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Taylor Bennett is a Jesus-loving, world-traveling lover of books, words, and stories. Receiving her first publishing contract at the age of seventeen, she seeks to inspire other young women to reach for their own God-given dreams and do the impossible through Him. Though she loves living and writing in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, Taylor believes that life is always better with a bit of the aloha spirit.

If you’ve reached the stage in your writing career where you’re beginning to think about publishing—about actually holding your book baby in your own two hands…and giving other people a chance to do the same thing—then you’re probably familiar with one of the keys to a successful book launch: MARKETING

Though it’s been long known to send shivers down the spine of quiet, bookish, and introverted writers everywhere, the m-word isn’t going anywhere soon. In fact, in today’s social media-driven society, it’s only growing more important that we do everything within our power to make sure our books reach potential readers…and even more important that said readers buy it.

No matter if you’re drawing up a promotional plan to include in your proposal for an agent or traditional publisher or you’re attempting to crack the marketing code to promote a book you’ve published yourself, thinking about all the ins and outs of marketing can be downright intimidating.

But it doesn’t have to be.

I hardly can call myself a marketing guru, but I’ve been a part of the online community long enough to learn a thing or two about promoting my books. I’ve learned more than that—a lot, actually—but there’s one tidbit of advice that I picked up early on that has fueled the majority of my marketing decisions ever since. It’s super deep and insightful and I’m sure that none of you have ever heard it before. Seriously. You ready? Here it is.

BE AUTHENTIC.

Yes, that is my great pearl of wisdom for you. It’s one that we’ve all heard probably about a million times. So why am I sharing it with you now? Because it’s true. And, when we really take a look at that phrase—unwrapping what it really means and exploring how to implement that in our own lives—we discover that it isn’t a terribly trite tip after all.

Share YOU!

The times I’ve had the most marketing “success” always surprise me. It’s rarely when I post a perfectly-staged shot of my books, accompanied by all the usual #bookstagram props like steaming cups of tea and twinkle lights, but instead when I drop a picture that I snapped on my last research trip or post a story about my editing process. Let’s be real—our followers don’t care about seeing perfectly staged pictures 100% of the time. They’re following us because of us. And they want to see us for who we really are, not our perfect bookstagram shots.

When I was drafting Promise me Aloha, the last book in my Tradewinds series, I posted a series of #amwriting stories and asked my friends on “the gram” to help me design a dream wedding for my favorite two characters EVER. They voted on bridal bouquets, engagement rings…even the flavor of their wedding cake! Doing this created so much more natural excitement and “hype” (as they say) than any staged photo ever could.

So, the next time you sit down to write, give your tribe a behind-the-scenes look at what you’re doing. You might not be brave enough to give them creative oversight over your latest WIP, but we can all find a snippet that we’re proud of or an amusing typo to share with the world.

When we take time away from trying to make our writing life look perfect and instead share the inspiring, amusing, and downright quirky parts of our hearts with the world, we’re not just building a following. We’re building relationships.

And relationships sell the most books of all.

Have you started thinking about a marketing plan for your book? How can you build relationships with others both online and in person that can help your grow as an author?