Did you know most indie authors skip one of the most important steps in the publishing process? It’s a step traditional New York publishing houses do as a matter of course, but most self-publishers bypass because they don’t even know about it. I’m talking about book positioning, where the craft of writing meets the business of publishing.
What Is Book Positioning?
For self-publishers, book positioning is when you put on your “publisher” hat and undertake the often-uncomfortable exercise of thinking about your book as an information or entertainment product that must compete in a crowded marketplace. How will your book both “fit in” on the right virtual bookshelf AND stand out?
Every successful publishing journey starts with a great book, but positioning requires you to step back and think about how your audience will discover and experience your book. What does your target audience look like? How will you reach and delight this audience with your fiction or nonfiction book? What types of reading experiences are these readers currently enjoying? How are they discovering books like yours? And, most importantly, how can you entice them to purchase your book and leave a great review? If you’re doing book positioning correctly, the answers to these questions, and others, will influence your final manuscript and guide your decisions throughout the publishing process.
Why Does Book Positioning Matter?
Because your book is competing against millions of other books, and you only have a few seconds to capture the attention of a book browser and convert them into a book buyer. Effective book positioning drives discoverability by the right readers at scale and then greatly improves your chances of turning these readers into book buyers and fans. This leads to more efficient marketing, advertising, and brand building—and, as a result, more book sales.
One step in the book positioning process is having complete metadata, which is the information you share about your book when you upload it for distribution. We’ll dive into this topic more in the second article in the series. But just to give you a sense of how this one aspect of book positioning could impact your book sales, according to Nielsen, “Titles with complete metadata average 75% more sales than those without complete metadata.” 75%! Complete and effective metadata is part of the secret sauce of successful self-publishing.
When Should You Position Your Book?
The best time to start your book positioning research is before you finalize your manuscript. This way, if the findings of your book positioning research surprise you, there’s still time to go back and make changes. For example, as you study other books in your book’s category or genre, you might learn some things that could enrich the reading experience you’re creating, so you can incorporate this new wisdom into your final edits.
If your manuscript is already finalized and you’re farther into the publishing process, no worries! Book positioning can still help you create a strong foundation for your book—and help you avoid costly mistakes. Here are some moments in the publishing process to consider book positioning:
- When you have finished the first draft or after a substantial edit
- Before you design your book’s cover
- Before your book’s official launch date
- If your book isn’t selling or getting good reviews
- Before undertaking any big marketing or ad campaigns
What’s Involved in Book Positioning?
Read Part 2 of this series here. It’s a deep dive into the book positioning process.
