Tip - Using Your Book Research For Marketing

Forgive me if this has been said somewhere else, but as I progress with my books, my approach to writing and marketing is changing. There's a tip here that some of you might find useful.

My work includes some scientific topics, politics, naval and aerial conflict, medical conditions and a host of other areas which require detailed research. When I do my research (and some of it is done during the writing of the book as a plot twists and turns), I organise my new knowledge into articles. These articles will typically include some or all of: a background, current knowledge, interesting facts and 'writebites', the future, and a summary. There may be several articles on one relevant topic - an overview, then a couple of articles on specific aspects.

OK, why do this?

1. It deepens my knowledge of the topic.

2. It provides easily accessible reference material.

3. It provides me with some 'boilerplate' - what I call 'writebites' for the novel, and

4. ...I have more or less ready-made article for article marketing when the book is published.

Now, I've got to admit that I didn't write my first book in that way, but the technique has emerged as I've progressed. Here are some examples.

I can see that this approach would even work for someone who writes historical novels.

One final twist is that when a relevant news item comes up in the press, then I put out press releases which use the news item to link back to my articles and books. I've been really lucky in that respect, as 'Gate of Tears' is topical in many news events at the moment, and 'Susan's Brother' is topical in respect of abused children and family breakdown in the UK. So, there's plenty of mileage there.

I appreciate that adding the press release cycle is not relevant if you are writing, say, about the use of the mystical metaphor by Omar Khayyam, but you never know. If someone publishes a new translation of the Rubaiyat or a new treatise on Khayyam, then even then one could use the P R loop.

J