Monday, April 23, 2018

Authors Must Embrace An Expanding Media Landscape...

... , Even As Its Influence Shrinks

The news media’s growing in size and yet shrinking in its influence.  Allow me to explain why this is so – and how it impacts coverage of your book.

First off, let me just say that I believe the best way to market or promote a book is to secure media exposure.  You don’t necessarily ignore all other avenues, from speaking and direct sales to advertising and affiliate marketing, but you do need to make media exposure a priority and a central part of your plan.

Second, let’s define what the news media is.  It is traditional media, such as newspapers, newswires, magazines, television, radio, and newsletters.  It’s also digital media – web sites, dot.com side of traditional media, online book reviewers, bloggers, and podcasters.  Author generated blog posts, videos, or podcasts – and Tweets, Facebook posts, and sharing on Instagram or Pinterest -- fall under social media.

So the news media has grown, mainly online, with the number of outlets available to promote or market a book.  Traditional media is shrinking in its influence simply because it’s diluted by the billions of sites one can be visiting.  Sure, The New York Times is very important, but not like what it used to be.  It may even have more readers of its content than ever between print and online – but it no longer dictates the news the way it and just a handful of media outlets used to.  Stories can break anytime, anywhere – and be shared by anyone, anytime, anywhere.

Book publicity has simply gotten harder.  You must cast a wide net and hope for a tiny percentage of those you contact to give coverage to you and your book.  Then you need to keep the momentum up by sharing your earned media via social media or paid media.  It’s a never-ending cycle, a process that requires intelligence, patience, persistence, luck, connections, and savvy.

The other factor in getting news media coverage is your competition for it has grown greatly.  A million new books are released each year.  Plus movies, plays, songs, sporting events, tech products, professional services, politicians, and a zillion other local, national, and international experts, organizations and opportunists are soliciting the media for attention.

So what’s an author to do?

You need to put blinders on and crowd out the obstacles, challenges, and competitors.  Believe in your book message, and self -- but don’t rest on your laurels – go out there and fight for what’s yours.  Act with confidence and vision.  Communicate sincerely, optimistically and with conviction.

The media, no matter its format, size or location still has certain needs and standards that only an authoritative author can fulfill.  Get out there and convince them you deserve coverage and that your book warrants ink, screen time, or air time.  You are as unique as anyone – and your book deserves to stand out from the crowd.  It’s your job to not only write a book, but to promote and sell it.

Do you really believe your book is special?  Go out there and persuade the media, ever-expanding but diluting simultaneously, that you deserve a piece of the pie!

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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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