GET FAT! Yes, really.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: So, all you published and not-yet-published authors out there, now that you've gotten your legal facts straight--thanks to Leslie Budewitz on Tuesday, and you have your book trailer made--thanks to Lisa Black on Wednesday, and you understand why a one-star review might be a good thing--thanks to Catriona McPherson yesterday--now what?

Marketing maven Jen Fusco has three little words:

MARKET OR DIE.

(And for all you readers out there-this proves how incredibly important you are to the future of the books you love. This proves how one kind word--can change an author's life.)

Now. You'd think we at Jungle Red would never advocate getting fat. But Jen Fusco says yes! To succeed--we must all get fat! And, sadly, that has nothing to do with chocolate.

JEN FUSCO: Thanks so much to Hank for allowing me to return to the Blog. I really enjoy spending time with you guys.

The weekend is almost here. I'm glad, too. I could use a rest, but I won't get one. I'll be visiting some new friends in San Diego, CA. And I couldn't be more excited about it. Not only do I get a chance to meet new people and introduce them to some practical marketing techniques, but I also benefit. I have the opportunity to "get fat." No, it has nothing to do with extra dessert at lunch.

Its about widening Market or Die's sphere of influence. Take a look at this. This graph comes from Bob Clark at 24kmarketing.com, someone I like to read when I have time....

Let me explain this sphere of influence thing. You and me, we make up the smallest part of the Core Circle. By being an Market or Die trubie, you are going to know things about MOD first. I need you and your support and hopefully, you need Market or Die.

Now, let’s look at the inner circle. These are your writing groups you work with, your social media "friends" and the professional writing organizations you belong to or other writers you know professionally. Hopefully for some, your readers fall into this category. The outer circle describes the people who know you, but you fail to know them. These are the people who buy your work, form an opinion about it and tell others.

Scary, huh? But also valuable.

To succeed in this business you and I have to get fat. We need to keep widening our sphere of influence and growing our inner circle. Can it be uncomfortable meeting new people? You bet.

The upside? The more people you bring into the inner circle will help you spread a positive message about you and your work to the outer circle.

Those people will be come your brand advocates.

Brand advocates are your village and they have the power to emerge online as your primary influencers. Recently, I ran across a marketing blurb about brand advocates that said using brand advocates yielded a two-to-one positive influencing rate of a friend or family member to buy the product or brand they recommended. Brand advocates are incredibly valuable to an author because they are better connected to other readers and can have a larger sphere of influence.

But Fusco, you say, I’m a published author. I have influence.

True.

But how much time do you have to pound the pavement and stalk the internet?

And, how sick are people going to get of you tooting your own horn?

Isn’t it better when someone else toots it for you? Doesn’t it make the claim that someone should buy your book more powerful if you’re not the one saying it?

Of course it does.

If you want to stay relevant in the competitive world of writing, your time is better spent putting butt to chair and words on paper. Trust me on this one, will you?

So tell me one thing, how you vow to do to widen your circle?

Lesson number two! Advertising! And the keys to making a successful ad. There's one golden rule in advertising. If your audience remembers the ad, but doesn't remember the product, you've failed.

There are millions of great ads out there, but only a few that I remember both the ad and the product the ad was selling.

The biggest one that comes to mind is the Snickers TV ad that featured Betty White playing football. The concept a group of guys razzing a teammate for playing poorly and his teammate says, "You're playing like Betty White out there," until the player eats a Snickers then becomes himself again. The tagline, "You're not you when you're hungry."

Brilliant!!

What we as writers can learn from this piece of advertising is this. MAKE IT MEMORABLE. I know we all don't have budgets to advertise on TV however, some print and online advertising can be affordable. Make your ads interesting enough to the reader so that it will get their attention. (A book cover with an ISBN number running across it IS NOT interesting) Jazz it up.

Don't be afraid to tell the reader why they're going to like your book. And, don't forget to direct them to where to buy it.

So, in thinking about advertising what's worked or hasn't worked for you?

HANK: And what do you think, Reds writers? What's worked for you--and hey, what hasn't? And readers--what makes you choose a book?

And we'll give your choice of Market or Die (for authors) or a book by a Jungle Red author (for readers) to one lucky commenter!