How Failing Authors Can Succeed

 

I spoke to an author the other day who has three self-published novels floating out there, waiting to be discovered and embraced the way a person longs to be found by a stranger, purely loved for who he is. He has explored a few areas and come up empty, trying each one reluctantly and with reserve. But life doesn’t work that way. Wonderful people with lots to offer struggle desperately to find the right mate — and so many authors do not know how to woo readers and establish a loyal fan base, though they may feel deserving of it.

This author knows what he wants, but is uncertain how to get there. He feels jaded by the book industry, and doesn’t believe anything really moves the sales dial, whether it is advertising, book signings, social media, or whatever. He has not given up, but he has not exactly immersed himself into the possibilities out there.

I can understand his frustration. Book marketing is like dieting: it is hit and miss. Nothing works for everyone and not everyone works hard or smart enough to get what they want. Some people can lose hundreds of pounds while others struggle to lose and keep off 15 pounds. Some become best-selling authors while others can’t sell more than a few hundred copies. Why is that?

Well, without going too deep into the worlds of psychology, business, or publishing, here is what it takes to have a chance at publishing success. No guarantees, of course. Success is a personal thing – you define it, you dictate its terms. It is up to you to set and reach your goals. But you need to try, have the right frame of mind, and take real steps every day towards achieving your dreams. Here are the key areas to explore:

Attitude

This may be the biggest factor for success. Sure, skill, knowledge, connections, and money play huge roles, too, but unless you have the right attitude to achieve, you will fail.

Ability

Skills and knowledge are absolutely needed to succeed. Raw talent, education, and your ability and desire to learn will dictate success for sure. But not everything comes with your DNA or upbringing. You can continue to educate yourself – read books, take courses, watch instructional videos, attend seminars – and improve your abilities.

Time

Success takes work and work takes time. Do you have enough time to dedicate and devote to your passion? Craft a budget for your time – look at what needs to be done, plan out a schedule of actions and activities, and commit to them.

Money

Money counts for a lot. It compensates for your time, ability, skill, or desire. What you won’t do, can’t do, or don’t have time to do can be made up, to a degree, with money. It buys you advertising, travel capabilities, access to influencers, and professional help with marketing and promotions. Invest in yourself.

Luck
By definition, luck is something that just happens, seemingly randomly, but we know the more situations one puts themselves into, the more chances good luck comes their way. One is lucky to win the lottery, right? But one can’t get lucky unless they buy a ticket. Go buy your ticket, many tickets – and increase your chances for luck to come your way.

 

Network

People are power. Go on social media or connect at in-person gatherings (whenever they return) and build up your circle of connections. Your network introduces you to people who can help you with resources, advice, support, etc. Grow your network and you grow yourself.

 

Enthusiasm

Do you sound energized, passionate, and enthusiastic? People can tell a lot by how you sound and move. To lead and inspire others, you need to sound excited.

Competition

Your book’s success is dictated, to a degree, by its level of competition. It competes with other books – and lots of other things for people’s attention, money, and time. You can’t control the level of competition – but you can make sure you provide the best quality book and present it in the best possible light. Where possible, avoid writing in a crowded genre unless you can truly deliver something new, unique, or best-in-class.

Book Quality

How your book is written, edited, packaged, priced, cover-designed, and put together dictates its long-term viability. Sure, a crappy book with a great marketing campaign can get lots of readers and sales, and some very good books can get left behind unless one pulls out all of the stops. As a baseline for success, make sure you put out a quality product.

Distribution

Books can only sell if someone is selling them. Sure, people can go to your web site or perhaps amazon and Barnes and Noble to get it. But can they find it in multiple forms (hardcover, trade paper, mass paper, e-books, audiobook, gift edition) at multiple price points/discounts, and in multiple ways – online, in various stores, at events, the airport, indie bookstores, etc.?

Pool of Potential Readership

How big of a pool is your readership demographic? Your book is likely not for everyone. Do you know who will likely buy it, where to find them, and what will push them to buy your book?

Dedication and Consistency

You may do everything possible to promote your book today. And tomorrow. Perhaps for a few weeks. But it is not enough. It is mindset that you must commit to – and make sure you are constantly working hard, smart, and passionately at making yourself a success.

Courage

Yes, be courageous simply by taking a risk, trying new things, saying no to some, saying yes to others, and taking action to move forward even when the outcome is neither proven nor predictable.

Conviction

You must believe in yourself and act like it. Speak with energy, confidence, and a sense of urgency. People need to see and feel that you care -- and that you have a strong will.

Accept A Loss Now To Win Later

You may very well spend more money than you make from your book. You may spend countless hours and wonder if you could have done better taking a minimum wage-paying job instead. But you do this because it is a short-term investment for a long-term payoff. You are promoting a book and a brand.

Motivation & Goals

It has been proven that those with goals – and who reset them after achieving them – do well in life. But it takes some effort to feel motivation. Many are self-starters, highly motivated either out of fear of failure or a drive to succeed. What motivates you? Keep at it.

Inspiration

This goes both ways. Your ability to be inspired will help you be successful – and your ability to inspire others will allow you to successfully sell your book and build your brand.

Rest

Yes, sometimes doing nothing,resting the body and quieting the mind is exactly what should be prescribed. Pace yourself with timeouts and mental breaks.

Support

You will strive higher, work harder, and overcome challenges with the support of close friends, helpful relatives, a love interest, or others. Lean in on them.

Open To Advice

See a therapist. Listen to a motivational podcast. Read an inspiring book. Hire a professional coach that can advise you not only on life but about the book industry and media landscape.

Invest In Learning

You don’t know it all. Neither do I. But we both know you can learn new things that will help improve your skill set and position you for greater success. Your education doesn’t end with formal schooling. Learn about the things you fear, are unskilled at, or really don’t know much about.

Check Your Beliefs, Assumptions, Values

Get in touch with what you really think of yourself and the world. Come to an understanding of how your beliefs may limit your actions. You are only as good as the information you have input – maybe you need to search further to find the way to succeed.

So, to be clear, there is no exact one-size-fits formula for all authors. And if an author does even half of the above, he or she still is not guaranteed success. But, if you continue to try and not give up, if you look long and hard for a yes rather than quickly accept a no, if you try something new with potential for greatness rather than tried and true for failure, and if you remain optimistic and hopeful, you increase your chances of succeeding.

Good luck to all authors – but only if you actively try!

 

Read, Read, Read!!

Why Writers Need A Day Of Judgement

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/why-writers-need-day-of-judgement.html

 

Is Today A New Year For Authors?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/is-today-new-year-for-authors.html

 

Book Marketing Lessons Form TV’s NYPD Blue

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/key-book-marketing-lessons-inspired-by.html

 

The 6 M’s Of Authors Successfully Marketing Books

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-6-ms-of-authors-successfully.html

 

Authors Need to Know Why They Write

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/authors-need-to-know-why-they-write.html

 

Do Authors Take Responsibility For Book Sales?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/do-authors-take-responsibility-for-book.html

 

How Can Authors Master Zoom?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/how-can-authors-master-zoom.html

 

Here’s How We Protect Free Speech On Social Media

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/heres-how-we-protect-free-speech-on.html

 

Brian Feinblum, the founder of BookMarketingBuzzBlog, can be reached at  brianfeinblum@gmail.com.  His insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are the product of his genius. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2020. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo.

The Journey Of the Book Continues Today

 

Today’s generation is growing up during the e-book revolution. Members of Generation Z see a book as being content that comes in many forms, from audio and e-book to POD or mass printed books. They may not be focused on how a book arrives to them, whether by download, mail, or in person. They many not care whether it was published by a big five house when it comes to a book’s format and origination. So much diversity and change has hit book publishers this century and yet it should not surprise us. The book has been evolving for thousands of years.

I recently enjoyed reading Book: My Autobiography, by John Agard. It is a wonderful treat – and a breezy read of 130 small-sized, big-type pages. It retells the history of how books came to be, and in the process reveals just how beautiful, powerful, and desired books are.

Books date4 back to when writing began. We don’t know all of the details surrounding the origin of books, but we do know that writing began at least five thousand years ago, with the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotania, now modern Iraq.

Cave drawings or Egyptian hieroglyphics tell early stories of humanity. But what came before them? Perhaps whatever was just did not survive war, natural disaster, accidents, or the test of time – but that does not deny they could have existed.

Clay tablets, bark, ivory, or bone were some of the receptacles for carved images and words.

There were over 2,000 hieroglyphic characters. However, whereas Egyptians used pictures to stand for things, events, or ideas, the Phoenicians used pictures only to stand for the actual sounds of spoken language. The Phoenician language only used consonants, but the ancient Greeks soon developed its own alphabet. Today’s English uses letters inherited from the Romans.

Things really took off once the Egyptians figured out how to make paper to write on from a papyrus plant. The word paper comes from the word papyrus.

At some point, a king was hoarding large quantities of papyrus so others were forced to find an alternative. Sheepskin became the new papyrus. But it would take up to 200 sheep to produce one Bible.

When parchment became popular, books came when people write with quill pens and copied materials onto a scroll. Books did not yet circulate to the masses, who were illiterate. Only royalty, universities, churches, and governments had access to these scrolls.

The book, as we know it today, in its Codex form (a binding holding pages that turn), came about when leather thongs or strips of wood were used as a spine. Writing now took place on both sides of parchment. But book production was very, very slow.

The Chinese developed paper around two millennia ago. Asians developed a process of creating block printing. They’d take wood blocks with words on them and print. But once a German goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg developed movable type in the middle of the 15^th century, books were allowed to be printed faster and in mass. He found a way to use metal type and to switch out the letters with ease.

As a result, books become cheaper and affordable. No longer were they the domain of the rich or elite. New books could enter the minds, imaginations, and souls of anyone. The power of the printing press went global and exploded on to the scene.

But books didn’t stop getting better with Gutenberg’s marvelous invention. More improvements would come, including a way for steam to power the new printing press invented in 1814 by Friedrich Koenig, another German.

Later, American Richard Hoe would create the rotary press. More improvements would come to bindings, paper quality, and ink. Eventually the next phase in book production was to move it off paper and into the digital world.

Books remain the great influencer, recorder, and sharer of facts, history, ideas, and the imagination. I don’t know where we would be without books and don’t want to imagine a future where they disappear or greatly dissipate in their importance.

Books house memories, heal our souls, nurture our minds, and inspires us to achieve, think and desire. They inform, enlighten, motivate, and educate us. Books also entertain and distract, and help us see things differently. They can reflect what is, store up what was, provide a blueprint for what could be, or accurately predict what will soon be. A book represents a person, sometimes an entire world. Open one up and enter a new dimension.

 

Read, Read, Read!!

Why Writers Need A Day Of Judgement

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/why-writers-need-day-of-judgement.html

 

Is Today A New Year For Authors?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/is-today-new-year-for-authors.html

 

Book Marketing Lessons Form TV’s NYPD Blue

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/key-book-marketing-lessons-inspired-by.html

 

The 6 M’s Of Authors Successfully Marketing Books

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-6-ms-of-authors-successfully.html

 

Authors Need to Know Why They Write

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/authors-need-to-know-why-they-write.html

 

Do Authors Take Responsibility For Book Sales?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/do-authors-take-responsibility-for-book.html

 

How Can Authors Master Zoom?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/how-can-authors-master-zoom.html

 

Here’s How We Protect Free Speech On Social Media

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/heres-how-we-protect-free-speech-on.html

 

Brian Feinblum, the founder of BookMarketingBuzzBlog, can be reached at  brianfeinblum@gmail.com.  His insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are the product of his genius. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2020. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo.

Are Authors Hoping To Be The Next Forrest Gump?

 

Some 25 or so years ago Tom Hanks played the lovable lead in the Academy Award-winning film, Forrest Gump. Gump was seemingly slow and not book-smart but he would overcome his physical and intellectual holdbacks to miraculously be a war hero, world ping-pong champ, meet famous people, stumble upon historic moments, become a wealthy man, and seemingly do anything except get his damaged childhood crush to fall in love with him until she was dying. He represented the good, wholesome, and simple, living through a turbulent era that took him from the Vietnam War and civil rights movement to hippies and AIDS.

The film, which grossed over 670 million dollars globally and was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, was based on a book by Winston Groom. The author passed away in September. In reading his obituary I learned that the book, though it “sold respectfully and earned good reviews,” was not a best-seller until the movie exploded eight years later.

Every author dreams of having a hit book or a book turned into a movie. It only happens to a handful of people each year. Groom knew in his heart that his book was a hit but it took the movie to make the book a hit. How hard that must be, for writers to know they are producing something great but also keenly aware that only a few books can grab the headlines and break through the pack. Fame is delayed for many and denied to most.

Groom should give all authors hope.  To those who wonder if their writing is good enough to be made into a movie, they should know that dreams can come true to some. To those who wonder if their book will become a bestseller, they should know that the road to that list can sometimes take longer, with more unexpected turns than one would anticipate. But writers can break through the clutter.

Groom’s book has elements that any great book can embrace, including:

 

·         Having a likeable character.

·         Giving us a feeling of being lucky beyond belief while having to overcome hardships.

·         A love interest that eludes him for most of the story.

·         A story where the lead character grows up.

·         Historical setting to provide a relatable perspective.

And yet many other hit books would not even have one of the above elements. There is no formula for a hit, no rhyme or reason. People want a good story that they can get lost in and root for, while appreciating they are getting to live vicariously through the fiction they consume. Books are our surrogates.  Gump is an avatar for good.

Groom is our hero. He is the writer that had a hit movie before the book was a best-seller. He might just have had a few things in common with Gump.

 

Read, Read, Read!!

Why Writers Need A Day Of Judgement

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/why-writers-need-day-of-judgement.html

 

Is Today A New Year For Authors?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/is-today-new-year-for-authors.html

 

Book Marketing Lessons Form TV’s NYPD Blue

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/key-book-marketing-lessons-inspired-by.html

 

The 6 M’s Of Authors Successfully Marketing Books

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-6-ms-of-authors-successfully.html

 

Authors Need to Know Why They Write

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/authors-need-to-know-why-they-write.html

 

Do Authors Take Responsibility For Book Sales?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/do-authors-take-responsibility-for-book.html

 

How Can Authors Master Zoom?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/how-can-authors-master-zoom.html

 

Here’s How We Protect Free Speech On Social Media

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/heres-how-we-protect-free-speech-on.html

 

Brian Feinblum, the founder of BookMarketingBuzzBlog, can be reached at  brianfeinblum@gmail.com.  His insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are the product of his genius. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2020. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo.

Why Books Are Selling When The United States Is Melting Down

  

Studies show that book sales – print and ebooks – are up substantially this year compared to last year.  People have more time to read. They had enough of Netflix and cable news.  We want to flee from hearing about death and economic destruction wrought by fires, hurricanes, and the pandemic. But now, I suspect, there will be a run on books that have to do with government chaos, conspiracies, corruption, and dead presidents, given that Capitol Hill is running its own version of a Shakespearian play.

 

In just the last 48 hours America has been rocked by wild news of corona gone mad inside the Beltway. President Donald Trump, his close aides, numerous senators, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, the first lady, and others have all tested positive for the deadly corona virus. All Republicans.  Then throw in a Supreme court nomination is in the balance, not to mention an election.  We could have numerous constitutional dilemmas arising before and after what is proving to be a very important election.

 

All of a sudden, we have wild questions being asked that seemed unimaginable just a few days ago:

 

·         What if the president is incapacitated – who takes over?

·         What if the president dies before the election – can a dead man win?

·         Will the hearings for the Supreme Court nominee be delayed?

·         Will the debates still take place?

·         Could the House of Representatives again push for impeachment while the president is in a hospital?

·         Will other nations pounce on the state of confusion amongst the government leadership?

·         Did this all happen naturally – or did someone plant corona at the White House?

 

There have already been books, novels and non-fiction, that have basically tackled each of these questions. Never have all of them had to be answered simultaneously. Reality is again proving stranger than fiction.

 

In the 1950s and 60s, theories of a Communist infiltration into American government ran rampant, as well as concerns that Communist countries would sprout up and ran rampant.

In the 1970s, concerns about corruption in government hit home with Nixon, and fears that blacks would rise up and take the government over abounded too.

In the 1980s, concerns that the government was controlled by powerful money lobbies persisted.

In the 2000s, fears that terrorists would run or attack America festered.

 

The list goes on and on. There is danger lurking everywhere, at least according to Hollywood and the book publishing industry. Well, folks, it just got crazier.

 

The good news, for readers, is that this invites a slew of many more books to come, that will profess to give us inside knowledge that explains today’s confusion. Other writers, novelists, will take today’s headlines and turn them into outrageous plat lines for blockbuster books.  The book world can celebrate. Despite a pandemic, ugly politics, and legal conflicts, the book world in 2021 could have a record-breaking season. The real world unfolds like a page-turner and that will help publishers mint money as they print new books that both explain it all and seed the new cycle of theories.

 

 

Read, Read, Read!!

Why Writers Need A Day Of Judgement

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/why-writers-need-day-of-judgement.html

Is Today A New Year For Authors?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/is-today-new-year-for-authors.html

Book Marketing Lessons Form TV’s NYPD Blue

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/key-book-marketing-lessons-inspired-by.html

The 6 M’s Of Authors Successfully Marketing Books

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-6-ms-of-authors-successfully.html

Authors Need to Know Why They Write

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/authors-need-to-know-why-they-write.html

Do Authors Take Responsibility For Book Sales?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/do-authors-take-responsibility-for-book.html

How Can Authors Master Zoom?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/how-can-authors-master-zoom.html

Here’s How We Protect Free Speech On Social Media

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/heres-how-we-protect-free-speech-on.html

Brian Feinblum, the founder of BookMarketingBuzzBlog, can be reached at  brianfeinblum@gmail.com.  His insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are the product of his genius. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2020. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo.