Belinda Griffin – Marketer

When Your Life Depends On It: Extreme decision making lessons from the Antarctic

I worked with the authors post-publication to define their reader avatar and amend their marketing strategy accordingly to improve sales.

Brad Borkan said: I discovered Belinda because Orna Ross (who runs ALLi) recommended her. I thought Belinda was great. Very knowledgeable and very responsive. My challenge was identifying the right target audience (there were many to choose from), and how to approach them. Also the whole area of book promotion is daunting and Belinda’s guidance is helpful to identify which are good resources. In between the weekly 1-hour sessions, she was very helpful in answering my many questions by email. I’d highly recommend her services. She is a true gem.

JJ Williams

Jim is a self-published author who was struggling to sell books and feeling frustrated. I educated him on the principles of book marketing - what it is (and isn't) and why it matters - and we started his platform building from the very beginning.

Jim said: I have written 4 books and had sold about the same amount - 4. I was pretty sure that I had a good product but did not know what to do with it. I am old enough that I thought 'social media' was a curse word. I found Belinda through a blog on Alli and decided to give her a call. I had no idea that Zoom could place me in her office, just north of London. Initially, she just asked me questions and listened. When she started talking, I realized what a good listener that she is. Belinda, through her coaching, opened my eyes and directed me to search for answers to questions that I did not even realize that I had; like, Who is your perfect reader? How will you get their attention? What do you define as success?

Since I finished her 5 sessions, I am now an author and a book businessman. I want to sell my books and I am not afraid to pursue various approaches. I highly recommend that any frustrated author seek out Belinda's coaching programs.

Tory Element - Sci-fi

This author, writing under the pen name Tory Element, came to me while still writing his first series. It is always preferable to think about marketing in advance of publishing your book, but few authors do so it was fantastic to get the opportunity to do this.

While working together, we got the author's website set up, his mailing list started, defined his target reader and came up with a plan for outreach that would enable him to start building his fan base while still writing his book. He is in a great position for his first launch.

Tory said: I found Belinda via a podcast and am ever so thankful. Self-marketing and reader/customer research is not inherent to every writer/author. Realizing this applied to me, I made the very good decision to hire Belinda to coach me in the right direction. Her program provided a logical approach, complete with questions and exercises designed to allow me to learn at my speed. Belinda’s method was tailored to my needs and ability, which reflects her respect for her customers as individuals.

Jo Moon - Dark Urban Fantasy

I worked with Jo to help her define her ideal reader and focus her platform building efforts. Jo already understood the importance of connecting with readers, but was confused by all the options available and what her best next step should be. We worked together for just 6 weeks and she was able to gain the clarity she needed.

Jo said: Online courses are good, but they don’t beat coaching from a professional in her field who knows the market well and assesses your author business individually and then tailors support and recommendations specific to you. Working with Belinda not only gave me lots of knowledge and insights, but confidence of what I needed to do to take my author career to the next level. Since finishing my six weeks with Belinda, I have created a professional website, gained hundreds of readers and I am running my own Facebook group. I now have a small but growing team of ARC readers, I’m getting more reviews and I feel more professional and confident as an authorprenuer.

Brian Kindall - Literary fiction (Middle grade and adult)

I worked with Brian to define his target readers for his adult and middle grade literary fiction titles and develop a cohesive marketing strategy that would enable him to consistently reach his audience without experiencing overwhelm or blowing his budget.

Brian said: Belinda's coaching was so effective in helping me to distill my book marketing strategy. Before the coaching, marketing was an overwhelming activity that I threw a lot of time and money at, with not much return. Belinda taught me key marketing concepts that have made all the difference in feeling effective. Realizing that I have an ideal reader that I need to be speaking to directly in my marketing was a real revelation. I now have a clear vision and plan for how to have an authentic online presence. Belinda is wonderful to work with, very clear and knowledgeable, she always has such helpful, friendly, and actionable answers to my questions. I highly recommend her for turning authors and their books into successful businesses.