Book Update 2 - M.C. Escher does marketing.

Writing and promoting a business book is an exercise in Escher-esque marketing: The content sells the author, the cover sells the contents, and the broader promotion plan sells all three. The author must build a profile before launching the book, with the book then building the author’s profile in turn — like a circular Newton’s cradle.

This means a would-be author must be clear on a few things before embarking on their book project: How do I present the contents in a compelling way? How do I capitalize on the book beyond royalties? How do I build my profile and promotional plan in advance, to reach critical mass at launch?

Having bungled all three to various degrees in the past, this time things will be different. How?

One big change we've made is to define the "packaging" of the book — title, subtitle and blurb — upfront, months before writing the book itself. Why? Because after you've written the book you're too tired and too close to the subject matter to see it objectively. It also allows you to test ideas and build a focused marketing plan that can run over two years, not a few months.

Not only this, since titles and subtitles are my kryptonite, I've hired an advertising wizard to help. Mischief managed!

See this post on LinkedIn