How I Sold 650K Books with One Strategy with Mike Thomas
Feb 18, 2025
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Join Mike Thomas, the legendary author of The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series, as he shares his remarkable journey selling over 650,000 books. He reveals the inspiration behind his time-traveling tales and details how he leveraged one transformative marketing strategy: influencer outreach. Discover his meticulous approach to engaging partners, the importance of physical copies for promotion, and the pros and cons of alternative marketing avenues, including Facebook and Amazon Ads. Mike's insights into the power of word-of-mouth marketing and community engagement are invaluable for aspiring authors.
Mike Thomas emphasizes the value of influencer marketing by cultivating genuine relationships with influencers to organically promote his book series.
He highlights the importance of market validation through real-world testing to refine his children's book content before wider marketing efforts.
Deep dives
The Unexpected Journey to Children's Literature
The speaker shares a surprising turn in his life when he wrote a children's book called 'Be the Buffalo' after a realization during storytime with his son. This unexpected inspiration led him to explore the world of children's literature, despite never anticipating becoming an author. He discusses the rapid writing process, completing the entire book in just 45 minutes, and expresses newfound curiosity about writing and selling children's books. This journey highlights how personal experiences can catalyze creative ventures, transforming everyday moments into extraordinary opportunities.
The Power of Market Research and Testing
The author emphasizes the importance of validating an idea through market research before fully investing in it. Initially, he read his self-published books to a classroom to gauge children's reactions, which helped him refine the content and validate its appeal. His approach involved a systematic examination of response to ensure the books met the intended goals of promoting faith and learning in children. This process of testing in a real-world setting allowed him to build confidence in the product and later pursue broader marketing strategies.
Innovative Marketing Through Influencer Connections
The author leveraged influencer marketing as a pivotal strategy to expand the reach of his book series, 'The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls.' By identifying influencers who resonate with his target audience, he systematically approached over 225 of them, sharing his book and encouraging organic promotion. Rather than demanding immediate publicity, he focused on establishing a connection and offering free copies, fostering genuine interest in the stories. This grassroots marketing approach proved beneficial, leading to impressive sales numbers through authentic endorsements rather than traditional advertising.
Building Momentum with Authentic Engagement
The speaker outlines the significance of maintaining authentic relationships with influencers to sustain momentum in his marketing efforts. After sending out free books, he would follow up to gauge interest and encourage organic sharing, often without needing to explicitly ask for promotions. Engagement often flowed naturally as influencers enjoyed the books and wanted to share their experiences with their audiences. This relationship-based approach not only built brand loyalty but also led to consistent visibility, driving sales through word-of-mouth recommendations.
Today, we discover how to become a bestselling author by going all-in on one marketing strategy. We are joined by Mike Thomas, legendary author of The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls nine-book series – a time-traveling epic that helps kids explore the Bible and their faith. After explaining where the idea for his widely popular series came from, Mike describes how his novels began as a simple Word document printout and evolved into the complete work of art you see today and why he chose to go all-in on influencer marketing after his first book launch. We unpack strategies for getting your book into the hands of many readers as quickly as possible, the various book marketing options and their budget considerations, the power of word of mouth, and the importance of choosing your words very carefully when approaching potential marketing partners. To end, we get an overview of the expected timeline from publishing to marketing to your book becoming a bestseller, and Mike details the pros and cons of other marketing avenues like Facebook and Amazon Ads.
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