Online Community for Authors

Authors On The Net has a lot of content to help authors learn how to use the Internet to promote their books. Click on the sections below to get a feel for what Authors On The Net has to offer authors. The information is organized into to categories and sections and follows the logic that an author needs to first create a plan and then implement tactics to execute that plan. This content is available to all associates free of charge, but registration is required. Once you have registered, be sure to visit our Author Tools section frequently to watch our video tutorials which we will add on a regular basis. Read on to see an overview of the DRILL system . . .

The structure of Authors On The Net is built around the DRILL system. DRILL was first introduced in Phil Davis' book, Fast & Furious Book Promotion and stands for:

• D – Develop realistic goals
• R – Research your market
• I – Invent your Strategy
• L – Layout your tactical plan
• L – Leverage your assets

If you click on the Promote Your Book button on the left-hand sidebar, you will see how the subcategories follow DRILL by discussing Goals, Research, Strategy, Tactics and then building your final book promotion plan. While content in these categories will grow over time, the overall structure will remain fairly fixed.

We built Authors On The Net to provide a cost-effective way for an author looking for help on how to promote a book online. While you may be tempted to jump right into the tactics section and start listing your book all over the place, sending off press releases, building book trailers and joining every social network known to humankind, we encourage you to follow the DRILL steps.  Here's why:

If you take the time to think through and write down some goals, research your target audience and invent your own strategy, at least three things will happen: 

1. You won't incur unnecessary expenses. but rather you'll make intelligent investments
2. You will make better decisions and have more confidence in your decisions
3. You will be 100% committed to selling your book

When you know what your goals are, who your readers are and how best to sell to those readers, you will begin seeing the most cost-effective ways to reach those readers. For example, if you have a business book you might see an opportunity to do book tours at major companies like Google and Microsoft. Spending money to get in front of hundreds or thousands of your target readers is an investment with an expected return. Most tactics you will choose cost money. When you throw your money at tactics with no target audience in mind, that money is not well invested; it is merely being "expensed" away.

When you begin making your promotional plan, you will soon realize you have hundreds of tactics to choose from. AON will introduce you to many of them. Should you use every tactic you find on AON? Probably not. In addition, as you go about inventing your own strategy, you may come up with a completely unique idea. When you know who your audience is, you will find that saying yes to some tactics while saying no to others becomes easier. 
The DRILL system is built around the concept that YOU are the best salesperson for YOUR book and when you have a plan in place you will be 100% committed to that plan. Many authors we have worked with over the years have not been overly excited to go out and sell their books and didn't have thousands of dollars to hire consultants to help them. This need authors have spawned the idea of Authors On The Net. We've set out to build a cost-effective system authors can follow to simplify the book selling process.

In addition, we realize that not all books will become best-sellers, but we do believe that all authors have a target audience. If an author can find his or her target audience, then the author might sell a few hundred or a few thousand copies or, you never know, hit it big. It's possible. Authors hit it big every year. But you won't hit it big - or sell a few thousand copies - if no one knows your book exists. 

Fight the urge to run out and start implementing tactics. Build your plan first. You'll see it won't take that long and it will be a great roadmap to your success.