As the author of a num­ber of influ­en­tial mar­ket­ing books, Seth Godin knows what he’s talk­ing about when it comes to writ­ing and mar­ket­ing a book. Advice for authors is a list of his top 19 tips.

  • Lower your expec­ta­tions. The hap­pi­est authors are the ones that don’t expect much.
  • The best time to start pro­mot­ing your book is three years before it comes out. Three years to build a rep­u­ta­tion, build a per­mis­sion asset, build a blog, build a fol­low­ing, build cred­i­bil­ity and build the con­nec­tions you’ll need later.
  • Your cover mat­ters. Way more than you think. If it didn’t, you wouldn’t need a book… you could just email peo­ple the text.
  • Writ­ing a book is a tremen­dous expe­ri­ence. It pays off intel­lec­tu­ally. It clar­i­fies your think­ing. It builds cred­i­bil­ity. It is a liv­ing engine of mar­ket­ing and idea spread­ing, work­ing every day to deliver your mes­sage with author­ity. You should write one.