Getting PR for Your Bestselling Book with Adriana Monique Alvarez

WELCOME, ADRIANA!

Adriana Monique Alvarez  helps women get their voices out without censorship or gatekeepers, and she does that through both publishing and certifying women to start their own publishing companies.

For years, Adriana had been doing business consulting.  She frequently had clients tell her that they wanted to write books.  They wanted to publish a body of work – they wanted to be known for their work.  Many of them, however, never accomplished this goal.  When she would ask why they didn’t move forward, she heard the same answer over and over again: Publishing is so overwhelming.  They were intimidated by the pitching, the gatekeepers, and the long time frames involved in publishing a book.  Her clients got discouraged, and they dropped the idea.

I have known Adriana for many years online, and I decided to bring her on because she has been working her buns off the past couple of months with a lot of amazing things, and specifically with her book launches.

In this episode, Adriana and I discuss:

• Empowering women to publish their books
• Book prep, plan, and release
• The PR side of releasing a book
• Business strategy: traffic and revenue generators
• Adriana's advice for her younger self
• Tips for first-time authors

 P.S. if you're struggling with your visibility + publicity, I've found a system that works! I'll show you every single step for FREE in this video training series!

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EMPOWERING WOMEN TO PUBLISH THEIR BOOKS

The overwhelm involved with publishing is a huge pain point I see with my Visibility Lounge members as well.  I’ve experienced it myself with some of the books that I’ve released – it can feel really daunting.  It’s also easy to feel discouraged, because some people have been able to pitch and get accepted right away.  If that doesn’t happen for you, it can be disheartening.

Adriana likes to take anything that feels complex and simplify it.  She started chunking the publishing process down, and asking her clients if they would be interested in writing articles for publication.  If she could get them to write 500-1,500 words, it was at least a good start.  Adriana brought a pilot group through the process of pitching and writing eight articles a month over the course of three months.  People loved it, and it built their confidence.

From there, Adriana focused on multi-author books.  It was a similar system, in that she encouraged people to write one chapter of 3,000 words.  The wheels began turning, and many of them could use that multi-author book to springboard themselves into a solo book – even if it is just a 10,000-15,000 word mini book focused on one area of expertise.

Through this process, Adriana removed the barrier to entry for several of her clients.  They started asking, “What’s next?”  One day, she got the idea to certify other women to do the same thing that she had done.  She knew she had a system that worked well – she had helped to create six multi-author books in nine months.

As with her writing process, Adriana then took eight women through a pilot program to certify them.  It worked well, and she rolled it out further.  So not only was she teaching women how to become authors, but she always also teaching women to support other women with becoming authors.

When Adriana started working with women around their own books, she reminded them that publishing a bestseller can feel like the finish line.  She advised them to celebrate, and to take a breather if they need it.  In actuality, however, publishing your book is more like the starting line.

Adriana teaches her clients that, if they want their books to grow their businesses, they need to have a more long-term plan in place.  She recommends a 12-month plan on the back end of a book.  It needs to be the springboard for getting featured.  You can start with local and regional media and then expand from there, including podcast and other platforms where people can listen to your message.

BOOK PREP, PLAN, AND RELEASE

Adriana recently had a bestseller, so I asked her to walk us through what the process looked like for her.

She shared that she tends to do things quickly.  If she draws out book writing for too long, it can get agonizing and she can lose motivation.  Adriana finds that writing every day is what gets her to the finish line.  She would get up between three and four in the morning and write until her kids woke up.

Adriana also admitted that she didn’t do all the writing herself.  She went to a handful of her top clients and asked them to write about their own journeys, why they started their publishing houses, and what it looked like for them.  Those stories were then included in her book, not only filling out content but also offering different perspectives.

Once your book is written, you’re ready to sit down and execute your plan.  Adriana’s rule of thumb is to have at least 500 people who will buy on the day it’s released, and 50 people who are willing to share it with their audiences.  That could be sending an email to their list, posting on social media accounts, or any other way they communicate with people.  This combination gets the word out fast, because it’s all happening in a 1-3 day period. 

Prior to the release, Adriana is networking and reaching out to people to collaborate on this part of the plan.  She explains the benefit to them and to their audiences, and also ensures a system for acknowledgement and recognition.  You can certainly do affiliate commissions or offer prizes, but at the end of the day she finds that acknowledgement is really the way to people’s hearts.

This collaboration process also involves making sure that everybody understands the mission of the book, how it serves the audience, and what the release dates are.  Make it as easy for them as possible. 

As the author, Adriana knows that once the book hits bestseller status, getting reviews is a big part of the plan.  She doesn’t like to run Amazon ads until she has at least 20 reviews, and then it’s really churning once she has 50.  She immediately asked her clients to leave reviews, and then the next phase was asking people in her group or her leads wo are considering starting their own publishing houses to read the book and write a review. In exchange, she offered to gift them a training in her 21 Day Sales Activator.  Adriana has found this strategy to work very well.

As the recipient of one of Adriana’s messages, I can tell you that it really resonated with me.  She shared her desire to start a movement so women can publish their books and get their voices out there.  It hit my heart, because I knew my students’ struggles, as well as my own.  I didn’t feel like I normally do when people come into my inbox and asked for things – it made me feel like I was going to be a part of something meaningful and exciting.
 

THE PR SIDE OF RELEASING A BOOK

A lot of authors struggle with the PR side of releasing a book.  They aren’t sure how to pitch that unique hook, specifically with the press, that will make people pay attention. 

Adriana reminds us that, if you cannot articulate the big picture vision of what you do, if you can’t talk about your mission, most press is not going to be interested.  “When you know your mission, your movement, and you can identify the people that you’re an advocate for, then you can more easily find your unique angle,” she advises.  When you can get comfortable saying the world is a better place because of your business and your mission is moving forward, people will respond in a different way.

In Adriana’s experience, this led to features in Forbes, America Daily Post, London Daily Post, Grit Daily, and several other major publications.  Her industry and her movement were getting a lot of attention.  The headline for Forbes reads, “Adriana Monique Alvarez, Helping Women Reshape the Future of Book Publishing”.  It’s a really enticing hook, and the article is not just a fluff piece.  It really digs into the mission behind the book, and it made readers want to know more.

BUSINESS STRATEGY: TRAFFIC AND REVENUE GENERATORS

At this time, Adriana’s main traffic generator is social media.  She shares stories, interacts with other people’s content, and creates events.  Recently, she gave a masterclass on how you make your story really magical and impactful.  She also did another training on the five most important stories you tell in your business that help people to figure out your mission and your movement.

She is also transitioning to an entire Facebook ad campaign.  Three funnels are being built based on really good freebies, addressing the challenges her ideal clients face on a regular basis.  Additionally, she will be rolling out messenger strategy.  Adriana and her clients have both noticed that managing connections and conversations can be a major struggle.  On Facebook, for example, it is not easy to find or follow up on messages.  She stumbled onto a program that takes all of your Facebook messages and puts it in a platform that allows for integrated follow-up.  The beauty of that system is that you can train other people to do it for you, so you don’t have to spend a lot of time on social media.

Adriana also shares her two main income generators.  Number one is the nine-month long certification program, where women learn how to start their own publishing companies.  The second one is USA Today bestselling book The Younger Self Letters.  This is a series, so she is filling the second book now.  Next year, she would like to produce four of them.

ADRIANA'S ADVICE FOR HER YOUNGER SELF

I asked Adriana what she would tell herself if she could go back in time, even five years.  She shared that the number one piece of advice for her younger self would be to give people what they already know they want.  Solving problems does lead to a good business – it does lead to revenue.  If you move into the arena of making people’s dreams come true, however, it’s a completely different game.

Adriana spent years giving people what she could see they needed.  She provided solutions for gaps in their business plans and offered ideas for improvement.  If people don’t dream of that, if they don’t want it with every part of them, then it’s easy for them to prioritize their income elsewhere.

If you can identify who you would love to work with and figure out what they dream of, but haven’t figured out how to fulfill or can’t make happen on their own, you’re golden.  You can come alongside them, show them how to make it happen, and make their dreams come true.

As a part two to this advice, Adriana also shares that you can market to anyone you want.  When she first started marketing in the online space, she was targeting people who make over $100,000.  Now she is at the place where she is only marketing those who make over $250,000.  This allows her to reach people with the disposable income to take her up on her offers.

TIPS FOR FIRST-TIME AUTHORS

Adriana recommends working with an indie publisher, especially one that she has certified.  Most of the time, she notes, authors are overachievers.  Most people aren’t going to sit down and write a book – that’s just the truth.  So if you’re an author and an entrepreneur, you’re in the top percentile of your peers. 

The biggest temptation when you’re an overachiever is to take everything on yourself.  Adriana urges authors to bring in support.  Don’t be the person who is handling the bestseller campaign, the hiring of whoever is going to format your book, and all the other moving parts that aren’t your area of expertise.  These will actually take you away from the money-making activities in your business that require your attention.  Make sure you bring in a team to handle the details that can bog authors down, like social media promotion, email newsletters, ad campaigns, and affiliate management.

Adriana shares that they have teams within the certification program, so that even their graduates don’t do all of these things for their own books.  Sticking to your zone of genius is key.  It is very overwhelming, and it takes a lot of work.  When your book comes out, you want to be happy and excited, and you want to be able to celebrate.  If you’re handling too many moving parts, you will hate your launch.

Give yourself a long runway.  The more time you have to check off the boxes and get as much scheduled and delegated as you can, the more likely it is that you will be able to show up with a smile on your face and truly share your message with the world.

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