Introverted authors dread one thing above almost everything else: walking up to a stranger and promoting their own book. But what if the perfect opening line already exists, and everyone in the world reaches for it without even thinking?

Thomas: In this episode, we’re talking about a powerful, doable way to market yourself and your writing to complete strangers, even if you’re a total introvert. Introversion seems to be a pretty common malady among people who sit at home alone in front of a computer, writing stories with people in their head who talk to them.

I actually feel bad for the extroverted writer. To be good at writing, you have to sit by yourself in front of a computer, but to recharge your emotional batteries, you have to get around people. I guess that’s why you go to a lot of conferences.

Jim: I guess I do. It’s funny, a lot of people see me as an extrovert, and my wife says, “Of course you’re an extrovert.” But I get my energy from being alone. I love spending six hours alone with my computer, where a lot of people can’t stand that.

Still, I’m pretty comfortable and pretty gregarious in public. I’m not shy around people, but there are a lot of authors who would drop the marketing thing tomorrow if they could, which is why we’re doing this podcast.

Thomas: So teach me your ways. What do you do? Let’s say I’m really uncomfortable in front of crowds, which was totally true for me. I used to hate being in front of people, and even now at conferences, I’m not the kind of person who goes up and introduces himself to folks.

What’s the one question everyone already asks?

Jim: I was thinking about this years ago, and it’s been very effective for me in promoting myself and my books. I asked myself, how can introverts promote themselves without really starting the conversation? Here’s how I do it. What’s the universal question we ask across America and across the world when we meet a stranger?

Thomas: “Hey, what’s up? How are you doing?”

Jim: Right. So when somebody says, “Hey, how are you doing?” I answer, “Wow, I’ve got to tell you, I’m doing pretty good, because the biggest dream of my life came true.” I do this at the airport, checking my baggage. “Well, I’ve got to tell you, I’m doing pretty good.”

Thomas: They get pretty curious.

Jim: Exactly, and of course they say, “Really? Well, what’s your dream?”

“Oh gosh, since I was 11 years old, I’ve wanted to be a novelist.”

“Really? And?”

“Yeah, I got published.”

“Oh, you’re kidding me, that’s so cool. Do you have a bookmark?”

And boom, you hand them a bookmark or a card, and you’ve made a connection.

Our contention is that the best form of marketing will always be word of mouth. That person takes the bookmark, and they check out your books.

How do you keep it from sounding salesy?

Thomas: And you’re doing it in a way that’s not super salesy, especially if it’s not manipulative. You need to be genuinely excited.

Jim: That’s a great point. But honestly, if you’re a published author, take time to think, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m actually a published author.” Don’t lose that wonder.

Thomas: If you’re not excited about your book, you really shouldn’t be promoting it. I know authors who’ve been promoting the same book for two years, and after a while they start hating it, because they’re constantly on the radio talking about it while they’re working on new stuff they’d rather discuss.

Once you get to that point, you go to your publisher and say, “I know this book is still selling, but I’d be happier, and you’d be wealthier, if I could start talking about the next one. So when can we get that one out?”

Jim: Try it. You’re getting your hair cut, and the stylist knows you, maybe you see them once every six weeks. When they ask how you’re doing, try it. “I’ve got to tell you, I can’t believe it, my biggest dream came true.” That’s all you have to say, and they’ll carry it the rest of the way for you.

What if you don’t have a book yet?

Thomas: So what do you do if you don’t have your book yet, if you’re just working on it?

Jim: You say it anyway. “I’m working on my dream.”

Thomas: Which is really encouraging, because everybody has a dream, and they’re working to make it happen. When they hear that some normal guy who just got his hair cut is making his dream happen, that’s motivating. Now I’m rooting for you, and I’m rooting for me too. It’s a win-win.

Jim: It’s a win-win, and it’s a connection point. You have to tell your story to everybody, because you never know who you’ll meet or what connection you’ll make.

I have a friend who came up with a phenomenal sub shop in a small town in Washington, and he decided to franchise it. He put $30,000 into the legal work and setup, so he was ready to go. The magazine he got excited about was Franchise America, a trade magazine for people doing franchises. He emailed the editor in chief and said, “I love your magazine. It’s given me so many ideas. We’re just starting the franchise, and we’re doing some edgy things with our sub shop.” She wrote back within an hour and said she’d love to interview him.

Thomas: Enthusiasm is contagious, especially when it’s genuine. If you doubt it, go interact with a child who’s genuinely enthusiastic about Batman. You may not have cared about Batman, but now you’re going to watch the next movie, because this kid will not stop talking about it.

Jim: He draws you in. I was on a plane last summer, coming home from a conference, and I sat next to a woman. She asked how I was doing, and I told her I’d just won an award, so a big dream had come true. She asked what for, and I told her I was an author.

We started talking, and I really liked her, so I gave her one of my books. She promised she’d read it and get back to me with feedback. I never heard from her, through July, August, September, and October. Then in October, a friend of mine called and said he’d sat next to a woman on a plane who mentioned she’d met an author named Jim Rubart six months earlier. It was the same woman, and she’d been devouring my books the whole time.

Two weeks ago, I was at a restaurant and she walked up and asked if I was James L. Rubart. Now she’s a passionate fan spreading the word.

Thomas: And you weren’t really talking about your book, you were talking about your dream and your excitement. That separation makes it easier to promote, and people love hearing enthusiasm like that.

Jim: Exactly, because like you said, they have their own dream, and it inspires them to go after it.

Thomas: The mini tip here is to give away your book like crazy. I know an author who probably gives away 200 or 300 copies of his book, and because of that, people read it and sell it to others through referrals. Occasionally someone buys a case.

If you’ve got that kind of viral book, it’s a lot easier to just hand someone a signed copy than to get them to buy it, and that gets more people talking about it.

Jim: Every time I’m on a plane, I bring a book, because I know I’ll give one away every ride. That’s what spreads it. I ran into the mom of one of my son’s friends at the library, and I said, “Hey, can I show you something?” I walked her to the fiction section, pointed at the books, and said, “I wrote these.” She checked them out on the spot. It wasn’t a hard thing to do, or a very extroverted one.

Thomas: You don’t have to become an Amway person.

Jim: You don’t. You can simply tell your story. Later, I ran into her at a party, and she told me the substitute teacher was now reading my books too.

A lot of times we think marketing has to be some big, huge push, when sometimes it’s just a small, one person contact that starts the wildfire.

What’s the “patient zero” theory of book marketing?

Thomas: Think of it this way, and this is a little grisly, but it’s a powerful metaphor. You’re patient zero for your idea virus, and you have to infect enough people to get the virus to take off.

If you’re unwilling to infect people one on one, your book is much less likely to go viral, and that’s what everyone wants, for their book to spread like crazy.

Any sickness needs a critical mass to get started. I hate that the metaphor is disease.

The Bible uses the metaphor of leaven and dough, but that’s even more mysterious, since nobody really knows how that works either.

Jim: It’s the avalanche. The avalanche has to reach a certain point before it has enough weight for the snowball to keep going.

Thomas: And then it starts to tumble. I know this can feel scary. As a fellow introvert, I don’t want to talk about my book either, but just share your excitement. That excitement is contagious, and if you want something to go viral, contagion is a good thing.

Marketing Email

Subject: The Line That Turns “How Are You?” Into a Reader

Most authors are told to walk up to a stranger and start promoting their book. James L. Rubart never does.

Jim Rubart, cohost of the Novel Marketing Podcast and bestselling author of ten novels including Rooms and Soul’s Gate, has spent years turning baggage lines, barber chairs, and airplane seats into word of mouth for his books, all without saying a single promotional word.

What happens when you answer “How are you doing?” with a full sentence instead of a shrug? One accidental conversation on an airplane took six months to pay off, and Jim still isn’t sure he could have planned it that way.

What do you say if you haven’t published a single word yet? Jim has an answer, and it turns out the dream works just as well as the book.

Why does Jim compare your book to a virus, and is that actually something you want?

Listen to the episode or read the full interview on the blog, so the next stranger who asks how you’re doing doesn’t walk away without hearing about your dream.