I like the idea of publishing a book that becomes a classic. A book that once bought, is not resold. A book recommended by experts—the people who could have written a book just like it, but haven’t. It sells, year after year. There is no real competition because it’s considered one-of-a-kind.

Trouble is, how do you create such a book? Or any classic for that matter?

Ryan Holiday has taken a shot at breaking down the process in his latest book, The Perennial Seller. He illustrates his points using examples from music (Iron Maiden and Lady Gaga) and restaurants (The Original Pantry and Clifton’s), but mostly it’s about books. Like the indie-published Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhof, a book that’s sold 165,000 copies since it was first published more than 35 years ago.

Here’s a breakdown of the four parts he says are necessary to achieving perennial seller status.

Part 1: The Creative process

From the Mindset to the Making to the Magic

“Literature is a wonderful profession because haste is no part of it. Whether a really good book is finished a year earlier or a year later makes no difference.” —Stefan Zweig

Holiday talks in The Creative Process about not waiting until the book is finished to figure out who your reader is. He calls it pre-work—the conceptualization, your motivations, the product’s fit with the market. That these “intangible factors matter a great deal. They cannot be skipped. They can’t be bolted on later.”

Holiday suggests 6 good reasons why we may feel the urge to create in the first place:

1. Because there is a truth that has gone unsaid for too long.
2. Because you’ve burned the bridges behind you.
3. Because your family depends on it.
4. Because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime moment.
5. Because it will help a lot of people.
6. Because the excitement you feel cannot be contained.

(It’s interesting to note that perennial sellers are not written for “fun”, “me”, profit, or to “brand me as a thought leader.”)

Part 2: Positioning

From Polishing to Perfecting to Packaging

I was seated next to a retired librarian at a recent party, and she asked what I did. When I told her I help authors self-publish, beginning after it has been edited, she exclaimed, “Oh, I didn’t know self-publishers used editors.” Ouch.

Editing is not the only focus of The Perennial Seller section on Positioning, but if a book is intended to stand the test of time, it’s a critical step in the process. And it isn’t just about ensuring the rules of English are followed, it’s about making sure the book’s content is positioned to serve its intended audience.

Holiday reminds us that readers “…need to be able to put things into categories so we know where they fit.” I call it writing-to-mission, not to be confused with writing-to-market.

He includes a useful exercise to help in this regard. Fill in the blanks of these two sentences:

• This is a [insert] that does [insert].
• This helps people [insert].

Do that in a sentence, paragraph, and a full page. (This is the same exercise our AuthorImprints clients go through when we gather information for distribution. It’s also not uncommon for this to be a first-time exercise.)

Part 3: Marketing

From Courting to Coverage, Pushing to Promotion

A perennial product requires perennial marketing.

At the end of the marketing chapter Holiday reminds us to define our product launch and start strong, but not at the expense of giving up or running out of money and energy for the continued push a perennial seller requires. Stay lean, and “keep going” as Brian Clark says.

He touches on the importance of humility, and a few pages later challenges us to use it to counteract a tendency to feel entitlement when marketing our book.

The trap that many of us fall into is believing that people are eagerly waiting for what we’ve created. The truth is that nobody cares. Holiday points out: “How could they? The don’t know what it is.” This is the job of marketing.

So how do you do that?

Many immediately think of advertising. But Holiday reminds us that “advertising can add fuel to the fire, but rarely is it sufficient to start one.”

Contacting influencers is also a common tactic. The key there is knowing who in your niche is approachable, which often means starting with the B-list. Chances are, if you make progress here, the A-list will find out.

What Holiday has found most successful is getting products into the hands of the right people—for free or nearly free. I was especially taken by the marketing tactic Steven Pressfield used to promote his self-published The Warrior Ethos. He paid to print 18,000 copies labeled as a special “Military Edition”, and gave them away to his contacts in the armed services. It was a massive success.

I’ll close with two sentences that sum up what I see as our struggle to promote our own books.

“You don’t get coverage for what you feel or what you believe. Only what you do with those beliefs or feelings.”

Part 4: Platform

From Fans to Friends and a Full-Fledged Career

If you are familiar with Holiday’s other books you know he is a fan of stoicism, which dates to 300BC. Early in part 4 he quotes Marcus Aurelius as challenging himself to be a “boxer, not a fencer.”

“A fencer, he said, has to bend down to pick up his weapon. A boxer’s weapon is a part of him—‘all he has to do is clench his fist.’”

The translation for us as self-publishers is that “fencers” must rely on advertising and paid promotion while a “boxer” owns their own platform. They never stop building it, and it’s always there when they needed it.

There’s a great story about how after a string of failures, the actor Kevin Hart built his following. I call this one’s addressable audience and it consists of email addresses, Twitter followers, Facebook friends—anyone you can reach on your own, without going through an intermediary.

When Sony Pictures got hacked in 2014 a string of emails was released showing how Hart was using his platform to negotiate a better deal with the studios. If they expected him to promote their movie, they needed to pay a marketing fee.

So if an addressable audience is the key, how do you go about building it? First, he shares wisdom from Tim Ferriss about attitude and approach:

• Never dismiss anyone. “Treat everyone like they could put you on the front page of the New York Times.”
• Play the long game. Aim for establishing long-term relationships, not just when you need someone’s help.
• Focus on the “pre-VIPs.” This is the B-list I referred to earlier.

In terms of strategies, Holiday shares 7 that he uses:

1. Give something away for free as an b.
2. Create a gate. An example is giving away some content for free, but to get the rest you need to fork over an email.
3. Use pop-ups. This could be on your website, but also a message at the end of your book that encourages the reader to leave a review.
4. Do things by hand. Use a clip board to get emails when you speak. Ask people to email you if they want to join your list, then add them by hand. (As much as I hate doing this, I have to admit it works.)
5. Run a contest. Give something away in a drawing.
6. Do a swap. Email your list and ask people to join someone else’s. And vice versa.
7. Promise a service. If you are building a mailing list, what does being on your list do for people? Make it worth their while.

The last thing I’ll close with is some advice from well-known book publicist Barbara Hendricks. It’s advice she gives her A-list clients regarding platform building.

Put as much time and effort into promoting your book as you did in writing it. And Participate. Participate. Participate.

Here is a non-affiliate link to Ryan’s book. It’s worth checking out, and keeping.

Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work that Lasts