{"id":1483,"date":"2026-11-05T00:22:36","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T00:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/booklinker.wpengine.com\/?p=1483"},"modified":"2026-11-05T01:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T01:05:13","slug":"i-got-lost-at-a-book-conference-so-we-built-a-subway-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/booklinker.com\/blog\/i-got-lost-at-a-book-conference-so-we-built-a-subway-map\/","title":{"rendered":"I Got Lost at a Book Conference, So We Built a Subway Map"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Book<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Back in 2022, when Author Nation was still called 20Books Vegas, its founder Craig Martelle invited me and a teammate out to Las Vegas to lead a panel talking about universal book links. It was my first author conference. I’d written a couple of books and we’d been running Booklinker for a while, so I figured I’d fit right in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boy, was I wrong!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The noise hit me first. Somewhere north of a thousand authors packed into a massive conference space for the Vendor Day. Row after row of tables with bright colored tablecloths, banners and swag filled the space. The excited people at each table smiled and talked about tools and services I’d never heard of before and why those tools mattered. The energy was palpable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I walked around, every booth had something that looked important and helpful, and every conversation left me a little more confused than the one before. People around me tossed off tool names like everyone already knew them. I nodded along a lot. Even the panel I led included a couple of universal book link tools I’d never heard of. (Today I drink beers with those folks every year.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had plenty of questions but wasn’t about to ask any of them at an event full of people who clearly had this figured out. It wasn’t their fault I didn’t understand. It was mine. As the newcomer being welcomed into a tight-knit community I had a lot to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I felt completely overwhelmed, and a little embarrassed. As the guy who had spent his whole career building marketing tools, I felt totally out of the loop, with no idea where to turn or what to learn first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why I created the Book Marketing Tools for Indie Authors map<\/a>. I wanted to better understand the book marketing tools available to authors. With Booklinker, we’d spent years looking at book marketing through the narrow window of links, and seeing where our tools actually fit in the bigger picture (and where they don’t) taught me a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of the roughly 80 tools on this map are ours. Booklinker sponsors the map, and both Booklinker and Geniuslink are on it. They’re there because universal buy links and link tracking are real jobs that would be on this map whether we built it or not, and our peers are listed right beside us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how do you map a world you barely understand? I did what any good nerd does in 2026 and asked AI. A few rounds of back and forth later, I had a tidy diagram of book marketing that looked done. The problem? It was vague and not really helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back, it was the crayon outline of a map, the very, very beginning, dressed up to look finished. On July 8, I posted that rough draft on LinkedIn and asked book marketing pros who actually know this world to tear it apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Oh man, did I get SCHOOLED.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My draft read like a launch checklist: set these things up, publish, done. Jenna Coleman<\/strong>, Rachel Thompson<\/strong>, KJ Waters<\/strong>, and Joe Solari<\/strong> all pushed back on this saying most book marketing happens after launch, and that’s where things compound. Rachel put it plainly: “Most authors spend a lot more time doing evergreen marketing after launch, continually driving readers back through the loop, testing what works, and optimizing.” KJ named the fix: “For many authors, book marketing isn’t really a funnel anymore\u2014it’s a flywheel.” My favorite comment came a round later, from Christopher Matson<\/strong>, a retired civil engineer who writes historical fantasy. He wrote: “I’m having trouble understanding the relevance of these charts (my problem, not yours).” His books aren’t toothpaste that anyone can use, he explained, so he saw a more linear approach: “Write Something \u2192 Find readers \u2192 Write More \u2192 Let ’em Know it’s out there \u2192 Repeat.” Look at that last word. (That’s a flywheel, Christopher! You drew it better than I did.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That round of intense online discussion was actually a huge relief. I went into this project excited about what I’d learn, but inwardly I questioned whether I was the right person to try to chart something this complex. Watching the pieces start to fit together, with help from people who have collectively helped thousands of authors, was the first time I believed I could actually pull this off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From there I worked through every comment, DM, and email, posting the revised structure back to LinkedIn, and then asking the same experts to keep sharing the nuances of their craft. Once the structure held, we went one line at a time and let the community share their insights about every tool. By the end, 43 people had left fingerprints on this map (and every one of them is thanked by name on it). It is designed like a subway map with each \u201cline\u201d focusing on a different aspect of book marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What those 43 people taught me these past few months could fill a book (maybe someday it will). For now, here are the four lessons that changed my thinking the most. If you’ve got the map handy, printed or digital, pull it out and follow along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Do things in the right order <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most tool lists are flat, with every tool looking equally urgent. This can be confusing for authors and can push them to purchase or use something before the ideal time. The map is stacked so each Line works better when the ones before it are in place. This shows you where your next hour or dollar does the most work, and which shiny things you can safely ignore for now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, with your first book, get your Foundation (Line 1) working and your buy links (Line 4) set up before you spend a dime on Promotion (Line 5). On every book after that, start with Measurement (Line 6), find your weakest Line, and fix that one first before moving on to the other lines like Promotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marketing doesn’t stop at launch<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Matt Briel<\/strong> at Lulu gave me some of the most practical feedback of the whole project. He pushed me to think about timing in three phases: pre-launch, launch, and post-launch. His own post-launch list was the longest of the three: keep buy links in every bio, keep asking for reviews, and run a small paid push every 30 days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we laid every Line against those phases, the grid came out nearly full. Your Foundation (Line 1) and your audience and reviews (Line 3) never switch off. Promotion and Measurement ramp up at launch and stay busy long after it. Only getting found (Discoverability, Line 2) and setting up your buy links are mostly up-front work, and even those need a tune-up now and then. That grid is on the map (“When is each Line active?”), and its caption says it better than I can: Lines aren’t phases, and most recur for the life of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know what you<\/strong> own<\/em><\/strong>, what you<\/strong> rent<\/em><\/strong>, and what you<\/strong> earn<\/em><\/strong> <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kerrie Flanagan<\/strong>, who co-created this map with me, tells me most authors don’t think about their marketing this way yet, which is exactly why it’s printed all over the map. Every branch on the map carries one of those tags. <\/p>\n\n\n\n