How I used LinkedIn to self publish a bestseller with no platform, no email list, and no money

Photo courtesy of Ray Stinson Design & Photography

Yes, you saw that right. On January 2, 2015, I started this writing journey with just an idea and modest expectations. On March 31, 2015, I self published the Kindle version of my debut book, Rebuild: A 12-Part Framework for Rejuvenating and Restoring the Burnt-Out Pastor, to a warm reception and best-selling status in the Amazon Marketplace.

And I did this with no platform, no email list, and no money--three must-haves for a successful book launch.

So, how did I accomplish this great feat? Let's start at the beginning.

The backstory

I began my pastoral career in 2008 at the age of 26, with an appointment to Tanner-Price African Methodist Episcopal Church in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, where I served faithfully for four years. At the beginning of that fourth year, I was appointed Presiding Elder over all of the AME churches in Canada. At the age of 29, I was the youngest in the denomination to serve in this position.

At the conclusion of that year, the Bishop claimed to hear from God and sent me back to my home state of Michigan, where I pastored a church in the city of Flint. From day one, there were problems. Problems that proved too insurmountable to overcome. I was going to be moved again, but before that happened, I resigned. I had had enough. I was burnt out.

I had experienced complete burnout nine months into this assignment, my rock-bottom moment being the day I realized that there was nothing I was going to be able to do to prevent the powers that be from ousting me from that pulpit after just one painfully short year.

It was at this moment that I wanted to quit. No use in my trying to pastor people and preach messages of hope, faith, and encouragement to them when I myself had little of either. I was definitely ready to leave, but by the grace of God, and by God introducing podcasting into my life, I stuck it out and finished the year on fumes.

I had gotten to the point in this tumultuous year of crippling conflict that my hour-long commutes from my house to the church office were filled with headaches, shortness of breath, and tears under the oppressive weight of scrutiny and daily criticism from people who nearly wanted nor accepted me.

When I started listening to Michael Hyatt's "This is Your Life" podcast, and then to many others, including "Entrepreneur on Fire" by John Lee Dumas, "Podcast Answer Man" by Cliff Ravenscraft, "Smart Passive Income" by Pat Flynn, "#ThinkDigital" by Justin Wise, and the "Ray Edwards Podcast," everything began to change for me.

By turning off the music and turning on the broadcasts of successful entrepreneurs, many of whom were men and women of faith, I began to experience the same shift in mindset that helped these people to be successful.

By flooding my ears with podcasts, I began to be encouraged. My attitude about my situation changed dramatically. Even though the situation itself never changed, I gained the strength to get through it, and when I resigned at year's end, I did so not because I was giving up, but because I was taking control of my situation and charting a different path for myself.

A path that included not sinking off into oblivion and regarding my experiences with shame, but rather using what I had been through to put together a more inspired, more relevant Doctor of Ministry project and dissertation on pastoral burnout, and distilling all my lessons learned into my debut book.

The process

The mindset shift I experienced as a result of becoming an avid podcast listener didn’t help me overcome the assault on my pastoral career and remain at my church, but it did allow me to put everything I had been through in perspective, develop a passion for helping fellow burnt-out pastors toward recovery, and use both that passion and the lessons learned to complete my DMin studies and write this book.

I defended my dissertation on November 20, 2014. Approximately one month later, I had a two-day brainstorming session that resulted in a four-unit, 12-chapter outline that served as my content roadmap for the book. January 2, 2015, I began writing, and March 31, 2015 was my official release date to Kindle.

So, in approximately 90 days, I wrote an entire book, developed an effective marketing campaign around it, and successfully published it to the marketplace, where it quickly ascended to close to the top of the charts in several categories. Here are the steps I took accomplish this feat and make my dreams become a reality.

1. Before I wrote a single word, I set a big, fat, hairy, audacious goal and made myself accountable to it by announcing it in public.

In December 2014, I knew I was going to write a book in 2015, but I didn’t want to take all year to write it. First of all, I had other goals in my mind for 2015 in addition to the book, and I didn’t want writing to get in the way of those goals. Secondly, I wanted to take a break after finishing my dissertation, but it was important for me to get this project finished and behind me before I took that break.

I had just written a 60,000-word dissertation, so I was still in the flow of writing. Had I taken that break before writing, it would have been significantly more difficult to get back in the flow and write a 50,000-word book.

I therefore announced my book and my audacious publication goal via Instagram on January 2, 2015, stating that I would be publishing this book during the first quarter of this year. As time went along, it became very clear I would need the entire first quarter to release this book successfully, so I chose the last possible date of Q1, March 31, 2015, as my official release date. As God would have it, that date was a Tuesday, the day of the week book and music products are typically released.

As I came to learn through this process, projects like this one typically take much more time to complete, especially the marketing aspects thereof, but in my naivety, I gave myself just 90 days. Since I announced it on social media, I was thus accountable to making it happen. And by God’s grace, I actually did make it happen.

2. I developed a hashtag strategy that I used throughout and beyond the campaign and drove momentum and engagement through this strategy that lasted all the way through launch week.

As I detail in the next step, I employed a specific social media process and methodology for marketing the release of my book across several social platforms. The cornerstone supporting and driving that process was my strategy of using a few key hashtags, one of which--#rebuildthebook--was my own, and the other--#pastorburnout--not my own, but not commonly used, mixed with more common ones, to build community around this book release and broaden my exposure to and engagement with people who otherwise would have never seen my material.

I used my #rebuildthebook hashtag on every single social media post related to the book in any way, from my very first Instagram post announcing the book, all the way through launch week. In fact, over the three-month launch sequence, the hashtag became so intrinsic to my book marketing and to everything I did online that by the time launch week arrived, enthusiastic followers began posting themselves purchasing the book and even used the hashtag on their own (more on that later).

3. While I had a presence on a number of social platforms, including the emerging Meerkat and Periscope live-streaming apps released toward the end of the campaign, I focused the majority of my efforts on just a few of them and branched out as appropriate.

Instagram was my hub for my entire digital presence, even above my home and book websites. I found Instagram to be an excellent foundation upon which I could build my digital strategy for this book launch because the medium allowed me to utilize my gift for telling effective, engaging visual stories, a gift I discovered and honed working with churches and para-church ministries.

In addition to the visual storytelling nature of Instagram, the functionality of the platform allowed me to seamlessly syndicate content from Instagram to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and even Vine.

For example, by simply clicking the Facebook icon under the share option for every Instagram post, I could share my Instagram content natively with my Facebook audience, on both my business and personal profiles.

On Twitter, however, I used an IFTT recipe to syndicate my Instagram updates natively to Twitter, instead of just clicking the Twitter icon on Instagram, because tweets with pictures look and perform much better than ones with just links. And when the Instagram update required a longer message and thus exceeded the 120 characters allotted for native Twitter syndication, the simple tweet with Instagram link sufficed.

As far as posting to the other social platforms, I used Evernote to systematize the syndication of my Instagram posts all across my social presence. Gary Vaynerchuk warns against auto posting and connecting networks together for cross posting because whatever content you post on a particular social channel ought to respect the format and audience of that platform. That is to say, what you post on Google+ ought to look like it was meant specifically for your Google+ audience.

With Instagram being a subsidiary of Facebook, and with the aforementioned IFTT recipe natively connecting Instagram and Twitter, respecting both of those platforms was very easy. With the other channels, though, a significant amount of effort was required to turn instagram posts into appropriately formatted posts for the other networks.

For example, Instagram and Google+ both rely heavily on high-volume hashtag usage for optimum exposure and engagement, but the overall formatting for each is vastly different. The unofficial but widely accepted guidelines for what's considered a good Google+ post would make for a very awkward Instagram post.

Twitter exposure, on the other hand, obviously (because of the 140-character limit) relies far less on the number of hashtags than on the relevance thereof. LinkedIn updates have a much more generous character limit than Twitter, but hashtags are inactive and thus irrelevant.

Also, I used Flipagram to design 6- or 15-second slide shows of relevant content for Vine and Instagram video, respectively, but while Instagram allows for at mentions, Vine does not (which actually doesn't matter all that much since you can cross-post straight to Twitter).

Therefore, once I was able to nail down the proper format for each channel, I saved each of those formats to one file on Evernote, and for the duration of the campaign, I simply went to that Evernote entry and copied and pasted the properly formatted content for each network.

After a few days of tweaking and trying, I had developed a system and process that allowed me to syndicate each Instagram update to up to five other networks (six, if you count the fact that I posted content to both my Facebook profile page, as well as my business page) in 10-15 minutes, all while respecting the styles, nuances, and audiences of each platform.

4. I started getting up at an insanely early hour to begin writing every morning.

One man, one very charismatic individual, was the motivation behind this very significant habit change in my life. About a week after I started this project, I subscribed to and began watching avidly every video I could find from Dr. Eric Thomas, aka "ET The Hip Hop Preacher" or simply "ET." His flagship content offering, "Thank God It's Monday (TGIM)," has been released weekly since 2010 and now has 10 completed seasons.

Starting from season 9 and working my way back to the beginning of season 2, concurrently with the release of season 10, which aired from February 25-May 10, 2015, I watched every single video of the series, some of them, multiple times. After watching all of those episodes of TGIM, I went deeper and scoured YouTube for every sermon, speech, presentation, interview, or roundtable discussion I could find with him and watched all of them intently.

I even went to Audible and purchased his audiobook, The Secret to Success, and listened to every word, cover to cover, on 1x speed, which I absolutely never do (I listen to all my podcasts on 2x speed).

One of the major takeaways from his book, his video series, and every other piece of content he has on YouTube was that one of the best decisions he made to turn his life around and start enjoying exponential success was to start waking up at 3:00 every single morning, which allowed him to get more accomplished each day before most people woke up than most people would accomplish all day.

With that motivation, I myself began waking up at 3am every day and wrote from the time I woke up until 8 or 9am. As a minister, an entrepreneur, a husband, and a father of two toddler girls, I knew the only way I would ever finish this project would be to get a head start on the day because when the rest of my family woke up, my time would belong to them the rest of the day. As hard as it was to train my body to wake up so early, I knew I could never sleep in because if I did, I would honestly still be working on this book and not be in position to write this article.

5. I introduced the content of my book as a series of blog posts I published on LinkedIn.

When LinkedIn started letting influencers blog on its network, I could tell right away the content marketing potential of this publishing platform was limitless. So, when the network opened up the platform to all users, I knew I would find a way to take advantage of it. And with the launch of my debut book, I knew the time was right to do so.

As important as I knew it was to build your platform on your own land (your own blog), rather than on rented land (LinkedIn or any other social network), I knew I could introduce what I believed to be very important work to a whole new audience, attracting eyes to my content that might otherwise never make it to my website.

Additionally, one of the most jarring statistics available on burnout in pastoral ministry is that, along with the 1,500 pastors who leave their pulpits monthly, 57% of pastors have gotten to the point where they would likely leave full-time vocational ministry if they believed they could successfully transition into another line of work. Many broken pastors are therefore not only in the need of professional counseling once they've resigned from the pastorate, but they also need to hit the reset button on their careers after leaving ministry.

On top of that, I had previously experienced a great deal of success using LinkedIn groups to recruit volunteers for my DMin project and subsequent dissertation entitled "Building community through social media to tackle pastoral burnout." Of the 14 volunteers I recruited for my project, 12 of them came from connecting with people via LinkedIn groups. And for each of those 12, there was at one additional person I connected with who wasn't able to participate but still fit the criteria I had established.

The number of pastors and former pastors I was able to connect with on LinkedIn who had experienced the pain and disappointment of burnout at any point in their ministries was pleasantly surprising and very much encouraging, not just because it improved my chances for putting together a strong research project, but also because it was a great indicator of my ability to successfully locate and connect with my target market on the network for future online materials and coaching programs related to pastoral burnout.

Therefore, because of these factors, I believed LinkedIn would be the perfect place to introduce material for a book on burnout in pastoral ministry. Beginning January 7, 2015 and concluding February 27, 2015, I published a series of 12 blog posts, which I branded The "LinkedIn Burnout Series," based on 12 different stories related to my personal burnout experience.

I individually marketed each post with its own Instagram graphic, which, again, I syndicated natively and appropriately to each of my social channels, and Instagram and Vine video. The content from these 12 posts corresponded to the 12 chapters in my book and ultimately, after some tweaking and fine tuning, comprised about 50% of the book.

Using LinkedIn to introduce this content in 12 parts provided me four distinct benefits, two of which I've already discussed.

• One, publishing on this platform allowed me to get my material in front of a new audience of colleagues and potential business prospects that likely would have never seen my material had I simply posted it on my blog.
• Two, writing these 12 posts helped me organize my thoughts, which allowed me to write the book much faster than I would have had I not done so. It took me two months to write those 12 posts, which, again, equaled about 50 percent of the book, but it took me less than a month to write the other half. Needless to say, the half I introduced through LinkedIn was the far more difficult half to write.
• Three, and a very underrated advantage to introducing material in this manner and one that ought to make every author at least consider using LinkedIn similarly for their future projects, publishing these posts allowed me gauge feedback on the content and adjust accordingly. None of the posts went viral--far from it, actually. The most eyes that landed on any one post was the very first post, which got around 200 views. Even so, I got more than enough feedback, even with the relatively limited number of views, likes, or comments, to know which posts stronger and which ones needed work. For instance, one post in particular got a bit frosty reception, which made me revisit that material and make a few minor changes for book form.
• Four, I used this posting series to generate excitement about the upcoming book, in hopes that they'd be compelled to purchase the book upon release and also enthusiastically tell others about it. Again, none of these posts went viral, but the readership I did have was loyal, engaged, and excited, whether they let me know in the comment section of each post or on my other social networks. Before each post, I stated very clearly that the following content was based on material that would comprise my upcoming book. And after each post, I kept the conversation going by linking back to previous articles in the series and encouraging them to visit the website I created for the book. Releasing content in this way got people excited because they read the series and therefore knew what to expect once they could get their hands on the book.

6. Finally, after I completed the LinkedIn Burnout Series, I took that last month between the end of the series and the official launch date of the book to not only write the rest of the book, but also keep the conversation going by hosting a series of four weekly live webinars, wherein I provided 30 minutes of teaching from four chapters of the book and brief advertising about the book, driving traffic from the presentation back to the book website.

These webinars were not widely attended live because scheduling constraints and other commitments required me to do them on Friday mornings at 7am. I did the webinars via Google Hangouts On Air, so the replays were posted to my YouTube channel and were linked multiple times across my social channels. Even those replays didn't get a lot of views, however, but the core audience who supported me throughout the process did watch and were even further intrigued about the upcoming book.

During this last month, I also incorporated some other marketing elements into my launch sequence, including text message marketing to aid in list building, short video greetings, behind-the-scenes posts of each step along the publishing process, and shareable image quotes from different parts of the book.

By the time I did all these things, people were ready for and excited about the book, so much so that by the itme it was ready to be released, people were already purchasing the book before I could even get the notice out.

By 12:15am the morning of the release, I already had my first four sales and was well on my way to a spectacular opening day that landed me atop the Amazon "Hot New Releases" section on Amazon for Christian books by midday, and by the end of the day, ranking as high as #4 for one of my categories in the Kindle store and in the top 20 for four other categories.

The paperback version, which released several weeks later, opened with a brief, very modest showing in the top 100 in one category, but by that time, I had already achieved all of my sales goals for this first book.

No, my book didn't reach #1 in any category, nor did it make any of the prestigious bestsellers lists that authors and readers alike venerate and hold so dear to their hearts when setting goals for themselves or deciding what books they want to read. But what I did do was have the courage over to put something out into the marketplace, and the marketplace accepted it. That's an accomplishment.

I was able to accomplish all of my desired goals as a first-time independent author with:

• no platform
• no significant email list (< 50 people)
• no PR
• no celebrities or high-profile contacts who could help move the needle for me
• no media appearances (except for a podcast interview mostly unrelated to the book)
• no editorial team
• no advance readers to help me launch with a healthy number of posted reviews (a strategy book launch expert Tim Grahl states is vital to a strong launch)
• no giveaways, no opt-in magnet, no training program closely related to the content of the book, a grand total of one blurb for the book cover, and a budget of less than $100.

The first version of the cover I uploaded to Kindle Direct Publishing wasn't quite right. I made a few mistakes in the copy that I had to change right away after publishing, and the formatting somehow ended up different from device to device, but people still connected with my mission, bought the book, and have enjoyed it thus far.

As of the publishing of this article, I've received five 5-star reviews--not a lot, but still positive.

I'm sharing all of this with you not because I consider myself a book marketing expert, or because I wanted to toot my own horn about my accomplishments, but because I want to encourage you to stop thinking about what you can't do or don't have and focus 100 percent of your time, effort, and brainpower on what you can do and what you do have. You have everything you need right now to do everything you set your mind to do.

When I got started on this project, I didn't have a business coach or mentor to advise me, an email list in the tens of thousands of subscribers to sell to, a coaching program or an online course related to the book content to upsell, or even a free giveaway to attract more buyers. I'm working on all of those things right now.

What I did have, though, was plenty of passion, a story of hope and recovery, a confidence that I had a story that could bless the nations, the discipline and determination to write every day, and the grace of Almighty God backing me up and lifting me up when times got tough along the way.

There's something in you that needs to come out of you and be published, whether you have the backing of a major company or your own resources. There's a world out here, waiting, clamoring to read what you have to say. You can do this!

Has anything I said piqued your interest? Would you like to learn more about launching with a small platform or about my fight to eradicate burnout in pastoral ministry and better equip ministers to handle church conflict? Let's connect!

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A former pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Marcus A. Cylar is a professional editor, writer, and speaker. He recently completed his Doctor of Ministry studies at Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit, with his dissertation entitled, “Building community through social media to tackle pastoral burnout”. His debut book, Rebuild, on strategies for overcoming burnout in ministry, was an Amazon Bestseller. Dr. Cylar and his wife, Chariece, are consultants helping churches, nonprofits, and small businesses organize more intentionally, communicate more effectively, and use technology with greater savvy.

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