Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Authors Need To Promote The Truth Like Fake News




A study published in The New York Times (March 9) about how fake news spreads a lot faster and wider than real news shows one clear thing:  The more sensational, unbelievable, controversial, or outrageous something sounds, the more willing people are to retweet and post it on Facebook. This is a lesson for authors promoting their books.

So how can you capitalize on this?

Simple:  Create news about you and your book in the style of fake news.

So how does one do that?

1.      Pick popular topics, such as things relating to news of the day, politics, money, celebrities, sex, parenting, etc.

2.      Have a catchy headline that makes a statement sound questionable yet believable.

3.      Show urgency and importance – that something great or bad can happen if some action is – or isn’t – taken.

4.      Use a powerful visual to lure people in.

5.      Set up a good vs. evil story line.  Speak in extremes.

6.      Quote respected sources.

7.      Raise a question where the potential answer sounds explosive, unreal, or wildly unlikely yet tantalizingly possible.

Fake news is not carefully crafted news that sounds real but isn’t.  It is more typically a story that sounds like it can’t be real yet elements of it lure us in and fool some people.  The lines between fake and real news are blurry.

However, please note I’m not encouraging you to craft fake news.  I’m saying you should leverage what’s true and present it the way fakers do, because their style attracts more attention.  Interestingly, fake news styled itself after real news, so in the end you are imitating fake news that imitates real news!

Fake news has spread, in large part, due to Donald Trump.  He lies, passes theory as fact, opinion as reality, and criticizes legit news services to the point a certain part of the population believes in made-up news or doesn’t know enough to doubt or refute the faux news.

Straight news is boring and doesn’t get passed around via social media the way salacious fake news is shared like a wildfire.  Make your story sound unbelievable, but have the facts to back it up.  Be outrageous, but be accurate. Anyone can lie, cheat, steal, or say bullshit to get ahead, but you can learn from what they do, apply it to the truth, and come out on top of the book publicity game.

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Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2018. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby 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."

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