A Day in the Life of a Book Manager


What is a Book Manager? I googled the term for the first time and couldn't find a real job by that name. Publicist, yes. Social Media Manager, yes. Book Agent, yes. But not a Book Manager.

However, I'm a book manager. I don't call myself a publicist or a social media manager --- I'm both and so much more. When I started managing authors' books, it sounded like the perfect title, so that's what I called myself.

In this day and age, authors -- especially indie, hybrid and self published -- have a lot of things on their plate, and most of them don't know where to start, what to do, and how to do it in a way that produces results. They spend so much time on social media, paying for marketing services, hiring editors, cover designers, formatters, or doing these things themselves, and many still don't sell enough copies of their books. Wasted time, wasted money, no results.

That's where I come in. I do all the things an author needs to do, except write. And that's the awesome part about having a book manager. My clients can now focus on what they love to do best, and that's write. As a book manager, I guide the authors on what they need to spend time on to further their careers, and what's only a waste of their time and money. They don't become victims of scams or sharks circling the industry. Except for book development, the only thing they need to spend on is me. I guess the best way to describe it is... it's like having a publishing genie in a magic lamp at your beck and call. Just rub the lamp whenever you need something and you can have it... for free or at a very discounted rate. The authors I manage have the publishing strength of my author services business, The Book Khaleesi, behind them. How many can claim that? I'm proud of that fact because I know that's very rare. Even independent publishing houses outsource the development of most of the books they handle... to the lowest bidder.

What's the value? Do my clients' books get edited for free? No. Do their books get formatted for free? The new ones, no. Do I design their covers for free? The new ones, no. But if I feel that I need to update the covers or the manuscripts of the books I handle, I do. For free. If the book is not selling... for example, I might decide to change the cover. That's free.

To give you a better idea of what a Book Manager does, from my POV at least, let's talk about my day.

I wake up and check my cell phone for messages from my clients whose books I manage. If there's a message, we chat.

I go to my laptop and open my email. 

Then I check on my clients' Amazon pages. I have a client whose books are #1 bestsellers in their categories, so I check their ranking. Are they falling? Are they rising? They've been there for a year and it gets harder to keep them there. I have to keep a close eye on their performance.

I check the reviews and if there are new ones, I send them to the client to brighten up their day. If it's a negative, I still send it and try to make it funny since authors hate negative reviews.

I then check on their KDP account, which I handle. I analyze the trend. Which book is lagging behind? Which one is selling? Why are there more sales this month than last month? What did I do right? What am I missing?

I have a client with 10 books so I check all of them. We just conducted a promo, what's the result? Successful? No change in ranking? Why? What can be done to improve it? Do I need to change the cover? Improve the synopsis? Update the categories? All of this requires me to fully understand Amazon's algorithm and how to work around it... and I need to understand what makes a book SELLABLE.

If a book is not selling or falling in ranking, I schedule a promo to give it a boost. I inform the client of the promo date and why it's needed. 

I then design the promo banners and distribute it to my teams, who will then schedule the social media promotion on the promo dates. 

After checking the status of the books, the sales, reviews, etc., if I'm happy with their performance,  I then check on the client's internet presence. If I'm not happy, I will spend an hour or two improving stuff. Once done, I google my authors to see if they're mentioned anywhere. If there's something new -- an article, a review of their book on a website -- I let them know about it so they can reach out and thank whoever it is who featured them.

Then I visit their social media accounts and retweet them or share their posts. I don't have to individually tweet or post for them daily, all of their book tweets or FB posts are automated, from their account, from mine, from my team's. This leaves the author time to network, instead of having to spend time tweeting or posting about their book on social media. Their books are always out there in front of possible readers, with high quality book banners that get updated from time to time. For free.

So as not to bore their followers, I update the automated posts monthly to keep them fresh and interesting. If my client has 5 books then I do this every month or so for all the books. 

If my client releases a new book, I update the manuscripts uploaded on Amazon, to keep their list of books updated. That's just part of the job. I can only do this if I formatted the manuscripts from the start. I compose tweets and FB posts and design new banners for this new book, and start adding that to the titles I monitor.

I then update all the websites where my client's books are listed and add the new title. 

I go back to their Amazon page again. Watching Amazon and analyzing the rise and fall in ranking is a big part of what a book manager does. Knowing the right way to optimize the Amazon page is the secret to making a book discoverable enough to reach generic readers. And generic readers are the only way a book can reach bestseller status. There must be a sale every single day. Continuously, else the ranking will fall.

It doesn't happen in a day. Sometimes, it takes months, years even, before a book tops a list as a bestseller. Sometimes, never. I have never promised my clients that I can make their book a bestseller. But that is my goal. Even if it doesn't sell, ever, at least the author can sleep well at night knowing that they've done their best. And just go on to write another book.

New banner, new book... I visit the author's website and update it. Maybe I'll ask them to write an article or I'll write one for them and post it on the website. Again, to keep it fresh and up to date.

I check on their mailing list... is anyone subscribing? Is it a sleeper? So I come up with a book tour or a new giveaway gimmick to entice new readers to subscribe. Then I create banners for this new activity and add it to the social media posts.

With the new book out, I compose a message to their existing mailing list. Email sent. Check.

I go about my daily work managing The Book Khaleesi, but always, when I see an opportunity to promote my authors and their books, get some reviews, an interview... I take it. Oh there's this new book promotion site where I can list their books for free? I create a profile and add the books. Anything that would help build and expand their author platform. All part of the job.

Another book becomes a bestseller. I update all the banners and auto posts. Must add the coveted bestseller badge. I give the author the good news. I update their social media covers as well.

If they want their books as audiobooks, I pitch producers and narrators on ACX so they'll do the audiobook on Royalty-Share. No upfront cost for the author. Sweet.

They want their books translated, I'll do that too and audition translators on Babel Cube.

Reviews? I don't believe in buying reviews.

I check their author email daily, which I also manage, and inform the client if there's anything that needs a response.

I submit their books to book awards, and this could be the only thing they need to pay extra for. Except for when a new book needs editing, covers and formatting. 

At the end of the month, my clients receive a sales and performance report detailing sales from ebooks, paperback, audiobooks, their ranking, how much was deposited into their bank accounts, etc. etc.

If the books are not performing well, I discuss ways on how we can improve.

Rinse and Repeat.

When I worked as an Executive Assistant, I loved this song from Alladin. This is how I saw my role then. And I find it amusing that this is still what I do now even after I traded my suit for pajamas.

You got some power in your corner now
Some heavy ammunition in your camp
You got some punch, pizzazz, yahoo and how
See all you gotta do is rub that lamp
And I'll say...

Life is your restaurant
And I'm your maitre d'
C'mon whisper what it is you want
You ain't never had a friend like me...

Have some of column A
Try all of column B
I'm in the mood to help you dude
You ain't never had a friend like me

And that's what it means to have a Book Manager, like me. 

As an author, what price can you attach to all of that? 
The freedom to write. An expert watching your back. The best treatment for your book.

If you want to have one, email me at thebookkhaleesi@gmail.com for a free consultation. 
If I feel that I can help, then we can discuss it and if we shake hands on it, you can hold my magic lamp. 😊



1 comment:

  1. This is like... my Christmas list, in one!! I sent you email! I want to talk!

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear from you!