{"id":29226,"date":"2015-05-14T09:48:31","date_gmt":"2015-05-14T14:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicityhound.com\/?p=29226"},"modified":"2025-10-23T13:53:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T13:53:33","slug":"your-guide-to-book-publishing-shout-out-you-are-an-expert-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/marketing\/online-marketing\/your-guide-to-book-publishing-shout-out-you-are-an-expert-part-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Why fiction authors can be experts and how they promote it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"How<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This edited transcript is the last in a four-part series from an interview on April 2, 2015. Dr. Judith Briles asks me about how authors can become experts and promote their expertise. Prefer audio? You can download it here<\/a> or listen on iTune<\/a>s. If you think this advice is valuable, share this link with your social media friends, followers and fans. Also let them know about my free cheat sheet for authors on “10 Profitable Ways to Use Email to Create SuperFans Who Help You Sell Books.”<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judith:<\/strong> How do fiction authors brand themselves as experts in \u201cfill in the blank\u201d? Of course the first person that pops into my mind, Tom Clancy,<\/strong> was all over the place as the terrorism expert and what did he write? Fiction. So, Joan?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joan:<\/strong> Fiction authors are lost at sea on this topic. When I speak at author conferences, it’s apparent that most of them can’t figure out how to do it. Let me give fiction authors a little guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explain Your Passion for Your Topic <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Joan:<\/strong> You can explain in many different ways why you are so passionate<\/strong> about your topic or your story. Let\u2019s say that you’ve written a book about a child who was adopted. Let\u2019s say you were adopted, and that\u2019s the reason that you wrote the book—because you feel strongly about the topic. You can become somewhat of an expert on the topic of adoption. Even if you weren\u2019t adopted—even if that\u2019s only what you wrote about<\/strong>—you can offer that as the topic that you want to educate people on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can teach a class<\/strong> or a workshop<\/strong> related to a topic in your book. There\u2019s a wonderful fiction book I read, Downward Dog,<\/a> about a bad boy yoga teacher in New York City whose clients are in the top 1 percent of the rich people in that city. It was written by Edward Vilga,<\/strong> a yoga instructor and expert on yoga. His expertise ties into the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s another one: Think of a campaign for a cause or an issue<\/strong> that you have written about that you want to support. Let\u2019s say that you wrote about somebody whose identity was stolen and there are proposed identity theft laws in some states throughout the United States. You can take a position on those proposed laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also lobby for a law<\/strong> that you might want changed. Take gun control, for instance. Talk about a controversial topic! If you have written about a mass killing in your fiction book, you may want to lobby for changes in gun control legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can educate people about the main problem<\/strong> or conflict that\u2019s within your novel. What\u2019s the actual conflict and what do people need to know about that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n[Tweet “Why fiction authors can be experts and how they promote it. #authormarketing”]\n\n\n\n

Expertise About Your Book’s Locale<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Joan:<\/strong> Here\u2019s another one. Take a look at the city, state<\/strong> or region<\/strong> where your fiction takes place. If it\u2019s a place where you\u2019ve had to do a lot of research in that particular area before you could write your book, can you be considered an expert in talking about that city, state or region? Possibly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Example: Writing coach Anne Randolph,<\/strong> author of the fiction novel Sweet Bye and Bye<\/em> which takes place in Alabama, researched the state where she grew up to make sure the novel was historically accurate. That makes her an expert on the state. Read her fun facts about Alabama.<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judith:<\/strong> The reality is that fiction authors, especially those who write historical novels<\/strong> and the romance novels,<\/strong> more often they do  some deep diving into their research for the locations. I mean, some of these locations become characters in the books they write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joan:<\/strong> Yes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judith:<\/strong> The authors know these locations intimately. They\u2019ll know the folklore.<\/strong> They\u2019ll know where the skeletons are buried. They\u2019ll know everything that could be a juicy piece of trivia.<\/strong> Maybe someone is writing about that location. You could provide that inside tip that no one knew about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Write Cheat Sheets and Checklists<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Joan:<\/strong> Exactly. So while you\u2019re doing your research for your fiction novels, be thinking about ways you can use the little nuggets you\u2019re uncovering in your research, even if they don\u2019t make it into your book. They could be golden nuggets that would be perfect for a cheat <\/strong>sheet or a blog post<\/strong> or a media interview<\/strong> or something like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t need to take all the information that doesn\u2019t make it into the book and leave it on the cutting room floor. You ought to be picking up all of that stuff to repurpose it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judith:<\/strong> No question about it. I mean, the idea of a cheat sheet about “what you really didn\u2019t know,” it\u2019s the rest of the story. The rest of the story that was so popular for so many years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those are great ideas. If you write fiction, you\u2019re not left out. There are plenty of ideas and things you can do to label yourself as the go-to person for the back story.<\/strong> Everyone is always looking for back story when they\u2019re doing a lot of news pieces, whether it\u2019s online, whether it\u2019s the typical traditional media or a blogger. Online articles matter, so don\u2019t forget about that. You should be researching those pieces to see if you can contribute to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joan:<\/strong> Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judith:<\/strong> So I\u2019m going to recommend that. All right, any other tips? We have about maybe six minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow Influencers in Your Topic  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Joan:<\/strong> Here\u2019s one. Remember I talked about how, even if you\u2019re already an expert in your topic and you have a long history of expertise, you should always be learning<\/strong>? I would like everybody, regardless of where you are on the ladder of expertise, to make a list of three or four people who are well-respected experts<\/strong> in the topic that you also want to become an expert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want you to follow them.<\/strong> That means either subscribing to their blog posts<\/strong> or following them on Twitter.<\/strong> Take a look at the content they’re creating. It’s a way for you to be smarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe that if you think you’ve “arrived” and you don’t need to learn anything more about your topic, somebody is going to leave you in the dust. Your competitors who are always out there learning and always becoming better<\/strong> at what they do are going to leapfrog over you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In The Harvard Business Review,<\/em> I found a quote that says, \u201cBecoming an expert begins with deciding whom you will acquire knowledge from and how.\u201d So go find some experts to follow and pay attention<\/strong> to what they\u2019re doing. Follow them for four to six months and then go find a couple more in areas that you think you\u2019re weak in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judith:<\/strong> I would say also when you\u2019re doing that search for experts, also use the phrase \u201ctop influencers\u201d<\/strong> in a certain field because those phrases get interchanged often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joan:<\/strong> Absolutely. Influencer<\/strong> is an important word online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always reference a wonderful White Paper from our trade association, the National Speakers Association. It was written about 12 years ago. For those of you who want to become speakers, I would highly recommend you do a search for this online. It’s real easy to find. It\u2019s called The Expertise Imperative.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s about a 12-page report written by several top, very successful speakers in NSA. They delved into the whole topic of expertise and what you need to do as a speaker to become a recognized expert in your field. Some of the material that I took for our podcast today, I have taken from this White Paper. I\u2019ve taught a lot of this, too. I think it\u2019s wonderful and it lays out the various levels of expertise.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judith:<\/strong> That\u2019s great. Actually I\u2019ll make that one of my tweets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n[Tweet “Why fiction authors can be experts and how they promote it. #authormarketing”]\n\n\n\n

Public Speaking Sells Books<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Judith:<\/strong> What\u2019s important for all of you, whether you\u2019re a non-fiction or a fiction author, is you really need to think about speaking,<\/strong> because it moves books.<\/strong> It\u2019s the Number One thing that moved books for me. What I love about book sales when you\u2019re speaking is that no one returns them, and they pay you right there on the spot,<\/strong> which is really lovely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joan:<\/strong> OK, Judith. An author hears that and they come back to you and say, \u201cI could never imagine myself in front of a room of 300 people speaking.\u201d What do you tell them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judith:<\/strong> “Get over it.”<\/strong> That would be the first thing I would say. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of them are nervous Nellies. Some of them just are petrified. Maybe you have to work with someone like a speech coach<\/strong> to learn how to do that. But you just go back to what is your area of expertise? Then there are perfect ways to structure a speech. Do that and you just think of it as a sandwich, what\u2019s the opening comment? Your solid content goes in the middle of the sandwich and your close is at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joan:<\/strong> Exactly. My advice is, there is probably a Toastmasters<\/a> near you and it\u2019s free. Join Toastmasters.<\/strong> They will teach you how to speak and they will teach you how to communicate that passion. (The National Speakers Association,<\/a> like Toastmasters, teaches platform skills but its emphasis is on how to make money from speaking.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frightened? Speak to Small Groups <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Joan:<\/strong> The other thing I tell authors is, you don\u2019t have to speak before a room of 300 people. You can be a speaker and do workshops<\/strong> for groups of 30 people like I do. That\u2019s my specialty because of my topic. And it helped me feel comfortable as a speaker so I could perform in front of larger groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judith:<\/strong> Well, that\u2019s right. Some people do far better with smaller audiences.<\/strong> I\u2019ve spoken to audiences of 5,000. I don\u2019t do great with only five or 10 people. That’s not my thing, although I have done that many times. What I like is high energy and a lot of things going on. I\u2019m really comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You need to find out where you\u2019re comfortable. Maybe 16 is your magic number, or 20. But find out what works best for you. <\/strong>Is it casual? Is it a more formal deal? Do you prefer a “sit down and let\u2019s have a chat” type thing? Or is it something where you really do have some formal stats with that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joan, obviously we ought to do a whole presentation on presentations, but we\u2019re out of time today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joan:<\/strong> You\u2019ll have to have me back again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judith:<\/strong> I’d love to. Thank you for being with me and the Publicity Expert Joan Stewart. Sign up for her twice-a-week snack-size email publicity tips.<\/a> Get out there and write. Come to Denver for the Author U Extravaganza<\/a>. Joan and I would love to meet you in person. Go to AuthorU.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m Judith Briles. Have a great week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n[Tweet “Why fiction authors can be experts and how they promote it. #authormarketing”]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This edited transcript is the last in a four-part series from an interview on April 2, 2015. Dr. Judith Briles asks me about how authors can become experts and promote their expertise. Prefer audio? You can download it here or listen on iTunes. If you think this advice is valuable, share this link with your social media friends,\u2026 Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","iawp_total_views":8,"wds_primary_category":612,"footnotes":""},"categories":[612],"tags":[608,764,747,604],"class_list":{"0":"post-29226","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-online-marketing","7":"tag-authors-publishers","8":"tag-marketing-fiction","9":"tag-promoting-expertise","10":"tag-writing-articles","11":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Joan Stewart","author_link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/author\/jstewart\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29226"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42889,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29226\/revisions\/42889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}