Rewriting Success: Lillian Brummet on the Art of Evolving Books and Building Reader Engagement (Part 1)

This is part 1 of 2 with award-winning poet, author, blogger, and entrepreneur Lillian Brummet. She joins us to discuss how she’s rewritten the narrative of her own career, from the healing power of poetry to evolving her books for lasting success. Lillian also reflects on Poetic Wanderings, a collection of her father-in-law's poetry, which she and her husband published as a tribute to his life. Learn more about Lillian’s creative journey, explore her blogs, and discover her books via this link, or visit her Amazon page.

 

BookHookup: What inspired you to update so many of your published books?

One of my mentors inspired us to re-examine our backlist for several reasons. You see - most of the time, authors (or their publishers) only pay attention to the most recent book release. However, it is important to recognize that every single promotional action results in people checking out the author's entire list of books - not just the most recent. Also when a reader finishes the most recent release, they are likely to check out the author's backlist.

So for us - it was important to ensure the backlist, the foundation of an author career, was updated. There is a new book coming out in the Purple Snowflake Marketing series and we wanted it to be upgraded to compliment that upcoming book release. 

 

BookHookup: How do you decide which of your books need updates or new formats?

That is a great question! Once we updated the entire backlist, and ran some marketing campaigns, we were able to retest each book - and each format that book is available in. Taking a hard look at the resulting data helps with future decisions.

The resulting data might reveal that it is worth investing more advertising dollars into Purple Snowflake Marketing's e-book, and reduce advertising dollars spent on the other formats.

The data might disclose that e-books are selling in Canada for that particular book, while the .com market (which is not just USA, but also includes other countries) is selling paperbacks. Therefore, ads for Canada will focus on the e-book, while paperback format ads will be reserved for the.com market.

The end goal here is to focus on profitable activities, save time and money. The only way to do this is to get data - and we do that by updating the entire backlist, releasing each book in multiple formats, and then study the analytics.

 

BookHookup: What steps are involved in updating an existing book? Can you walk us through your process?

The first thing is to check out recent reviews to see what readers are saying about the book. Next, examine the top 100 best selling books in that genre and read their book reviews to see what readers are saying. Pay close attention to what the readers like but even closer attention to the flaws they point out. Of the top 100 best sellers, I'll find the top 3 books that seem most similar to mine. I'll visit their landing pages, check out their book covers, read a sample download, check out the Also Bought and Also Read carousels... taking notes about the things I am noticing.

Armed with that information I will re-examine my book before making any updates or changes.

The most important Viral Catalysts include:

• Author Central Page
• Cover design
• Increased Distribution
• Landing Page & use of Keywords
• Metadata
• More Products To Choose From
• Marketing Efforts
• New Formats
• Price Alteration and Promotions
• Read Sample (formerly Look Inside)
• Read Through
• Reader (or customer) Engagement
• Reviews, testimonials, awards, referrals, recommendations
• Subtitle

 

BookHookup: How do you approach redesigning a book cover that will play a role in the success of a book?

Book cover updates are one of the major Viral Catalysts that can have a powerful impact on traffic, profits, sales, marketing, and ad campaigns. (We take a deep dive into catalysts in the upcoming The Next Step - book 2 in the Purple Snowflake Marketing series). It starts by researching the top 100 best selling books within the same sub-categories as yours.

If those books do not look similar to yours then you have chosen a category that doesn't actually fit your book–search other categories to find books more similar to yours. Once you have found 1-3 categories, search for the top 100 best selling books, in one category at a time, and then do the following:

Scroll quickly down the page, and note all the colors used by those book cover designers.

Scroll through the best sellers looking for book cover themes, such as: the use of graphics, cartoons or photos, scenes with women looking backward, covers that have profiles of faces or anything else that you notice.

Make notes on the type of font that they use. Ask yourself "Where are the author names placed, the size, and location of the book title? Did they use drop shadow or some other effect?"

 

BookHookup: How does releasing new formats enhance the reader's experience?

I feel the new format and new edition show a deep understanding of the reader’s expectations, challenges and experiences. Readers of both cookbook and how-to genres prefer hardcover formats because they know it will endure heavy use.

Paperbacks are a cheaper version while having something to hold, write notes in the margins, and store on a shelf. Readers will often invest in the hardcover, after they have worn through 1-2 paperbacks.

Readers like testing the water, so to speak, by purchasing the e-book first or get it through the KU program, because they save money and if they like it, they might buy a different format. While readers purchase e-books for themselves, people prefer to give paperback or hardcover books as gifts.

Audio books are a great option if you can afford the production, or have the ability to do the work yourself. They do not always bring in a profit, but some readers prefer audio books because they are entertained while driving, travelling, performing mundane chores, or patiently sitting in waiting rooms, etc. Some people like to listen to books before going to sleep, or while waiting for the household to wake up.

As such, we must branch into as many formats as we can to meet all reader expectations. However we should place priority on the formats we know do well in that genre–branching out to other formats later on.

 

BookHookup: Have you noticed changes in reader engagement or feedback since these updates?

We spent a great deal of time updating the Front Matter and changing the Back Matter, adding CTA's (call-to-action), our logo to the back cover, and employing QR codes. We are already seeing improved read-throughs, more followers on Socials, subscribers to our YouTube channel and an increase in Amazon followers. 

Read part 2 of this interview here. 

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