How to Find and Reach Influencers to Help Promote Your Book

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Today’s guest post is from writing coach and author Angela Ackerman (@angelaackerman).


As a writing coach and avid user of social media, one of the most heartbreaking things I see is when an author puts a ton of effort into writing, editing, polishing, and finally publishing a book—only to see it fail to gain traction in the marketplace. Often this comes down to a marketing misstep that’s all too common: failing to understand (and therefore reach) one’s ideal book audience.

I’ve posted about how to find your book’s ideal audience before, so I won’t wander down the same trail. Instead, I want to look at another piece of the marketing map that can greatly improve your success rate with reaching your audience: influencers.

What Is an Influencer?

Influencers are the people who are already doing a great job of connecting with your ideal audience, because it is their audience too. They have a good reputation, are visible, and they interact with your potential readers every day. Hmmm, sounds like people we should get to know, right? Exactly!

Influencers are not one-size-fits-all. Each author will have different ones depending on the audience they are trying to reach. However, one common ingredient with any influencer is that they are worthy of our admiration for the trust and respect they’ve earned with their audience. And admiration is a key ingredient of any healthy relationship—but I’ll get back to that in a minute.

Influencers for a fiction author might be:

  • popular authors who write very similar books
  • bloggers who are passionate about a topic or theme that ties into the author’s book
  • well-regarded book reviewers
  • bookstore owners
  • librarians
  • organizers of literacy or book programs and events
  • teachers and instructors
  • groups and organizations that cover the same specific interest featured in the author’s book
  • celebrities (hey, it can’t hurt, right?)
  • businesses that cater to the same audience as the author’s in some way
  • forums and websites dedicated to the same topic/event/theme explored in the author’s book
  • well-connected individuals (who endorse the book or author to other influential people)
  • people who are passionate about a particular topic/theme (that ties into the author’s book)
  • fans of the author and her work (if the author is established)

And that’s just the start!

Because influencers are recognized and have clout with your shared audience, they can really help you reach your readers. Not only that, but they are a living, breathing example of how to connect with your audience the right way. There is much to be learned by examining how an influencer engages with others online. In fact, if you want to see an example, check out this post by Author Accelerator’s Jennie Nash, who wrote about shadowing me online. (I had no idea, so this was eye-opening for me as well.)

When you determine who an influencer is, it isn’t just a matter of you asking them to help you. People are generally busy, and whoever you’re approaching likely works very hard if they hold a position of influence. They may already have a lot on their plate.

This might sound like a closed door, but it isn’t. It just means that, as in most things, there’s no marketing shortcut, and honestly there shouldn’t be, because we’re talking about creating a relationship with someone. Relationships, to work, need to come from a place of sincerity. Healthy ones are balanced, with each party giving and receiving.

How to Reach Out to an Influencer

When you’re seeking to engage with an influencer, your heart needs to be in the right place, so choose carefully. Get to know this person. Admire their work. Because if you truly appreciate what they do, you will naturally want to help them further succeed. And while of course you hope they’ll return the favor, that’s not your endgame. Creating a relationship is.

Sometimes an influencer will already know you. Maybe you are in the same circles, and have a friendly connection. In that case, it’s really just about you making it a priority to actively show you care. This can be done by trying to boost their visibility however you can (tweeting, mentioning, sharing links to their work, talking about them and their work online, recommending them, etc.), and lending a hand here and there because you want to. Think about what they need to better reach their audience, and then proactively help them do it. Tag them online. The relationship should naturally grow because they will see what you’re doing and will want to do the same for you in return. Helping each other out leads to collaboration, and with a shared audience, this becomes a win-win for both of you.

If you don’t yet have a relationship with an influencer, the first step is getting on their radar. To do this, think about what your strengths are, and what you can give. Put yourself in their shoes: what would you like help with in their position? If they are an author, a business owner, or an organization, visibility is usually welcome. So, how can you give them a shout out and help your shared audience find them? Can you blog about them, or recommend them in some way? Or what about sending a personal note to let them know you admire their work and what they do for others, and that you’d like to help if they ever need it?

If it’s a librarian, a teacher, or a nonprofit group, maybe there’s some way you can use your skills to help them. Can you volunteer your time? Show that you appreciate what they are doing, be it promoting literacy or an interest you share (because it will tie into your books, remember)? Perhaps you noticed they mentioned in a blog post that they wanted to know more about something and so you do a bit of research and send along a few interesting links their way. In all things, seek to provide value.

Generally speaking, when you consistently help someone or show interest in what they do (influencer or not), they will notice and appreciate it. A relationship naturally forms—they will want to know more about you. That’s your goal: to create a friendship that feels natural and authentic, and to have the type of connection where either of you can help, ask for advice, brainstorm ideas, and possibly collaborate with in ways that can help you both. In this way, you both grow and benefit.

Remember Anyone Can Be an Influencer

Are you cultivating strong relationships with the people you interact with day to day? I hope so! It’s just as important as seeking someone “established.” After all, a writer who asked you to look over their query letter might end up selling a five-book mega-deal a year from now. Or be affiliated with an organization looking for a speaker or visiting author. Maybe that blogger you contacted as a source of knowledge on a certain topic may become a huge fan of your work and want to help the world discover you.

Bottom line, wouldn’t you just love it if one day someone came to you and offered to put your name forward because they liked and admired you? So, adopt the mindset of a giver. Ask yourself what value you can add, what you can do for others. If you can help, do, because you never know when it will come back to you tenfold. (This is coming from someone who knows this firsthand!)

How Do You Find Your Influencers?

Determine who your exact audience is. Then, pay attention to the movers and shakers who interact with this group. These might be authors, businesses, special interest groups, forums, bloggers, and other individuals that produce content or a product that ties into the same topic, interest, theme, or element that you have written about.

To help with this, I put together something I call the Influencer Hot Sheet. This will show you what to look for to find your exact audience influencers, how to break down what they do online that helps them be successful (so you can do the same), and finally, ideas on how to build a relationship with them.

You can find it and many other marketing handouts on my Tools for Writers page.

Happy writing and marketing!


You can visit Angela at her sites for writers, Writers Helping Writers and One Stop for Writers.

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[…] Writing coach Angela Ackerman discusses how influencers can help you market your book, how to identify potential influencers, and how to reach them.  […]

Florence Osmund

Excellent article. Cultivating relationships with the right people can make a world of difference. Thanks for sharing.

Angela Ackerman

Thanks Florence. Yes, it really can make a huge difference, but it must be handled in a way that makes it clear one really respects and appreciates what the influencer has accomplished, and there’s a genuine desire to help–not a “I’m just helping you and expect you to do the same” reason behind it. As other commenters have mentioned, making demands is not the way to build a relationship.

Alexis

I would also add (for those of us who are active online) it’s best to approach people who are in the same vicinity of influence/audience that you are. I have a fairly large audience and will be approached by new authors/bloggers with 50 FB fans who tell me how they just shared my latest post with their followers, and might I consider reciprocating? Technically this fails on two fronts. One, they haven’t really done anything for me, thus I don’t feel obligated to reciprocate. Second, they’re asking for a favor upon our first interaction. This is not establishing a relationship, this is like walking up to somebody at a cocktail party and saying, “Hi, can I borrow your car?”

Angela Ackerman

Alexis, I agree that asking for something (especially right out the gate!) is not the way to go about it–for this to work, it’s about showing one is really about helping the infleuncer grow, or accomplish another specific goal depending on the influencer’s needs (visibility, word of mouth, connecting them with people or information they need because one happens to know someone that can help, etc.). By giving first (and not just a “one thing and done” thing either) you’re encouraging the situation to bloom into something more. Relationships can’t be forced. And while one can’t predict one will form, it’s my experience is if you are genuine, and are clearly doing things that show the influencer that you are invested in them succeeding, they are usually open to trying to do what they can to help in return…and usually you don’t have to ask. They do it because they want to. Then, at that point, if you want help with something specific (and small) or need some advice, asking is totally fine! Just be respectful of their time.

So many authors are looking for a shortcut when it comes to marketing, and this is not somewhere to find a shortcut. Can building a relationship with an influencer help open doors? Absolutely! But you still have to give and work to help encourage a relationship/friendship to form, and if you go into it thinking about what you can get, not what you can give, it won’t work.

Talena Winters

Great article, Angela. Very timely for me. You gave me some awesome ideas I hadn’t thought of before. Thank you!

Angela Ackerman

That’s great! I hope the Influencer Hot Sheet is helpful too–there’s some more ideas on there as well. 🙂

Anne R. Allen

I’m glad you emphasize the importance of respecting an influencer and maybe even being helpful instead of simply making demands. Piling on heaps of phony flattery is not being “helpful.”. We usually work 90+ hours week. Reading faux flattery takes time we don’t have.

There are many, many blogs out there that tell wannabe writers and bloggers to hitch a ride on the coattails of an influencer as it were a right. These gurus tell their readers that successful writers have infinite free time to provide free marketing, backlinks, critiques and advice for new writers.

They don’t seem to understand we are human beings who need to write and do paid work to survive. We have 24 hr days just like you. And we need to eat and sleep and clean our houses just like real people.

Demanding free services of people who are a bit more successful than you is NOT the way to become successful. My inbox is filled every morning with demands from wannabes. I’ve had over 60 just this week. One person I gave a mention in my blog was furious I linked to his blogpost and not his website (which is blocked by an unclosable popup.) People ask me to link to their websites from blogposts I wrote five years ago (apparently with the help of Dr. Who.) Some demand guest post spots but almost none read the guidelines. They want me to read and blurb or critique their books for free. This is NOT the way to get ahead. It is the way to get into my spam folder.

Angela Ackerman

Anne, I am so sorry you have had so much bad experience with impatient writers. It’s absolutely true that there are many who believe influencers should drop everything to help, and these people often do not respect an influencer’s time. Like you, I get a lot of requests, especially for guest posts, that clearly show that the person hasn’t read my guidelines and possibly even visited my site. It’s frustrating. But I try not to let myself get weighed down by these people–they will learn eventually why they can’t get ahead.

Making demands is not how you enter a relationship–any relationship. There are no shortcuts. If you put in the time though, and your heart is in the right place, great things can happen. 🙂

Provided you both have a shared audience, there’s no reason why you can’t grow a great friendship and help one another out–a relationship that is collaborative, working and benefiting both parties. Even someone with a smaller platform has time and talents to give to someone else, even an influencer. So authors approaching influencers need to be respectful of the person’s time and not make demands, simply be there to help in any capacity they can.

Likewise, infleuncers should keep an open mind, because as I said in the article, one never knows who will break out and become hugely inflencial themselves, or end up having the perfect connection that another needs, or have the exact information or experience one’s looking for.

Anyone, each of us, has the power to be an infleuncer. And that’s what i love about the writing community in general–most really are about paying it forward, and using their abilities (whatever form they take) to help others who are plain good people. 🙂

Thanks for the comment!

Kathy Steinemann

I like this point: Remember Anyone Can Be an Influencer

The Golden Rule, karma, or whatever you wish to call it, plays a huge part in book promotion. You never know when one of your contacts will turn out to be the next Anne Rice or J.K. Rowling.

Angela Ackerman

Exactly! Even the biggest influencer out there started out as a newbie. 🙂

And influencers need help too, just the same as anyone. All authors are learning and growing, and have talents and skills. And when it comes to the “how” to help, it isn’t always about the size of one’s platform–sometimes specialized knowledge, a special interest, a connection to a group or organization or something else entirely is what might be the most helpful. 🙂 Thanks for chiming in!

Carol Baldwin

Thanks for hosting Angela, Jane. Plan to save this for further reference.

Angela Ackerman

Thanks for stopping by, Carol! Hope this helps 🙂

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[…] Over on Jane Friedman’s site, Angela Ackerman describes “How to Find and Reach Influencers to Help Promote Your Book.” […]

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[…] How to Find and Reach Influencers to Help Promote Your Book (Jane Friedman) As a writing coach and avid user of social media, one of the most heartbreaking things I see is when an author puts a ton of effort into writing, editing, polishing, and finally publishing a book—only to see it fail to gain traction in the marketplace. Often this comes down to a marketing misstep that’s all too common: failing to understand (and therefore reach) one’s ideal book audience. […]