Should
you just pack it in and stop promoting your books, perhaps due to low sales,
bad reviews, and a lack of buzz on social media? Or should you double-down and be in it to win
it?
Authors
need to find a balance – doing enough of the right stuff to give their book a
chance at success – but to not just pour more money and time into something
that is a clunker. So, when do they know
when it’s time to stop promoting a book?
The
first thing an author must do is evaluate, based on the facts. Over a sustained period of time, let’s say
three months post-publication date, an author should see:
· How
many books were sold.
·
How
much publicity was generated.
·
What
feedback’s been received about the book
Next,
an author has to look closely at:
·
what
he or she has done so far to push the book.
·
what
else can possibly be done to market the book.
It’s
hard to think when you live in a bubble or inside your ego. Step outside of your box and look objectively
at things. Is the book better than the
attention it’s received? Can you approach
your marketing differently? Is it time
to give up and move on to the next book – or leave behind the world of books
for others to handle?
Just
as it’s not easy to confront:
·
your
mortality.
·
the
absence of your youth.
·
a
relationship is decaying.
·
a
favorite sports team sucks.
·
those
jeans no longer fit you.
…you
must come to grips whether your book still has potential or whether it is dead.
Before
you make an emotional choice, look at the facts. Have you really done all that you can to make
the book a success? Think about what
more could be done in regards to:
·
advertising
·
speaking
engagements
·
social
media exposure
·
media
campaign
·
direct
marketing to your connections and the marketplace
You
may discover a lot more can be done or that shit, you tried your best and fell
short. It’s safe to err on the side of
caution and to keep trying a little past a book’s expiration date. At least you’ll know you did all that you
could and that the reading public just wasn’t ready for you at this time. It’s worse if you throw the towel in prematurely,
giving up before really trying. A book doesn’t sell itself. You need to make things happen.
So,
what might you do differently before throwing your hands up and admitting
defeat?
1.
Hire
someone to help do what you can’t, won’t, or don’t know how to do.
2.
Experiment
and do things you didn’t yet try.
3.
Do
more of what has worked.
4.
Ask
others for help – not just advice, but to call in favors to help get your book
in the right hands.
5.
Rethink
who your targeted reader is and then hunt that demographic down.
6.
Remarket
how you speak of your book. Change the theme of our elevator speech and express
your summary in a new way.
7.
See,
if you can partner with others in a strategic way that you had not thought of
before.
8.
Consider
discounting your book’s price, even giving copies away in exchange for more
reviews or other favors.
Just
remember, the critics don’t always know best.
Just look at this film review by The New Yorker in 1939: “I sat cringing before MGM’s Technicolor
production of The Wizard of Oz, which displays no trace of imagination,
good taste, or ingenuity…I say it’s a stinkeroo.”
Believe
in yourself, give it your best shot, rethink your approach, try again, and then
know when to pack it in.
“Never get annoyed if your neighbor plays music at 2 a.m. Call him at four and tell him how much you enjoyed it.”
--Peter Darbo, film director
“It is easier to
resist at the beginning than at the end.”
--Leonardo
Da Vinci
“The greater danger
for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in
setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”
--Michaelangelo
“The fool doth think
he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
--William
Shakespeare
“The supreme paradox
of all thought is its attempt to discover something that thought cannot think."
--Soren Kierkegaard
--Soren Kierkegaard
DON”T MISS THESE!!!
How authors get their book marketing
mojo – and avoid failure
Authors
cannot succeed without the right attitude
So what
is needed to be a champion book marketer?
Should
You Promote Your Book By Yourself?
The Book Marketing Strategies Of
Best-Sellers
How authors can sell more books
No. 1 Book Publicity Resource: 2019
Toolkit For Authors -- FREE
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