My Publisher Opened the Door to My #NextChapter

Throughout the month of May, I’ve been dropping little hints about working with authors behind the scenes. And now I’m excited to finally share more about my #NextChapter.

Shortly after my book’s release (and honestly, I still consider today “shortly after” since it’s only been three months 😄), I was chatting with my publisher, Hillary, from Wilson Lindberg Books. She shared how impressed she’s been with the success of Santa’s Summer Vacation in Michigan – especially the momentum created through my ongoing marketing and promotion efforts.

She reminded me that author promotion and marketing support was one service she hadn’t yet been able to fully provide her authors. And then proceeded to ask me if I’d be willing to help some of her other authors who were less confident and familiar with the strategies and tactics that can help increase book sales and build visibility.

As I’ve shared before, just because you’ve written a book doesn’t automatically mean people are going to buy it. Promoting a book takes work. A LOT of work. And having a background in journalism, corporate communications and public relations certainly doesn’t hurt.

In fact, it’s now helping me in an entirely new way.

I thanked Hillary for her support, encouragement, and trust in me to help her other authors on their publishing journeys.

And, of course, my answer was a resounding YES!

The first step was creating a package of services she could share with authors in her publishing roster who were interested in this type of support.

To be honest, I’ve never really had to assign a price to the kind of work I’ve done before. I’m not saying it’s priceless (ha!), but I’ve never had to formally scope out strategies, tactics, deliverables, and timelines in this way – so at first, it felt a little overwhelming.

But I pulled together three marketing package options – Good, Better, Best – and gave each one a fitting marketing-esque name before sending them off to Hillary for review.

After a little tweaking and refinement, I officially “finalized” my service packages. I know they’ll continue evolving over time – actually putting them into practice with authors will help me better understand what’s realistic on my end, what delivers the most value for them, and where adjustments may be needed. But, for now, we’re off and running.

I even have my first author client – complete with a contract I created myself under my brand-new company, Fivefold Communications, LLC.

Which means ... yes, I'm officially a business owner now! I may have buried the lead a little there!

Anyway, his name is Bill, and we’ve been having fun building out a marketing plan for his upcoming middle-grade #SciFiAdventure. I’m genuinely excited for him and incredibly proud of the progress he’s made over the past few weeks as he’s stepped outside his comfort zone and embraced the often-uncomfortable world of author self-promotion and social media.

My entire #AuthorJourney has felt surreal.

There have been moments where I felt 100% certain I was going to publish my book … and others when I questioned whether this dream would ever become reality. But through every high and low, the experience has been incredible.

And now, being able to combine everything I’ve learned through promoting my own book with my professional background to help other authors just like me pursue their dreams? Well, this #NextChapter feels like a full-circle moment I never saw coming.

Some days, I still catch myself thinking, “Why would anyone listen to little ol’ me?” 😅

But then I look back at the marketing and communications plan I developed for Santa’s Summer Vacation in Michigan – and the results that followed – and I’m reminded that maybe I can help other authors move the needle.