#006: Tim Grahl — The Secrets Behind Bestsellers, Authentic Marketing and Writing About Devastation

Apr 30, 2022

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What does it take to launch your book and build a fanbase? What do most writers misunderstand about the craft of writing and launching their book? Tim Grahl has dedicated the last 10 years of his life helping over 100 authors – from bestsellers to first time writers – get their books into the hands of more readers. In this episode we talk about smart and authentic marketing steps every writer can take to find their first 1000 readers and give their book a chance of reaching the bestselling lists. We also dive into Tim's memoir Running Down a Dream and talk about writing about devastation and grief.

Tim Grahl has worked with authors like Dan Pink, Ramit Sethi, Shawn Coyne, Pamela Slim, Dan and Chip Heath and has launched dozens of books to the top of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other bestseller lists. He also runs The Story Grid podcast, where he had his own book edited live by editor Shawn Coyne. Tim has written books on building an audience: Your First 1000 Copies; on building a business: Running Down a Dream, He has also been the architect behind the hugely successful Story Grid writing community and works with Steven Pressfield and Shawn Coyne at Black Irish Publishing.

SHOW NOTES

[03:46] Tim talks about the vulnerability of being critiqued live on The Story Grid podcast with Editor Shawn Coyne

[09:38] How to build the right audience, and the benefits of learning in public for accountability

[12:12] How a successful book launch always starts with a good plan

[12:23] What went wrong with The Threshing's launch, and the things Tim did right to market The Sand and Sea (280,000-word epic fantasy)

[15:38] Why it's harder to get people to read a book than buy one, and what Tim and his team did to sell The Sand and Sea

[19:38] Building an email list as the number one marketing tactic sell and promote your book

[23:51] The importance of building a habit and why being consistent is better than doing one big push on anything that you do

[26:22] Tim's advice for those who are trying to build their email list, and why you should treat the process as an adventure. Plus how to get your first 100 subscribers.

[30:56] The value of being consistent in whatever you do

[32:25] Tim's definition of marketing

[34:07] The story behind Tim's memoir, Running Down a Dream, the dream he was running down and how it's evolved over time

QUOTES FROM TIM GRAHL

“If you see any books that are still selling ten years after they came out, it's not because the publishing house did an amazing job marketing the book ten years ago. I think of it as a rocketship. If you turn off the engine when it's halfway out of that atmosphere, it's going to crash down to earth every single time. So if you can just get it out of the atmosphere, now we can see if it's going to live on its own. And that's how I think of marketing a book is the job of the publisher / author is to get that book out of the atmosphere. And the goal is to get 10,000 people to read the book. At that point, you find out if the book's going to fly on its own because, again, I can force 10,000. I can't force a million or five hundred thousand or a hundred thousand.”

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