How to Create 6 Months of Content with Valerie Morris | Ep. 66

What if your book isn’t the brand… you are? 

Allison Lane sat down with Valerie Morris, marketing strategist and author visibility expert, to break down how to earn trust, build credibility, and get noticed by readers and publishers. 

From cutting through noisy online advice to choosing visibility tactics that actually fit your life, Valerie shares proven strategies that will help you show up, get seen, and stay sane. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed trying to market your book, this episode is your shortcut. 

Press play and take notes.

What You’ll Learn:

• The visibility mistake most people make—and how to fix it.
• Why branding matters more than your book title.
• A simple strategy to create 6 months of promo content 

Resources Mentioned:

• Valerie Morris' website: https://www.tinterocreative.com/ 
• Connect with Valerie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerielmorris/ 
• Book Reco: The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About by Mel Robbins: https://bookshop.org/a/55773/9781401971366 

Timestamps:

• 03:22 – Why visibility feels like a full-time job 
• 12:15 – What most people get wrong about book promotion
• 22:50 – How to turn 12 chapters into 24 weeks of content
• 31:08 – The one list everyone should start building today
• 39:40 – What real branding looks like in the age of AI

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Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo6qjdJPNco

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Transcript

Valerie: 0:00

as long as the book's not coming outta left field, most people have some idea of your values, your story. And so, depending upon what the book is about, you already have a built-in audience in some cases. And if you just tap into that, you're one step further along. You don't have to start from scratch.

Allison: 0:45

Hi there and welcome back to the Author's Edge. I'm your host, Allison Lane. I was almost gonna say I'm your podcast, but you know what I am. I am your host, Allison Lane. I am your chaperone through this publishing maze, this journey, whatever it is, a puzzle. And I know that it seems complicated, but it's only complicated because you haven't learned about it yet. You know, that's how I felt about two. And then, once you get it, you're like, oh, okay, I get it. They didn't tell you that instead of numbers, they changed the numbers to letters and now like two x equals four x equals two. Hello, now I get it, but they did not explain that and my literary brain had a breakdown. From that breakdown when the pressure to show up and be visible online and understand the trends and the algorithms and the nonstop advice, it's really cringey, it's overwhelming, it's painful. And it makes you want to make an iced tea and go sit outside. It's not because you're lazy or it's too much for you, and also other people aren't getting it when you can't. It's that you're busy and you're trying to be great at doing the work that you actually do, and being visible feels like another full-time job that we don't want that to happen. We want you to be sharing what you know outside of the job that you are in, because that's the world we live in now. You don't have to live in the tiny box of the occupation, the one job, because you're missing opportunities to contribute. Whether it's media or speaking, or clients, or just credibility. How do you show up consistently without selling out or burning out? That's why we're here. So, don't worry about it. Today, I'm talking to Valerie Morris, who's a marketing strategist who helps authors and executives and experts build standout personal brands that are true and right, and can be folded into your life that won't feel like you are chipping away at your sleep time or your family time, or your chillax time. So, Valerie, I'm so ready for you to break down what really works right now from LinkedIn to Launch Strategies and how people can choose the right activities that fit for them. So let's get into it.

Valerie: 3:41

Yeah. Thanks so much for having me. And I just have to say, hands up. Say it again For the people in the back, like what you just shared all accurate. Like when I launched my book and I worked through my first book, it was all the same things. It's like you don't know what you don't know, and they need podcasts like yours to help break down. Here's what to focus on because there is so much noise out there. There's so many opinions.

Allison: 4:10

Right. There's no way you can know everything. And when the thing is, when you're a grownup and you've achieved a certain level of success, you are used to learning it all so that you can be you know, director of PR, or marketing maven, or a physician in an ER. So, you're used to learning all the things, but that's not actually helpful in this. You don't have to start from the beginning and become an expert in this too. You already have enough to do.

Valerie: 4:49

Well, And a lot of people only put out one book. And so it's a lot of work to figure out how do I make this one book work well. When if you can find somebody that knows the process and knows what you should focus on, what you shouldn't. It just helps eliminate a lot of that stress. And I just found like as I was looking through what to do, what not to do. For my own book through my marketing lens, I obviously had the marketing intuition to guide me, but I would say trust your gut so much in this process. If something sounds too good to be true or spammy, it probably is. And I see that a lot in this space. So, when you come across things that feel authentic and feel genuine and feel like, okay, that makes logical sense as to why this would work for launching a book or getting my book live. That's the stuff I lean into.

Allison: 5:48

Yeah. I have joined programs or taken classes. Just in hopes that someone will say, do this. Not that. Like don't research anything. You don't need to know all the things. This is the only thing you have to do. If someone else says you should, go on a retreat. Just know that's a$15,000 experience. That's like taking a vacation with strangers. That's not will actually get you to the goal that you've set. Now, if you don't have a goal, then maybe a retreat is the right thing for you, and that's a good use of your nickels, but it's having someone say, go left, not right, or it's door number two. So much easier.

Valerie: 6:36

There are so many doors you could open. You know, you need somebody to say, these are the ones you should focus on opening.

Allison: 6:42

Yes. I find myself with my clients saying this phrase over and over again. Oh, you don't need to do that. No. Don't do that. Wait, I don't need to do that. No. I have a shortcut for that. Or no, no one needs that. Don't just take it off the list. So, when we're talking about mistakes like that,'cause we're I'm kind of like speaking speaking in generalities. What's a mistake people making when it comes to building their presence as a standout voice?

Valerie: 7:17

I think one of the, oh gosh, there's a few that come to mind, but the one that comes to mind the most, and I've been talking with people, even other friends who are in marketing, they struggle with this as well. But authors I think, struggle with this even more because it's so easy to be behind your computer, typing away, pen names are a thing in this industry, whereas in other industries. You wouldn't hide behind somebody else's name. You would just put yourself out there. But so many authors they don't put their face, they don't put their name out there as prominently as they could or should. And I see them, pushing the title of their book, which is great, but they don't realize that they are the brand. The book is a product of that author brand,

Allison: 8:04

That's what I say.

Valerie: 8:06

You and I just steal your words. Twinning. You know, I'm so glad that someone else agrees. Like Yeah.

Allison: 8:14

book is a product. Oh yes, Yes.

Valerie: 8:17

And so many people, they like shrink and they hide away from that when really they need to be putting themselves more forefront because people are going to connect with you. They're gonna connect with your story, and why you even wrote the book in the first place. And that's gonna connect people to your message even more. There's a bunch of people that, like I follow a I love podcasts, I love listening to podcasts. I live in the country and so I drive a lot. I listen while I drive. I listen on dog walks, all the things. And I had an author that's also a podcaster that I've been following for years. Released a book this spring and I didn't even really pay much attention to what it was about. I just knew I liked her stuff and so I bought the book. It was all about her, the podcast, the book, her courses, her quizzes, all of those things are centered around her. And so, you know, when I talk to authors who you know, they want somebody to do their social media for them or help them with their email campaigns, or help them manage their launch. We can do all of those things. But if you're not willing to get in front of a camera and have some photography taken, or take some selfies, or amateur photography of you out in the world showing your, interacting with your book with other people. You're really missing out on a very key element that other authors are leveraging in such a great way. But your personal brand makes a difference. And what's encouraging for what I see, if somebody's willing to embrace the author brand concept, a lot of people already have that personal presence in one way or the other. They already might have a LinkedIn profile. It may not always be completely direct line of communication or theme to what their book's about, but they already have people who like and care about them and their subject matter. And as long as the book's not coming outta left field, most people have some idea of your values, your story. And so, depending upon what the book is about, you already have a built-in audience in some cases. And if you just tap into that, you're one step further along. You don't have to start from scratch.

Allison: 10:37

Oh my gosh. Okay. So many things that I wanna dig in on. Okay. The thing about people waiting. They wanna talk about the book without talking about themselves. And I find that when they wanna talk about the book, they wanna talk about the plot. Even when it's nonfiction. They're like, no, people really need, like in chapter three, I go into this. And I think people really need that. Nobody wants to be sold to. And the step that authors can lean into is to talk about the need for the book, even if it's a year before the book comes out. Yeah. What I hear a lot is, I have to plan when I'm gonna start marketing the book. Like, I think you're using the term marketing for selling and no one wants to be sold to.

Valerie: 11:33

Right.

Allison: 11:33

So, you don't have to wait to start talking about the need, the risk of not having this book. Why culturally, we all need to talk more about this topic or the value of collaborating around. Even if you're writing fiction. There are themes. I mean, think about the movie it ends with us. It starts with us. I don't know.

Valerie: 12:00

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The Colleen Hoover books.

Allison: 12:03

The whole plot is about intimate partner violence. That's the conversation that is had not, here's what happens in this scene. And despite setting aside the drama of the actors, but when any actor is in their movie promo. Tom Cruise is doing the movie promo. How many people have seen him jump out of a helicopter behind the scenes with the director in the helicopter going like, oh, I'm not gonna go. And all the promo is all about how Tom does his own stunts. And how elaborate that is.

Valerie: 12:47

Yeah.

Allison: 12:48

And versus the plot of the movie'cause everybody knows the plot of the movie. It's Mission Impossible, we get it. There's gonna be a mission and it's gonna feel impossible. Surprise. But the whole promo is about the making of the movie. It's not about the plot or who's in it, or who's the villain or what the twist is. So, I think people get way too, they think that 12 or even six months before the book comes out is the time to like that's when they can really start talking about the book or marketing the book. But no. So, tell me, what do you tell people what should they be talking about during that time? I mean, I have my own list, but I wanna hear yours.

Valerie: 13:37

So, as far as actually talking about the book specifically, I tend to say if you're going to promote your book or market the quote unquote book, you wanna make sure you're actually going to do it. So, once you are a hundred percent confident that this book is going to become a thing, you can start talking about it as if it's got the launch date, it's got the deadline you're working towards. However, the themes that go into your book, like you're just talking about. Should be things that you are talking about any and all the time because they're part of that personal brand. If you are a leadership coach for managers, you should be talking about leadership principles in the workplace all the time. Those should be things that people regularly associate with you and your name. And it's just part of the natural conversation. And honestly, you're priming your audience to learn that you are an expert in X, Y, Z. So, then when you have a book release about it, it's not a surprise at all. And actually people are primed and wanting more from you because they've gotten a little taste here and there, but they want the meat of it, which is what's gonna be in the book. And one of the other things that I think about, we, before we hit record. We talked about the fact that I've got young toddlers. I am in the toddler phase and I go on Instagram and I see reels of parenting experts talking about how to get your kid to eat more vegetables or behavior or gentle parenting techniques or whatever. And it's a video clip teaching me how to get my kid to eat broccoli tonight, or how many times to get my kid to try a new food. That same person probably has a book or will have a book about techniques to raising a kid that's not a picky eater, but that little clip about how to get my kid to eat broccoli is maybe one or two sentences in their book, and it's a two minute clip on Instagram or TikTok or wherever you're consuming your content. It's a little snippet. That is teaching me something. It's related to the theme of a book and it's material that could then be used in a book. In the marketing space. I've been to many marketing conferences. I started off initially as a marketer. That's really my jam and that's what I've infused into this book process'cause I felt like it was a missing piece in the conversation for a lot of people. But I'd go to these marketing conferences and people are trying to figure out like, what do I talk about on social media? What do I put on my email newsletters? What do I put on my website? What do I blog about? What do I make videos about? And I've listened to many talks about this, but essentially the concept is that, if you're writing a book or if you've written a book, you have almost unlimited ideas of what you could create social media content for, or blog posts content, or video content. You pull out one or two quotes from your book. And you can create a two minute YouTube short talking about one topic, and you can reverse engineer that. You can build out the smaller pieces of content and compile them in a book, or you already have a book, break it apart. It's a really resourceful tool when comes to kind of building your awareness and your just that know and trust factor around you being an expert in a certain subject matter.

Allison: 17:17

Absolutely. So, there's I mean, a book is say 50,000 words. There are probably at least two facts, or two quotes, or two pieces per chapter that you can just pull out. And I hate to say just, but you can pull out make social tiles, use Canva it's free. And there you go. Now, your book is 12 chapters. So, now you have 24 social quotes. That's amazing. That's you know, if you're gonna post once a week, which you should post more than that, but still like there you go. Now, you have a couple a month that you have, and all you did was pull them out of your book.

Valerie: 18:05

Yeah.

Allison: 18:06

Tell us all the photo of you, working on your book.

Valerie: 18:08

Exactly.

Allison: 18:08

Your messy desk, your favorite pen. Everybody has a favorite pen.

Valerie: 18:12

Yes. Take them along the journey of what it's like to write a book. I think that's I see a lot of fiction authors do that really well because like you were saying, there's a few themes within fiction books that you can talk about in deeper levels, but it's not as much of an educational thing, so it's not like you're gonna sit there and explain the broccoli toddler thing necessarily for a fiction book. But you can take them along for the journey of what it's like to write the book. How to get into the character's head. How would this character respond to this thing that just happened to me in real life today? There's so many things that you can do to take people along the journey. And that's what people are really gonna connect with. Obviously, you want a good book and it's gonna be you know, you want it something that they're gonna read and enjoy with the finished product. But that journey is part of the process as well.

Allison: 19:06

Absolutely. Even when Shadow and Bone came out, do you remember that book is like a fantasy. And then, Netflix made a limited series about it. The search for the actress just global. And that was Marketing angle because they needed someone of a certain ethnicity who was young enough and could channel the power and vulnerability. You can tell that I really watched a lot like some of these interviews'cause I was fascinated with the Shadow and Bone books. That's a trilogy. That was a marketing angle, just that of like, how fascinating, how many people auditioned for that. It was like hundreds of people. And that's an angle. Without Anything else about the storyline, you could get hooked into that.

Valerie: 20:02

Yeah.

Allison: 20:02

So, yeah, when we're talking about cutting through the noise, because even on LinkedIn, there are lots of videos pop up and I think people are getting the gist of like, it's really easy to take a selfie video. There are a lot of bad ones. So, how do you direct people to cut through and maybe skip the you know, missteps so that their time is productive, but they're creating quality?

Valerie: 20:35

Yeah. I think one of the biggest things is understanding the psychology of the people in our world. Think about yourself. Think about the videos that you resonate with the most. And then, think about what are they doing well, what are they not doing well? but also one of the things that I've been paying attention to a lot is that gosh, they've been saying this now for almost 10 years, but our attention span as human beings is on average less than that of a goldfish. And so, it's like a few seconds of focus, that we've got. So, you've got to get people hooked from the beginning. Don't do these long-winded intros or whatever. Just get straight to the point, especially if it's on social media. People want to know what you're gonna talk about and why. I think about when I go to a YouTube channel or I go to find a YouTube video of like how to insert blah blah, blah on my website, I'm trying to figure out something technical and I just wanna know how to do this. Or how to fix the filter on my lawnmower. And I get to this video and there's some guy standing next to a lawnmower and he does this like one minute intro of who he is and what he does and who sponsored the video, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, just get to the point. I just wanna know how to fix this stupid filter. Yeah. So the best videos I'm seeing right now are at least hooking you with the question first. And then, partway into the conversation, what are the best tactics to getting your book into, across new eyeballs today? Hey, I'm Valerie Morris. I'm a book marketing expert who can blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like, you just lead it in after you've given the initial hook of here's what I'm gonna be talking about. That's one of the things that I've seen and a lot of people, they're just so long-winded. You don't need a 20 minute video when a two minute video will suffice. And again, you can push people to get the longer clip for a podcast or a full YouTube interview or whatnot People can click and listen to the whole thing later. But as far as like social media. The shorter the clips, the better, at least from what I'm seeing right now. So, yeah, and be authentic. I think in today's world, a lot of people, especially Gen Z, they don't really want the highly produced videos. They don't want to see with a ton of makeup on, with the fancy lights, and the pristine hair. They'd rather see you out and about with the wind blowing your hair around. Maybe you don't have picture perfect makeup. Maybe there's a dog that runs behind you and ruins the shot. But they know that it's authentic and that generation specifically can sniff that out so easily. They can tell if something's been overproduced versus feels more authentic. And especially in the world of AI today, I think having that authenticity where it's like, oh my gosh, I sneezed, or I coughed in the middle of this video. Just keep going. But it shows that it's actually you because AI videos aren't gonna have, you know, a cough in the middle.

Allison: 23:51

or a

Valerie: 23:51

Yeah.

Allison: 23:52

Right?

Valerie: 23:54

And people wanna connect with the real you. I think that's one of the things, the more and more I'm seeing AI take over in certain aspects, the more I'm personally drawn to these real time conversations where we're getting texts from the principal at our kids' school right before we hit record on a podcast. That did because that's real life. But I appreciate that interaction so much more than something that's so pristine and perfect that people are like, is this really Valerie or is this an AI avatar?

Allison: 24:28

Oh my gosh. I just recently tried to create an AI photo of myself and the photo is so ridiculous. All I did was feed it my images, you know, i'm like, 15 pictures of myself. And then I clicked create something and it created something that was essentially me as a sorcerer in a cave. I fed it, headshots. There's like lightning bugs behind me. I'm wearing a cloak that's like the sorcerer's apprentice. I have dimples, which I don't, my hair is braid like super long and braided. All the pictures I gave it. My hair is the same, you know, like this is me. I was like, who is in the machine? Who thought that was the assignment? Super weird. Not that I would not love to be a sorceress. I mean, who doesn't want some magic powers.

Valerie: 25:31

I mean, don't get me wrong, like some of this stuff is fun. But a lot of it, I think the more and more we see the stuff where we know it's not real, when we do see the real stuff. Especially from somebody where they're the personal brand of the book or the author brand. It just carries so much more meaning, and I think it's only going to continue to carry more meaning. Those authentic interactions are going to be so much more valuable here in the future.

Allison: 25:59

Yep. Ugh. Okay. Let's pivot. Tell me about a book you love right now.

Valerie: 26:06

Okay. I am gonna be a little cliche, but I have been reading Mel Robbins Let Them Theory book.

Allison: 26:12

The Let Them Theory? Yes.

Valerie: 26:13

And I know it's so popular, but there's a lot of wise words in that book. And I love the simplicity of just the phrase let them, it's so easy to carry around throughout your day to just say when things happen, to just let it roll over you and let them. I remember my husband and I had to do IVF in order to have our two kids. And I knew going into the process like, okay, I'm gonna be pumping my body with all these hormones and I do not know what's gonna happen. Am I gonna be Jekyll and Hyde? Who knows? And so, I had this little post-it on my bathroom mirror that said; remember, just ignore your emotions today. And I had that on there just during, not that I should ignore my emotions forever, but just during those couple of weeks when I was taking all the medications and all the things I just knew, I might be a little bit more irritable. And to just imagine those emotions just flying right over my head. And as I've been reading the Let Them Theory book, I've been having similar kind of reminiscence of that timeframe of just, it's okay, I can let that thing happen around me or I can let that person say whatever. And I don't have to let it control how I'm responding. So, yeah, I'm enjoying that one. So for what that's worth.

Allison: 27:38

Well, I think two.

Valerie: 27:38

Cliche, but it's it's a good one.

Allison: 27:40

Authors who are launching their books and they get in their heads, they see somebody else do something like, maybe I should do that. No. Let them do their marketing plan. You are owning your marketing plan. Well, they're speaking at this conference. But that conference isn't for you.

Valerie: 27:58

That's not your industry.

Allison: 27:59

That's not your industry. Yeah. Or somebody else is starting a Facebook group. You don't need to be a part of it. So, it sort of goes both ways, whatever they say. And also whatever you do and that whatever you see someone else do, and you think, should I be doing that? Stick to your knitting.

Valerie: 28:17

Well, and also if I think it's good wisdom too for authors on the flip side, once your book is out of, if you get bad reviews or reviews that aren't completely stellar, or you come across people that just aren't interested in your book, just let them. It's okay. Your book is not gonna be for every single person, and you need to be okay with that reality. And yeah, that's just a reality. Not everyone is gonna resonate with every single book, so you need to be okay with attracting and repelling the right people who are going to want to read your book versus not.

Allison: 28:58

All right. That's a good lesson. So, before we call this podcast complete, one thing you want people to do today?

Valerie: 29:08

Ooh, today.

Allison: 29:10

I know today tiny steps of action, build momentum. So, what's one tip you want people to do today?

Valerie: 29:22

Okay. One thing you can do today, and you can do this whether you are about to launch a book or you are in the throes of it, or you're book is just an idea right now. You're not really sure when it's coming out. Or even if your book has been out for a while or not. Go start a spreadsheet. I'm a big fan of spreadsheets. I love them. But go start a spreadsheet and just list out 10 to 20 people who are in your corner for your book. If you haven't written your book yet, but you know what it's gonna be about. Start thinking through who in your network is on your side or could be a resource. And just put some notes around Hey they could be a cheerleader for my book, or they might just be a fan. They could help me connect up with local libraries. Put some little notes around how you might be able to leverage that relationship. And just make the list. You don't have to necessarily take action on it today. You might come across some ideas of specific things you could do, but one of the things that I do when I'm working with people on managing their launches is I have them create some initial lists like this. And I tell them, you can start this at any point. And honestly, the earlier you start it, the better because you're gonna have people come to mind. Once you're starting to pay attention for these people in your life. You will be out to dinner with a friend and realize, oh, they would be great to add to my list. And they don't have to know that they're on this list. You can leverage the list whenever you're ready to invite people to be on your launch team or to help you out with something. But just create your own little informal CRM management of data, if you will, of who is in your corner to help you as you promote your book.

Allison: 31:18

That is so wise. I think people forget that people are around you and in your corner and you're so vulnerable'cause you think, I hope people will like this. But then part of you is whispering it, so you're not even telling people, how can they show you they like it that they support you unless you invite them to

Valerie: 31:40

Yeah. I mean, when I was working on my book, I realized that one of my, I actually had two friends that work full-time at my library. They were the ones who got my book into my local library. I didn't even really have to do much. It was very easy for me, and they were able to answer questions for me about how to get into other libraries.

Allison: 32:03

Awesome.

Valerie: 32:04

They aren't entrepreneurs, they aren't authors themselves, but they work at the library. So, just think about who you've got in your community. There's more people than you realize who are able to be resources for you.

Allison: 32:18

So wise, Valerie, thank you so much. Where can people find you?

Valerie: 32:22

Yeah. Yeah. So, I am very active over on LinkedIn, if you are LinkedIn person. And then, you can also find me and more resources@tinteroauthorsolutions.com. So, that's T as in Tom, I-N-T-E-R-O. Author solutions.com and I'd love to connect.

Allison: 32:39

We will put everything in the show notes where to find you. Your book, your book Reco, and probably more. Who knows? We'll look at the transcript and pull everything out. Thank you so much. And you driving around looking for the parking place while you're trying to figure out how you're gonna get shorts for your 14-year-old daughter that actually cover her tokus. I don't know if that's you. It certainly has been me, recently. Listen, this is your future more direct, more simple actions that you are clear and confident about taking. That's what we do here. If this is speaking to you, please leave a review and leave a five star review. If you're gonna leave anything less than that, email me and tell me what else do you want? I can take feedback. Feedback is a gift. But leave a review and share it with someone. People need support, and you can be that person. And until next time, I know you have an edge as an author, so lean into it. Okay. Next time..