Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mary Helen Sheriff. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Mary thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

There are two ways to make a living from writing fiction: churn out several commercial novels a year or catch lightning in a bottle. Profit on each book sold varies widely. I’ve made as much as $10 on the sale of a book and as little as 30 cents. The average book published today sells about 500 copies. Given the low profitability of writing books, paying for marketing can feel like throwing money away. Unfortunately, if you don’t market your books then no one outside of your immediate friends and family will know your book exists. You have to invest some amount of time and/or money into marketing your book if you want any hope of financial success. As an author marketing coach, I offer low-cost products and tips to help authors save time and money on their book marketing endeavors.

Mary, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I published my debut novel Boop and Eve’s Road Trip in October 2020. Learning to market a book successfully in an industry that Covid upended was on-the-ground training. I discovered that I had a knack for marketing. Over time author friends began turning to me for advice. A year ago I decided to turn author marketing coaching into a side business and help my clients spend less time and money successfully marketing their books. It is really important to me that I’m not yet another person preying on the hopes and dreams of authors and so I offer a good deal of advice through a free monthly newsletter that you can sign up for on my website (maryhelensheriff.com/marketing). I offer several low-cost products as well and am developing several more right now.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

With bookstores (and most everything else) shut down, when my novel launched in 2020 I needed a way to connect with readers. I teamed up with three other authors (Julie Valerie, Melissa Face, and Libby McNamee) and started a Facebook group called Bookish Road Trip. Within two weeks 500 people joined and they were engaged. Two and a half years later we’ve grown. We now have 5000 members, live programming every week, three newsletters, a blog, a book club, and an IG page. Members are people who love books and travel. There are a dozen of us who run the platform now. Facebook groups are an amazing way to build a community. Join a few in your field first, study how they do it, what works for them, and what doesn’t. Connect with admins of the groups you like. Support them. Ask if they have marketing opportunities. Consider starting your own group. The biggest mistake I see authors making on social media is forgetting that social media is supposed to be entertaining. Pushing your book everywhere is not a path success. Making friends, supporting others, being social…that’s what successful marketing on Facebook looks like and groups are a good place to do that.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Launch Pad, a radio show, podcast, and collaborative marketing experience that celebrates new book releases and the authors that created them, is my best source of new clients. I partner with Grace Sammon who hosts four authors on each episode every two weeks. I facilitate monthly group marketing coaching sessions for all of that season’s guests. Many of our guests have arranged to work with me one-on-one as well, have purchased The Ultimate Book Launch Workbook, and some have even hosted me on their own platforms.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://maryhelensheriff.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryhelensheriff/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maryhelensheriff/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryhelensheriff/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrZm_DldCO9Ri1R7W8WnQ2A

Image Credits
I have image rights to all the pictures.