I have to admit, I am a notorious binge reader. I was a Netflix-esque binge reader before Netflix was even a thing. This is especially the case during my younger days. I would stay up all night reading until I was up-to-date with a series. When I was younger I would devour Narnia, Hunger Games, Divergent, Sweet Valley High, A Series of Unfortunate Events, the Keys to the Kingdom, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter….the list is endless.

Fiction to Non-Fiction Binge Reading

Soon I graduated from high school and then university. As I grew older, my taste in books started to expand into history, art, non-fiction and business books. Now, I find my binge days of reading fiction books limited. Instead, I binge read marketing books by Chip Heath, Dan Heath, Jonah Berger, investing books by Benjamin Graham, influential books by Dale Carnegie. (Reviews to come!)

I now look for books that can expand my views and give me different perspectives on the world. Books have the potential to develop your mind, provide you with more opinions, encourage you to research ideas, and can teach you something new.

The Red Queen Book Marketing Review

I usually have 2-4 books on the go that I am reading. Currently, they tend to be biographies, art, business and marketing books. But when I was working in the publishing world I came across a fiction book called the ‘Red Queen’ by Victoria Aveyard and published by Harper Collins. I was intrigued by its marketing. The Red Queen book was a bestseller before it was officially released and it was Victoria’s first book. This is exceedingly rare in the publishing world, so naturally, I had to read it!

Nowadays, to get published most authors need to have a website to blog about their book. Have a twitter account to tweet about their book. And go on a couple of book tours to meet potential fans. Victoria Aveyard didn’t seem to be doing any of that (She might have gone on a few book tours though). Yet her 1st book was already a bestseller before it was even released! She had a Tumblr page and a Twitter account but didn’t heavily promote her book online.

How Did The Red Queen Book Become A Bestseller?

So how did Victoria’s first book – Red Queen – become a best seller? (and it hasn’t even met its full potential yet). I believe two main factors helped promote The Red Queen book.

1. The publisher had an excellent PR/Marketing strategy.

PR and marketing in the book industry has changed. It is not about taking journalists out for dinner and schmoozing them. Or is it about placing ads in magazines. Now the majority of book PR and marketing starts online.

The Red Queen’s publisher, Harper Collins had an excellent PR strategy and nailed the book described. When introducing a new book, you need to relate it to something that people are familiar with. Harper Collins said that The Red Queen book is where X-Men meets Vampire Academy. Audiences are familiar with the two, and both stories are favorites. In addition, X-Men and The Vampire Academy have turned into movies, giving them more public awareness and a bigger fan-base.

The publisher, Harper Collins knew who their niche market was. They then used the right language that they knew their audience would resonate with. The might have written something like this in their press releases: “Hey if you love X-Men, Game of Thrones and dystopias, then you’re going to love The Red Queen!” They told book reviewers that The Red Queen bookhad elements of each of their favorite books. Of course, book reviewers gave the Red Queen a read since the publisher said it fits into their favorite book genres perfectly. The Red Queen book held faithful to its promises, and thus book reviewers loved it. So they recommended it to their audience.

Then came the domino effect. I read about ten book reviews from book bloggers about The Red Queen book, and they said the same thing. That they enjoyed the book, and that it is a mixture of books that people already love. That is a great review, especially when it is repeated a few dozen times. And guess what…. people did love it! This is because The Red Queen was similar to the books its targeted market loved.

This now leads me to my second factor

2. The Red Queen Fits Into That Trendy Formula

Victoria Aveyard did an excellent job writing The Red Queen. It is easy to read and follow; the characters are well developed and carry a mix of mystery. Each page promises a new secret to be revealed which has you reading all night to find out what happens.

The Red Queen book fits that basic cool formula that is really in and trendy in the publishing world right now. No, this formula doesn’t have any math or equations in it, and it is still original content. The book followed the formula of Divergent, which followed the formula of Hunger Games.

The Red Queen book shows a lot of parallels to beloved books. Its characters, climax, and setting are all original, but the theme of the is similar to stories that are already bestsellers. Five themes stick out to being like books that we already love and read.

1. The main character is female; she is struggling to understand the concept of power and how she is different from others.
2. There is a hierarchy, class or caste system where the characters fight against the poor, working and wealthy.
3. It is a dystonia society – a very popular category currently in the book industry.
4. There is a hunger for power as well as a hunger for change and equality
5. There is a budding romance

The Red Queen is an excellent book to read. It was written in a way that fits perfectly with people’s current interests. But is it innovative? The Red Queen is a book that people will love because they loved the books that are similar to it. Does that mean there was nothing new about it, though?

Are you preparing to launch your book? Not sure where to start? Launching a phone, a toy, or a new app is similar to launching a book. Before you start planning your book launch, research what tactics other companies used to launch their products successfully…such as Apple.

Apple launches are the stuff of legends; they cause lineups for days, stores to sell out, and months of back orders for their newest products. The iPhone 6 sold an impressive 10 million units during launch week, and that doesn’t even include sales in China.

What If You Could Launch Your Book Like Apple Launches Phones?

Clearly Apple knows how to launch a product. And you can use the same marketing techniques as Apple to successfully launch your book as well. There are four techniques you can use that won’t break the bank and will help build a cult around your book.

1. Find and understand your readers

Finding an audience is like trying on shoes. If you don’t try on the shoes before you purchase them, you’ll get blisters, trip, and have a miserable day. Apple never trips over, and I don’t want you to either. So just as you would try on a new pair of shoes to see if they’ll fit, try on an audience to see if they’ll fit your book. Once you find the right group of readers, research everything about them. (Well almost everything, I don’t think you need to know their bowel system…unless that’s what your book is about). Research what they read, where they share information, what they watch, what blogs they follow, keywords they use, and which website they frequent. You can do this by monitoring online forums and groups, by conducting interviews or surveys, and even by watching them creepily at parks. Do whatever it takes to understand and know your readers.

2. Put the focus on the readers

Rarely did you hear Steve Jobs speak about the various features of Apple products. He never talked about the new speed of the processor or the screen resolutions, because he knew that most people didn’t care about the phone’s features. The features are just fluff that you can list in the product description for background information. Instead, Steve Jobs talked about the benefits of the phone and emphasized how it affects you, the user. How it can help your day, how this phone brings you productivity, organization and simplicity. And most importantly how the new iPhone keeps you cool, stylish, and popular.

Apple makes their product about you.

Most authors talk about their characters, setting, plot line, or synopsis during interviews. But this doesn’t engage their readers. Instead, authors should talk about why the reader will enjoy reading the book and how it can impact their lives. The author needs to talk about where the reader fits in.Try answering these questions during book interviews:

• Why would the reader want to read your book?
• What do you want your reader to get out of the book?
• What problems do you want your reader to realize and figure out?
• How does your book benefit your reader?

Your reader cares about their life, not about how you developed your book’s setting (unless they are A: a student or B: already a huge fan of your book). To grab your reader’s attention you need to make the book about them. Try explaining how your book is going to fit into your reader’s life, and why they will enjoy reading it. It’s an easy question to ask but a tough one to answer if you don’t know your audience.

3. Get Reviews from Influencers

Apple is famous for getting trendsetters, cool kids, thought leaders, and the people you are jealous of talking about the new iPhone before it launches. You probably already know of companies that target influential people to endorse their brand or product. These companies might pay for the endorsement or send out press releases with tons of information. With Apple, people start talking about its new product before the press release is out and months before it launches. The difference between Apple and other companies is that people are not talking about what the product does. They’re talking about what it might do. Apple is creating speculation, curiosity, and better yet, letting people create content for them.

You don’t need a resume like Apple to use this strategy.

Start making a targeted list of influencers and media that attract your readership before your book release. Then, contact them well in advance with story pitches that will generate curiosity and speculation. If you do this in advance of your book launch, then you will create more buzz for your book and a waiting audience. Start searching the Internet and make a targeted list of:

• Journalists
• Bloggers
• TV Hosts
• Radio Hosts
• Podcasts
• Reviewers
• Youtube Celebrities
• Famed Instagrammers
  

  4. Be Radical and Revolutionary

  Why do we watch Apple? Or better yet, why does the whole world watch Apple? Simple. It’s because Apple isn’t scared to take on the world and make a change. They create change that results in the world shifting to keep up. Don’t be intimidated to write an original press release. It’s the edgy press releases and pitches that engage audiences, not the boring ones that fit into a formula. Your press releases should be compelling, short, and all about how it will benefit the other person.

The newest trend in digital marketing is utilizing a micro-influencer strategy. Brands are shifting away from the regular social media celebrity to people with fewer followers. They are now using strategies that focus on the qualitative rather than the quantitative aspects of social media influence to obtain audience engagement.

The Influence Of The Micro-Influencer

When it comes to influencer marketing, one size does not fit all. Influencers are typically grouped and categorized based on their following count.

• Celebrities – 1 million+ followers or subscribers
• Top Influencers – 500,000 to 1 million followers or subscribers
• Middle Influencers – 100,000 to 500,000 followers or subscribers
• Micro Influencers – 1000 to 100,000 followers or subscribers

Micro-influencers are genuine in their chosen topics and have authentic conversations with their followers, making them an effective partner for marketing campaigns. A celebrity, who has too many followers can’t respond to every comment. But a micro-influencer can. Micro-influencers have interesting and authentic conversations with their followers. Their targeted follower list, high engagement, and consistent authenticity make micro-influencers a powerful resource for marketers.

Partnering with micro-influencers to increase brand exposure for companies has been gaining traction at some agencies. Plus Instagram has changed its algorithm to favor quality content. This new change has been benefiting the “micro-influencer,” where their posts are becoming more visible on the platform.

Micro-influencers offer brands the benefits of authenticity, a unique viewpoint, deeper storytelling and the potential to reach a more tailored audience. When the agency, Markerly launched a campaign to bring exposure for a weight-loss tea with the Kardashian and Jenner sisters, the celebrities helped bring in hundreds of conversions. This is nice. But when Markerly worked with 30 to 40 micro-influencers to promote the same tea, the conversion rate was higher.

When Less Is More

It is a simple equation. If a health company collaborates with a celebrity who has over 2 million social followers, they can reach a broad audience. Yet, approximately 90 per cent of this audience may not be health conscious, or may not need to lose weight. Instead, the company would receive greater benefits if they worked with 20 small health bloggers. These bloggers have a ready audience who are already interested in losing weight. Plus, micro-influencers, are trusted more than the most famous celebrity by 92 per cent.

According to the Digiday, once social media influencers meet a critical mass of followers, audience engagement drops. A survey of 2 million social media influencers found that for unpaid posts, Instagram influencers with fewer than 1,000 had a like rate of eight per cent, while accounts with 1,000 to 10,000 followers had a like rate of four per cent. The survey also found that influencer accounts with 10,000 to 100,000 followers had a 2.4% like rate, while accounts with over 1 million followers had a 1.7 per cent like rate. These findings applied to sponsored Instagram posts as well. However, there is a sweet spot to this that can result in maximum brand exposure- partnering with micro-influencers.

Launch Your Own Micro-Influencer Strategy

One of the greatest advantages of partnering and working with a micro-influencer is that all brands can benefit. Micro-influencers are often just getting started and are still growing, which makes them more willing to work with smaller budgets or to accept product gifts or event invitations to collaborate with a brand that they love. This makes micro-influencers a valuable asset for those brands with a small marketing budget.

When launching a micro-influencer marketing collaboration, first think about who you want to reach for your brand. Micro-influencers can be a sweet marketing weapon, but you need to make sure that their voice and mission is in lined with your brand. By working with specific micro-influencers who have a similar mission as your brand, you will receive greater results and more engagement. By working with the right micro-influencer, you can achieve meaningful results whole connecting with authentic brand enthusiasts.

This article can also be found on my Huffington Post profile.