In my “day job life,” I work with business owners who face some of the same visibility problems that authors encounter with their books. They’re good at what they do, but they struggle to explain why their work matters. Their expertise has become so familiar to them that they no longer recognize what makes it valuable or special or different. (Sound familiar??)
I call this phenomenon Invisible Value. And I’ve come to realize that authors have Invisible Value, too.
We know our books inside and out. We know what went into writing them, why certain characters touch us deeply (or piss us off). We know what we hope readers will experience. But when it’s time to promote those same books, we often reduce all that rich goodness to a genre, a short description, and a purchase link…and we stop talking about the good stuff.
Here’s something I tell my business clients all the time:
“When you use facts and figures to do the job that story is supposed to do, no one will know why your work is special.”
Your Book Has More Than One Story
I’m not talking about the plot of your novel. I’m talking about the stories that surround your novel.
Easy things, like…
- Why did you write this particular book?
- What inspired it?
- What did you discover during the writing process?
- What challenges did you overcome?
And even more interesting things, like…
- Did a minor character unexpectedly hijack your plot?
- Did someone you planned to kill off refuse to die? (Characters can be remarkably uncooperative that way.)
- Did a photograph, an abandoned house, or a place you visited become the foundation for an entire fictional world?
- What about the research discovery that changed your ending?
The questions above can spark the types of stories that keep people’s attention. (Hence, “sticky.”) They can make readers curious about your book before they’ve read a single page.
The “Big 6 Stories” That Sell Books
In my Storyselling work, I teach six stories that help businesses communicate their value. Those same six stories can help authors connect with readers. These foundational stories give your author platform its backbone, and they give you something interesting to share with readers all year long.
1. Your Core Story
This is the central idea that connects your writing to the people you hope to reach. This isn’t your author bio or your elevator pitch…it’s the message you want people to remember about you and your books.
It answers questions such as:
- What do I write?
- Who do I write for?
- What makes my work distinctive?
- Why should readers care?
Maybe you write mysteries about ordinary people finding courage under extraordinary circumstances. Maybe your romances explore tropes like second chances or found family. Perhaps your historical fiction gives overlooked people and events a voice.
For series authors, there’s another intriguing question: What is the one message that connects all your books?
Maybe every story you write explores how far people will go to belong. Or whether someone who has made terrible mistakes deserves another chance.
2. Your Origin Story
Every writer has a story about how they began this crazy career. But your Origin Story doesn’t have to start with the first time you picked up a pencil or sat down at a keyboard. It might begin with the moment an idea wouldn’t leave you alone.
Perhaps you discovered a family secret that inspired a novel. Maybe you saw a photograph that haunted you for years. Or you couldn’t find the kind of book you wanted to read, so you decided to write it yourself.
Here’s a question worth exploring: What happened that made this particular book feel necessary?
Sometimes the most compelling story isn’t how you became a writer. It’s why you couldn’t NOT write this particular book.
3. Your Reader Impact Story
In business, I call this a Client Success Story. For authors, it’s your Reader Impact Story. What happens when your writing reaches someone?
- A reader tells you your book helped them through a difficult time in their life.
- Someone recognizes their own experience in one of your characters.
- A reader falls in love with historical fiction because of your series.
Sadly, these types of testimonials are not all Amazon reviews, but sometimes the story behind a reader’s response is even more meaningful. Use those stories in your marketing efforts (with permission) to attract other readers.
4. Your Against-the-Odds Story
Writing a book rarely happens without obstacles. Those obstacles make GREAT stories.
Just for a moment, consider a book you almost gave up on.
- Did a manuscript spend five years in a drawer before you found the courage to finish it?
- Did a character refuse to cooperate until you threw out half your outline?
- Did you discover, three drafts in, that you’d been telling the wrong story?
Your Against-the-Odds Story isn’t a list of everything that went wrong. It’s about what you did when things became difficult, and what you learned from the experience. Readers connect with persistence, uncertainty, disappointment, and growth because they’ve experienced those things themselves.
Sometimes the most meaningful story is about continuing when quitting would have been easier.
(P.S. Becca wrote a great post on “When Is It Okay to Quit a Story?” In case, like me, you needed to know.)
5. Your Values-in-Action Story
What do you believe about writing, storytelling, or the people who read your books? How do those beliefs show up in what you do?
Maybe you write “Happily Ever After” romance because your parents inspired you (with their relationship OR their divorce). Maybe you write characters who rarely see themselves represented in fiction. Or you deliberately create stories where hope survives, even when the characters have been through the wringer.
Instead of telling readers that authenticity, courage, or community matters to you, tell them a story that demonstrates it.
6. Your Future Vision Story
What do you hope your writing will make possible? This type of story invites your readers to imagine an experience or outcome they want.
This story lives on the same street as genre: What promise are you making to your readers?
- Maybe you promise that justice will eventually prevail.
- Or a promise that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.
- Perhaps you promise that even deeply flawed characters can turn their lives around and find redemption.
Your Future Vision Story is an invitation. It helps readers picture what they’ll gain by spending time with your book(s) or your world.
Start Looking for the Stories You Already Have
I can promise you something with 100% certainty: you don’t need to fabricate stories for marketing. You need to notice the ones that already exist. (And you probably have more than you realize.)
Grab a blank page and try asking yourself these questions.
- Which character surprised me, hijacked my plot, or demanded a bigger role?
- What real place, memory, or discovery inspired my fictional world?
- What fascinating research discovery changed something important in my book?
- Which scene nearly defeated me, and how did I finally solve it?
- What secret, hidden detail, or unexpected connection would readers love to know about?
- What has a reader said about my work that I will never forget?
These are the stories!
I’ll bet if you did the exercise above, you were shocked at how much you came up with. Usually, it’s enough for some newsletters, blog posts, interviews, social media, and at least one reader conversation.
I encourage you to do this exercise at least once a month. It will turn on your “(Marketing) Story Radar.” Gathering those experiences in a simple notebook or a computer file is enough to get you started.
Before You Market Your Next Book
I want you to understand what marketing is and is not. Posting on social media or making a video is a vehicle for marketing, but this is what’s important to know so your marketing actually works:
- Marketing helps people discover you and your books.
- Storytelling helps them understand why they might care about it.
Both matter.
Before you create another promotional graphic, do a bunch of market research, or announce that your book is available, I’d love to see you do this one thing: Spend some time looking at the stories surrounding your story.
You may discover that the most interesting thing you can share isn’t another description of your book. It’s the “good stuff.” Those stories that give readers a chance to connect with your work AND with you.
Connection is always a great place to begin. And remember, you have a superpower in your pocket for all this. You’re ALREADY a storyteller…
“Go forth and story!”
I’d love to know the story within your story. If you’ve identified it, please share it in the comments :).
Summary for Busy Writers: To raise visibility for your book, identify its internal story. Origin stories, values-in-actions stories, and against-the-odd stories—readers connect with these. So spend some time figuring out the core story for your book, then promote it, and readers just might fall in love with your book.
