planner.

Editors change. Agents have other authors. Publishers can come and go.

Whether you are traditionally or self-published, the only person in a long-term relationship with your career as an author is you. It feels like a big responsibility, and it is. It's your life!

But that doesn't mean it can't also be fun and exciting and rewarding.

Where do you want to go and how do you want to get there?

Whatever your vision, the second* step to take control of your publishing journey is to build your author platform. This means finding something you can be consistent with, focusing your efforts on nurturing the people you are connected with there, and coming back time and again to try new ways of reaching new readers.

*The first is clearly: write the best damn book you can! Marketing a good book is way easier than marketing something people struggle to connect with.

Why consistency matters

Consistency means that you are popping up in someone’s inbox or social media feed on a regular basis. You’re talking about your book over and over again. You’re consistent in your tone of voice and the kinds of things you talk about.

You’re helping your readers anticipate your content and look forward to it. Consistently showing up also means that people have a higher chance of actually seeing your content. Every time you share a post about your work, you’re giving someone another chance to find out about it.

Consistency is talked about a LOT in the author platform / online marketing space. And part of the reason I’ve built The Book Launch Navigator is to help you stay consistent, with tons of ideas of pull from so that you aren’t thinking ‘wtf do I post today’ when it comes to your social media channels.

But what’s less talked about is the persistence you need when you decide to take ownership of your marketing.

You need to be persistent

Success in the publishing world rarely happens overnight. For most authors, building a readership and growing book sales takes time. It’s easy to get discouraged when you don’t see immediate results from your marketing efforts. You might feel like you’re putting in so much work and not getting anywhere. This is where persistence comes into play.

Think of your marketing efforts like planting a garden: you need to water it consistently before you see any blooms. And you need to be persistent — coming back week after week — to start seeing results. It can take months for your seeds to sprout, but that doesn’t mean your work isn’t paying off.

Every social media post, email newsletter, and blog update is like watering those seeds. Each new book you write is a seedling you’re adding to the garden. With time, persistence will pay off as you see your audience grow and your book sales increase.

You don’t have to be perfect to be persistent. Maybe you can’t post on social media every day, but you can share an update once a week. Maybe you don’t have the energy to send out a long newsletter, but you can send a quick note to your subscribers. It’s about doing what you can, when you can, and being gentle with yourself when life gets hectic.

One resource I think you’ll love, if you want stay consistent (and be persistent) on social media, is The Book Launch Navigator — a content planner and ideas bank with over 50 content ideas for you to use on social media in the run up to your next book launch and beyond, helping you show up confidently, connect with your audience, and build excitement around your book with ease.