Marketing Your Non-Fiction Book While You’re Writing
Proven Strategies Worth Your Time
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Are you overwhelmed by all the advice on growing a platform for your book, so overwhelmed you find yourself doing zip?
Are you certain you could get traction with your marketing if you just had clear guidance and feedback, along with time set aside to actually do the work?
Did you release your last book to crickets and you’re determined that will not happen with your next book?
Have you received feedback from agents or publishers that your brilliant book idea needs a larger audience before they’ll say yes to your book proposal?
Does the thought of “author platform” and “marketing” send you diving for the comfort of your chocolate stash, wishing for wise targeted guidance to get into action?
Are you overwhelmed by all the advice on growing a platform for your book, so overwhelmed you find yourself doing zip?
Are you certain you could get traction with your marketing if you just had clear guidance and feedback, along with time set aside to actually do the work?
Did you release your last book to crickets and you’re determined that will not happen with your next book?
Have you received feedback from agents or publishers that your brilliant book idea needs a larger audience before they’ll say yes to your book proposal?
Does the thought of “author platform” and “marketing” send you diving for the comfort of your chocolate stash, wishing for wise targeted guidance to get into action?
If any of the above describes you, we’ve got a solution you’re going to love.
Jen Louden
Jen has published nine books with almost a million copies sold in nine languages since 1992. She’s been marketing her books since HarperCollins pulled the plug on her first book’s big marketing budget and she got in her parent’s Ford Taurus station wagon and drove around the U.S. speaking and doing media, and turned that book into a word-of-mouth bestseller that’s still in print.
Her books have been on national best-seller lists and top 20 overall on Amazon. She’s coached writers for 22 years and believes that talking about your book can be as fun and rewarding as writing it.
AJ Harper
AJ is an editor and publishing strategist who has helped hundreds of authors write better books. Co-founder of an award-winning small press that helped build the careers of several unknown authors, she understands book marketing from the perspective of authors and publishers. For the past 20 years she has helped authors cut through publishing misinformation and disinformation to create a marketing plan that fits their budget, reaches their ideal readers, and exceeds their expectations.
AJ is the writing partner to business author and marketing wunderkind, Mike Michalowicz (Profit First). She is the author of the award-winning Write a Must-Read: Craft a Book That Changes Lives–Including Your Own.
“AJ Harper is a talent who not only excels in the technicalities of the marketing field but also brings a level of creativity and strategic thinking that transforms ideas into impactful realities. AJ’s ability to craft tailored marketing strategies has revolutionized how authors and others achieve their goals. She is my one-stop shop for everything marketing for my book coming out later this year.”
“Jen is a marketing genius. She’s full of ideas on how to promote your work without feeling bad, and helps you identify what your style of connecting with your reader is. She’s enthusiastic and endlessly full of ideas that help you see what’s possible. And she’s excellent at tying in your book to your business growth.”
Marketing Your Non-Fiction Book While You’re Writing
Dates & Times
June 12, 2024
3pm – 4:30 pm MT
June 26, 2024
3pm – 4:30 pm MT
July 10, 2024
3pm – 4:30 pm MT
June 19, 2024
3pm – 4:30 pm MT
July 3, 2024
3pm – 4:30 pm MT
July 17, 2024
3pm – 4:30 pm MT
Two 90-minute Q&A calls on June 27th from 12-1:30pm MT and July 11th from 12:00-1:30pm MT. Bring your questions and your work in progress from the class assignments for more feedback. We want to make sure you don’t let not knowing stop you.
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How we’ll support you in finally starting your platform & starting marketing without feeling sleazy, overwhelmed or like you have to be somebody you aren’t:
But we aren’t just going to talk about platform & marketing, we are going to put the strategies into practice every week.
You’ll tackle practical marketing tasks — doing the writing or the filming or outreach – and then you’ll benefit from group feedback sessions, watching Jen and AJ tweak what you or your peers have created for greater authenticity and impact.
Specifically, here’s what we’ll cover and practice week by week:
Week 1:
Plant Your Book’s Freak Flag
We’ll debunk the myth that sharing your book’s core message prematurely is taboo.
We’ll explore fears like your idea might be stolen, your audience will grow bored, or that you’re too busy with writing to share right now.
Together, we’ll pinpoint the perfect medium for your book’s sneak peek, whether it’s a newsletter, a video, a talk, or a billboard (hey, we think big around here).
During the session, you’ll craft your sneak peek, and we’ll offer constructive critiques on a selection of your efforts, providing insights on both the content and the sharing strategy.
Then we’ll help you outline more distinctive ways to showcase your book’s Big Idea in the week ahead, so you leave the class brimming with confidence and dare we say excitement to spread the word about your book.
Plant your freak flag proudly!
Week 2:
Find Your Ideal Reader Out in The Wild
We’ll kick off by hearing about everyone’s experience unveiling their book.
Celebration! Debrief!
Next, we’ll tackle the fallacy that you need to be omnipresent and be everything to everybody to capture your audience.
We’ll identify the natural habitat of your ideal reader and how to communicate in ways that resonate for both of you. It has to be a two-way street.
You’ll roll up your sleeves to find your reader (maybe a little healthy stalking) and we’ll reconvene to see what you learned and how to tweak your efforts.
The session concludes by mapping out a simple plan to reach your readers this week, ensuring your efforts align with your unique style and you aren’t spreading yourself too thin. You aren’t peanut butter.
Week 3:
Style Your Author Website without Going Broke
First we get to hear about you meeting your readers – what was it like?
Then we are going to throw out the idea you need to spend thousands creating a custom logo and slick website.
(And if you already have, we still love you. Now let’s sell some books to make that website pay for itself!)
You are going to learn exactly what you need your website to do for you and how to create it quickly.
We will answer all your questions about websites — book website? Page on your existing site? How to collect email addresses? Do you need a lead magnet?
You will create the two most important parts of your website, followed by a feedback session on a few people’s bios and tag lines.
Finally, we’ll outline what else you need to do to get your website live, and the most common and tempting pitfalls to avoid.
Week 4:
This is What Sells Books
How’s that website doing? Quick check-in before we talk about what sells books.
What sells books is word of mouth – someone pressing a book into your hand and saying “You’ve got to read this!” But to get that word of mouth going your very best tool is not social media or even big media exposure, it’s your email list.
This is not the first time you’ve heard the advice you need an email list but this time, you are finally going to get clear on what that means and how you will engage that list consistently between now and your book’s debut.
We’ll tackle the misconceptions surrounding email marketing — including that it’s all about self-promotion – heaven’s no! — and lead you through creating a sustainable plan for growing your email list into a loyal fanbase that wants your book and wants to talk about it. It’s not fast or easy but it is essential.
We’ll review a handful of your email list and engagement plans and spend the rest of our time this week talking about the current best opportunities for list growth.
Week 5:
Beyond Social Media
Email list review and pep talk to start us off — we will keep you motivated!
Then we’ll give you the good news — book marketing opportunities outside of social media!
WEEE!! We know you’re going to love that.
We’ll get you to do a personal inventory of non-social media platforms where your audience hangs out (because now you know your reader, from week 2). And then we will gently nudge (not shove, nudge) you to take action in one or more of these non-social media ways.
From there, we will share a bunch of creative low-hanging fruit ways to sell more books (like your email sig line) and brainstorm as a group about how to build out your connections and cultivate your author community.
Week 6:
How to Be Consistent and What Happens Next
Celebrations and questions about beyond social media!
Let’s talk about how you keep going and don’t fold as soon as the class is over. The reason why Jen and AJ have had so much success as authors and entrepreneurs is they’ve been consistent in showing up. For decades.
You can be too.
We will work out a manageable schedule and solutions for what to do if you get overwhelmed or pulled into many directions. We’ll talk timelines, frequency, the mindset of repurposing, how to defeat “I already said it 5 times, I can’t say it again,” and more.
You’ll have an opportunity to pair up in groups of four to keep working together.
“Jen is a font of marketing ideas. She recently texted me “Write an op-ed about American Fiction when the Oscars are about to air.” Jen gave me a ton of ideas to get my marketing started before the launch of Anti-Racism as a Daily Practice (St. Martin’s Press) including writing my newsletter regularly (finally), building a Big Mouth list and connecting with those people now. Even better? She helped me understand marketing is about authentically and meaningfully connecting with my readers—so I got over some of my ‘ick’ about marketing and brought my full self to all those things. She’s a marketing goddess!”
“AJ has a wealth of knowledge about book marketing, but more broadly about building an author platform. It starts with the fundamentals. If you know for whom you are writing, your core message, and your promise to readers, you can share that with your prospective audience, long before you’ve chosen a title or finished a manuscript.”
– Mara Yale, author of a forthcoming book for parents of children with extra needs
That’s the main deal, now let’s talk about
the extra support:
Two 90-minute Q&A calls on June 27th from 12-1:30pm MT and July 11th from 12:00-1:30pm MT. Bring your questions and your work in progress from the class assignments for more feedback. We want to make sure you don’t let not knowing stop you.
Weekly examples of best practices to inform and guide, and give you great examples to crib from (cribbing is not stealing, it’s looking at the form of say a home page and copying the form).
Our very favorite marketing resources for when you want to go deeper including:
*Jen’s podcast pitches, media kit, and street team materials for her last non-fiction book Why Bother?
*AJ’s launch week event plan, launch day run-of-show and her “CliffsNotes” materials for endorsers and podcasters
A video recording and AI transcript for each class.
We’re teaching this class because…
We’re tired of watching life-changing books disappear because authors don’t have concrete help and solid advice to connect and sell.
We’re sad authors think marketing has to be gross or draining or inauthentic.
We’re angry authors can feel at the mercy of publishers who don’t know how or have the resources to sell their books.
We’ve had it with indie publishing authors investing considerable resources and not having a plan to earn their money back with book sales or as part of their business.
And we’re super excited to show you how platform building and marketing can be about connection and creativity, about fun and authenticity, about making money, and can feel as fulfilling as writing your amazing book.
“AJ is a master of her craft including how to write books and market books. Her brilliance helps authors get exposure by thinking outside of the box and finding groups and that would benefit from the book.”
– Cara Poppit, author of the 2025 book, Unready, Set, Go!
“Working with Jen as I was creating and preparing to launch my pet loss deck was so incredibly helpful! She is a brilliant marketer herself (in the most genuine and authentic of ways!) and from her decades of experience she offered amazing ideas for different ways I could get my deck out into the world. Most of all, I appreciated her unwavering support and the way she continuously reminded me of the benefit of taking small, consistent steps over time to market my creation. I continue to take this approach and frequently remember her words of encouragement and wisdom and the ideas she shared with me. And a little over a year after self-publishing my deck, the deck is selling well and I’ve established 50 new wholesale accounts. I feel like this is just the beginning!”
– Mindy Meiering, author of Rainbow Bridge Pet Loss Deck
Marketing Your Non-Fiction Book While You’re Writing
Dates & Times
June 12, 2024
3pm – 4:30 pm MT
June 26, 2024
3pm – 4:30 pm MT
July 10, 2024
3pm – 4:30 pm MT
June 19, 2024
3pm – 4:30 pm MT
July 3, 2024
3pm – 4:30 pm MT
July 17, 2024
3pm – 4:30 pm MT
Two 90-minute Q&A calls on June 27th from 12-1:30pm MT and July 11th from 12:00-1:30pm MT. Bring your questions and your work in progress from the class assignments for more feedback. We want to make sure you don’t let not knowing stop you.
$895
JOIN THE WAITLIST
Imagine how different you’ll feel after this class is finished having made tangible measurable progress on your platform, and knowing what to focus on and finish next.
No more wasted time and effort.
No more overwhelm.
No more trying to do it perfectly or being pulled in a thousand different directions.
You are working so hard to write a great book.
It deserves to be read.
FAQ
Are the classes recorded?
Yes, and we provide an AI transcript with a time code of key class moments.
Will you offer this class again?
Jen and AJ both run busy writing coaching businesses and are writing books so we can’t guarantee if or when we will offer the class again.
Is this class suitable for a fiction writer?
No. This class is tailored for nonfiction writers.
Do you provide one-on-one feedback each week?
This is a group coaching experience so we will be providing feedback in a way that benefits everybody and we will be sure to give feedback on different people’s assignments each week so you have a better chance of reaching everybody at least once. In addition, the Q&A calls will provide another opportunity for in-depth feedback.
“AJ brings her expertise and unique experience in successfully marketing books from the perspective of an author, a publisher and an advisor. Her insights from her behind-the-curtain view of New York Times Best Sellers to perennial bestsellers and even the books that didn’t find success, help authors understand the importance of building and leveraging their platform so they too can get their books in the hands of readers that need it the most.
AJ also helps authors devise a marketing strategy that is both integrity and a reflection of the author. There is a lot of advice on how to market books, but AJ’s tools, resources and ability to help authors find their unique marketing approach set her apart from the rest and make her my go-to person for all things authorship.”
– Tara Hunkin, author of the forthcoming book, Missing Milestones
“Knowing Jen is like the gift that keeps on giving. Her approach to the world of book marketing is just so wonderfully realistic while also ensuring it’s holding your heart in the process. I can’t say enough good things about her leadership as a coach, a colleague, and an author who deeply understands what it takes to build and maintain a thriving platform.”
– Dusti Arab, marketing strategist
“AJ Harper’s reader-first focus and book writing expertise is matched by her strategic expertise and guidance on how to launch and market a book. She inspires authors to step into this unfamiliar phase through ideas, stories, frameworks, reality checks, and lessons learned. Along the way, AJ keeps the care of the reader front and center helping authors remember their why – the change they want to see in the world. This ingrained foundation builds the courage needed to launch and market must read books.”
– Ellen Taafe, author of The Mirrored Door
“Jennifer has been my writing coach for decades and my book would not exist without her encouragement and insight. But she didn’t stop there – she believes her writers should find their audience and sell books. When Desire, Mystery and Belonging was being released, it was Jen who taught me to plug into my existing audiences, especially my career as a psychiatrist, my vocation as a spiritual director, and my deep ties in the Episcopal church. She would not let me give up on spreading the word nor would she let me think it had to be glitzy or all about social media. She encouraged me to be myself and to share that self with others. I didn’t need a fake personality or a fake profile. Jen helped me see how I could use my natural networks to help people and connect, which is most important to me, and sell books while doing so. My author experience has been enhanced and expanded by my trusting in Jen’s support and guidance.”
– Sarah Robinson Flick, author of Desire, Mystery, and Belonging
