Should You Promote Your Book By Yourself?

For authors looking to promote themselves, they need to think about the following:

·         Do they have an updated and comprehensive news media database?

·         Have they scheduled enough time on a daily basis to contact the news media?

·         Will they learn – and do -- what’s needed to successfully market themselves with social media?

·         Are they scheduling speaking engagements way into the future?

·         Have they determined which organizations to network in?

·         Will they line up courses, workshops, conferences, seminars or events to attend so they can learn and properly network?

·         Can they balance their marketing efforts with their writing, day job, and family obligations?

The next thing an author needs to do is come up with news about himself, his book, or his area of expertise.  Will he or she:

·         Make an announcement?

·         React to what’s in the news?

·         Announce survey/poll results?

·         Call for reform or change?

·         Hold a contest?

·         Create a stunt?

If the writer turns to speaking at events as a way to promote her book, she must answer these questions: 

Will she speak for free and use the event to build a resume, establish a brand, network, get media coverage, and sell books?

Will she promote the event to the media?

Will she be able to capture a contact list of the attendees?

Will she film the speaking appearance to showcase her in action to speakers bureaus?

Does she have speeches of different lengths and formats available, from 10 minutes to an hour, including Q&A?

Does she have a press kit available for the media and speaking opportunities?

Another consideration when an author promotes himself, is whether or not to partner with others.  Writers can promote with a co-author or even the authors of other books.  It could make sense if:

·         You can share contacts and resources.

·         You will take advantage of their track record or name recognition to draw from them.

·         You can split costs, such as for travel, buying databases or memberships.

Finally, in order to market and promote yourself, you need to truthfully ask yourself these questions:

·         Do I have the personality and temperament to do this?

·         Is my book, experience, or idea really better than most of my competitors?

·         How will I respond to a lot of rejection, criticism, or avoidance?

·         Can you overcome your fear of rejection, failure, or success?

·         Do you know how to create an emotional link to those you sell to?

·         Are you mush of a story-teller or resource provider?

·         Do you know what your unique selling position is?

·         Can you leverage existing relationships and be opportunistic?

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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2016 ©.

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