Authors Can Turn A Weakness Into A Strength!

 

 

Authors can improve their book marketing results and they should do so. Once you get past what is holding them back, they can flourish.

Authors under-perform because of one or more of the following reasons:

* Lack of encouragement
* Fear and insecurity
* Failure to set appropriate goals
* Don’t invest enough time
* Have not tried to learn new skills
* Shy and not great communicators
* Suffer from poor health or disability
* Do not know enough about book marketing
* A general discomfort with technology
* Don’t fully believe in their book
* Misspend their marketing money or don’t invest enough

Miracles won’t always happen, but measurable improvement in any of these areas is quite possible. Authors can learn how to do a lot of things. They can also designate time to execute marketing tasks. And they will gain more confidence and become more driven once they see some positive results. But they don’t. It is all mental and once one commits to making changes, good things can happen.

Let me give you an analogy from my life about how one can change their attitude, effort, strategy, and ability to turn a deficiency into an asset.

I am a middle-aged athlete warrior. This means I get aches and pains after, sometimes during, and even before undergoing physical activity. I am overweight and not the image of an Olympian. But I love competitive sports and for a little over the past year, I have found renewed life playing pickleball.

I know my weaknesses — I am slow-moving and don’t jump so high — but I employ good strategy and am crafty with a paddle in hand. However, early on I saw that my serve was very weak.

Too many did not make it onto the court consistently. I prayed before each one that the plastic ball would just land somewhere in the designated area. Often it did not. When it did find a piece of the court, it was easy to return by the opposition. I was losing plenty of point-scoring opportunities and burdening my partner.

Although I lacked confidence in my serve, I excelled at the rest of my game. I had to play harder to increase my strengths and compensate for my weaknesses.

For a good six months I played with the handicap of a bad serve. Teammates never said anything negative to me, though they had to be disappointed.

Then, one day, it just clicked, and I found a way to consistently get the ball in and not have it be a weak serve. Instead of being an automatic out, I started scoring points and turned a liability into an asset.

I continued to experiment, work hard, and improve to the point that I arguably have one of the strongest serves amongst the 75 or so different players that I have competed against. All teammates defer to me to start a game as a server.

I change speeds and location. I can get it to spin away or into a player. I can position the serve to set up a score after they struggle and fall out of place to return it. I get my share of aces too. What was my Achilles heel is now my Popeye’s spinach.

So, dear author, I implore you to find a way to change. Invest more time and effort into your marketing. Make a concerted effort to learn what you need to know in order to take ownership of your book marketing. Then, work collaboratively with a book marketer to attack any areas of marketing that still may be lacking.

Learn from my pickleball battles. It really is possible to go from being the ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. You can transform into something more — with effort, knowledge, inspiration, goals, and a desire to be better and do more.

 

Do You Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator! 

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,400,000 page views. With 5,500+ posts over the past 14 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs  by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum

 

 

Interview With Poet Sharon Salomon

1. What inspired you to write this book of poetry? I have gone through massive trauma at various times in my life, and I have consciously focused on healing through various modalities. During 2022, after major life changes, I was on a healing journey and had a spiritual awakening of sorts. I have always been a writer, artist, and musician at heart, and during my opening and healing my writing just started coming through me. At the time I did not think to publish anything. I was honestly just writing as a healing experience. As     time went on and I had more and more in my journal, I decided to publish it, to share it.  

2. What exactly is it about — and who is it written for? It is about transcendence. It is a human experience of pain, loss, grief, trauma, healing, and ultimately love. So, I would say it is for anyone who has gone through something and has struggled to put words to it, or has struggled to express the emotion that wants to flow through. It is about hope, about finding light in the darkness, and then complete transformation. It is also for those interested in spiritual awakening.  

3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? I hope that readers will have a healing experience in the movement of energy - of emotion, which is energy in motion. My hope is that readers let the words touch the heart, and help them heal, and shift. I hope that it ignites a fire in people’s hearts, especially for those who have given up on living their fullest, most passionate lives. 

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? The title of the book is the title of the very first poem. It literally channeled through me while I was on a walk. It honestly felt like some of the words, some of the poetry, came from my ancestors and right through me. The cover is artwork done by Muhammed Salah, who I found on Instagram. I fell in love with his art. All the pictures in the book are his artwork. The feel of his artwork, particularly those images that are out in the cosmos, resonates with me. 

5. You write of abuse, loss, and trauma. What advice do you have for those weathering such storms? I would say that no matter how dark it gets, no matter how alone you think you are, or how dire the situation is, there is always light there for you. You are always one breath, one decision, away from coming back home into your heart. You are always supported by your Guides and many other beautiful beings who are there for you. There is always help available, even for those who don’t have family or close friends on whom they can readily rely. Within the pain, there is opportunity for transformation, and ascension. Be in one tiny moment, and then another, and know that everything can shift.  

6. You also write of healing, gratitude, love, and understanding. What do you say to people who struggle to experience any or all of these things If someone struggles in this way, I would ask them ‘what is the resentment or anger giving you? What is the payoff of holding onto the beliefs that you have running?’ The limiting beliefs, the wounds, the energy, the frequencies, if you will, that we carry in us, subconsciously or even in our energetic imprints from our ancestors or our own past lives, create our reality. Whatever is in that reality is a reflection of what is going on inside of us. We are always operating either in love or in fear. The fears are there to show us where we are protecting ourselves. The fears help us learn and release if we choose to. 

7. Each of your poems are fairly short. Do you feel you can say a lot with so little? Yes, many of the poems are short. When I write, I write until I feel like what wants to be said has been said. I tend to write with simple and straightforward words which cut right through, with depth. So, I hope the experience of the poems bring up feelings, and concepts, which go beyond the length of the poem itself. When reading the same poems over, you will notice deeper layers coming up for you. 

8. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? I have healed from abuse and great loss, and from deepest unhappiness in my life. The growth over the years would be difficult to relay in one paragraph. I went from depressed and unable to truly be myself or trust people, to absolutely free in my skin and in my life. I went from various diagnoses to absolutely healthy, and drug and chemical free. It used to feel like it was impossible to get through terrible events. Now, I’m in a place where I genuinely can embrace them, sometimes even with some excitement for what I will uncover in the experience. For example, “What is this showing me about my wounds, and beliefs? What is it showing me about the energy that wants to be expressed and move? What fragment of me is showing up here, so she can come home?”  

9. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? It would be a great and true honor if my words could, in some way, assist people in their healing. It touches on various topics, and we have all experienced love, loss, desire, longing… I would love it if people went ahead and let the words move them! I would love to touch people’s hearts.  

About The Author: Sharon Salomon is a lover of animals, travel and the journey of the spirit. She believes in loving like your heart is expanding and wrapping itself around the earth, and that if we avoid pain, we miss out on all the good bits.  She works as a Quantum Healer and can be found on https://www.instagram.com/sharon_salomon/.  For more information, please see: www.sharonsalomon.love

Do You Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator! 

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,600,000 page views. With 5,500+ posts over the past 14 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs  by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2026.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum

 

 

 

Is Selling Your Book A Zero Sum Game?

 

 

In professional sports, the zero-sum game is in effect. Someone wins only when someone loses. When a game is played, one team wins, the other loses. Over the course of a season, the team with the most wins has the highest playoff seeding, giving them a potential edge in terms of the level of competition they will face. But it is always clear: winners rule; losers go home.

 

But in the world of book marketing, this is not necessarily so. There are many ways to “win,” and there are not always a finite number of “winners.”

 

For instance, if you consider it a win to sell 100,000 copies of your book in a year’s time, the fact that other books sell that many won’t impact your ability to sell that amount. There are not a limited number of 100,000- copy-selling authors and one person’s ability to sell so many books does not directly correlate to you becoming unable to sell that many. In sports, there’s cause and effect – one wins so the other has to lose; but here, many authors can “win.”

 

Some aspects pf marketing do have limitations and win-lose scenarios built into them. For example, there are only so many NYT best-seller slots in a given week or year that are available to books in a certain category, genre, or format. So, if only 15 books for hardcover nonfiction can make this week’s list, only 15 books get on – and then all others cannot. There are 52 lists per year, so there are 780 different best-seller slots, so at best, if no book ever hits the list more than once in the year, 780 unique books could say they were NYT bestsellers – and any other nonfiction hardcover book is shit out of luck. This has a zero-sum element to it but specifically, just because book X is on the list, it does not mean that book “y” can’t make it. But, still, only so many books can make it.

 

When marketing your book, there are all kinds of opportunities to sell it. If you can’t make the NYT best-seller list this week, maybe you will next week. Perhaps you can hit another list, like Amazon’s or Publishers weekly’s list. Or, forget all of these lists and try something else, like book awards, or speaking engagements. Not your cup of tea? Try social media, direct marketing eblasts, or targeted FB ads. The list goes on.

 

The possibilities are endless – unless you have a close-the-door mentality, finding reasons why you can’t or won’t do something, filled with excuses or complaints about what hasn’t worked, while you miss out on opportunities to seek out what can work for you. There are no enemies or opposing teams out there when you promote a book, though there is stiff competition for your book to get noticed and bought. No zero-sum game limitations here. All that stops you is your attitude. Yes, your skills, knowledge, time, and money are big factors too, but it starts with your attitude, strategy, and execution approaches. Many mediocre books sell, so I can’t even say the quality of your book is always a major factor, though it is admittedly relevant.

 

So, remember, just because another author is successful, does not mean you can’t be as well. Do not create artificial limits on your potential. Pursue all of the opportunities presented to you and that you can create. Your book can win – without someone losing.

 

 

Do You Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator! 

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,350,000 page views. With 5,400+ posts over the past 14 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs  by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum

 

 

How Can Authors Avoid The Book Marketing Scam Victim Psychology?

 

 

Many authors tell me they get multiple emails in a week, sometimes in a day, from purported book promoters looking to work with them.

 

Popular offers include:

 

* Getting you on a bestseller list.

* Introductions to Hollywood producers.

* Tik Tok influencers who will hype you.

* Putting your book in the hands of book clubs.

* SEO strategists who will make your web site popular on search engines.

* Display your book at book fairs.

* Craft and distribute a book trailer.

 

Many offers are BS. 

 

They are either outright scams — you pay and never hear from them — or they don’t fully deliver what they claimed to do, or they do what they promised but the resulting sales are abysmal. Or, they give you what you expected and you get positive results, but you overpaid for that service. 

 

If it sounds too good to be true, it isn’t. 

 

That said, there are legitimate book promoters with solid offerings that end up getting ignored because too many authors are fearful or uneducated about the process. So they do nothing. That would be throwing out the baby with the bath water.

 

My advice: Don’t use the scam publicist excuse to sit by and do nothing. To be crippled by inaction guarantees the death of your book.

 

So, first step: Evaluate all solicitations and determine a way to evaluate them. Consider doing independent research to find someone who has not solicited you if you don’t believe any of the offers that you received are worthwhile. Seek out referrals from writer associations and fellow authors. Maybe you can read an article or blog post by or about a book publicist that speaks to you — like me!

 

Examine solicitation emails for the following:

 

* It contains misspellings.

* The note suffers from broken English.

* Includes words that are not appropriately capitalized. 

* Addresses you not by name but just hello or hi.

* Identifies your book not by title but instead just refers to your book as a book, work, or writings.

* Lavishly praises you in a non-specific way, as if any book could be spoken of.

* Sounds like they actually read the book, which would be a lie, as no marketer has the time. to read on speculation before even reaching out to you to see if you need help.

* Has multiple gaps of spaces between words.

* Sounds so full of kiss-ass lavish praise.

* Appears to be AI generated.

* They don’t give a company name or a last name or use initials instead of a first name.

* Their web site looks crappy.

 

Do a zoom to see who this person is and not settle on a phone call. But do get their number and search online to see who it belongs to Google their individual name and the company name and add words like “lawsuit” “liar” “scam” “hoax” “arrest.”  Ask for testimonials or references. See how long they have been in business. 



That said, do your due diligence but don’t use as an excuse or make an assumption “They are all scams” and never do anything with anyone to market your book. Otherwise, you have scammed yourself and rendered your book dead.



“Intention must be powered with action.”

—NOT SURE WHO NEEDS TO HEAR THIS, BUT...Beautiful Reminders for the Soul by Willie Greene

 

“Use What Motivates Others to Your Advantage”

— WHO BETTERTHAN YOU? The Art of Healthy Arrogance & Dreaming

  

Do You Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator! 

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,400,000 page views. With 5,500+ posts over the past 14 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs  by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum