Tuesday, April 24, 2018

12 Things Authors Must Do To Promote A Book Successfully



Authors who look to conduct a successful book publicity campaign, need to do a lot of things correctly.  Here are 12 steps they must take to even have a chance at raising their brand, increasing book sales, and effectively spreading a positive message:

1. Make a plan for PR, at least six months before the book is scheduled to be published.  To go without a plan is a blueprint for abject failure.

2. Get a good website up -- one with functionality and clean design – at least five months prior to pub date.  Your site is your calling card and the best way to showcase who you are, what your book is about, and how to get in touch with you.

3. Establish your social media accounts today if you haven’t already done so.  Determine which ones you want to be on -- Facebook, You Tube, Pinterest, Twitter, Linked In, Instagram?  Determine a schedule for posting content and for finding new connections and followers.  You have to devote some time to this on a daily basis, if you are sincerely committing to it.

4. Determine – now – if you are a blogger, a podcaster, a videocaster – or none of the above.  If you want to produce content and share it regularly, figure out which site and medium serves you best.  Then stick to it.

5. Figure out if you will hire a professional marketer or publicist to supplement or replace what you should be doing.  Even when you have a publisher that helps you, and even when you take a hands-on approach to this stuff, you can always benefit from the experience, advice, knowledge, and connection of a good professional book publicist or marketer.

6. Develop great press kit materials – multiple press releases, a strong bio, a q and a or list of suggested interview questions, 5-7 book excerpts, relevant facts and stats, byline article ideas, background materials, good video or relevant images, testimonials, and a jpeg of the book’s cover.

7. Get some media coaching.  You don’t want to sound stupid or expose yourself unnecessarily to criticism.  You want someone to function and sharpen your way of presenting a coherent message to the media.

8. Develop your unique selling proposition and elevator speech.  Say what you are about succinctly.  Can you tell people in 20 seconds what your book’s about and identify why you are uniquely qualified to write it?

9. Collaborate with other authors – share information, trade resources, advise each other and lend emotional support to one another.

10. Follow the news cycle and see how you can inject yourself into the conversation.  You can monitor the media by setting up Google Alerts or key phrases and topics that tie into your messages.

11. Identify your book buyer.  Build a profile of this person.  Who would exactly be interested in what you have to say?  Find out where such people gather or get their information from.  Contact media that they consume.

12. Keep an optimistic attitude, an opportunistic mindset, and a confident approach in dealing with the media about your book.  Speak with conviction, smile and stay passionate.

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Enjoy New 2018 Author Book Marketing & PR Toolkit -- 7th annual edition just released


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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