The
downside of not promoting or marketing your book is huge. You essentially doom
it to failure. However, if your book marketing or book publicity is not done
well, not only do you lose the opportunity to succeed, but you waste resources
in the process. So, what’s the worst that can happen with a lousy PR and
marketing effort?
1.
You’ll
waste money, lots of it.
2.
You’ll
have lost available window of time to promote and market your book.
3.
You’ll
feel lousy, that your campaign failed, maybe even dumb for having made a bad
decision.
4.
If
few books sell as a result of the campaign, you will find it harder to get a
literary agent to represent your next book because publishers don’t want to
invest in authors with bad track records.
5.
If
the book publicity failed to establish your brand you’ll need to launch a new
campaign to do so, for without a solid platform it’s challenging to be seen as
an expert, a speaker, or a serious writer.
6.
The lost opportunity could also bring you to suffer a loss of confidence, leading
you to question your abilities.
So it’s obvious
that a book marketing campaign that falls short can be damaging, so how can you
make sure that you benefit from any partnership that you enter into with a
publicist or marketer?
First, explore
your options. Who seems credible and connected? Who has a solid track record? Choose your partner wisely.
Second, be clear on what you are expecting to be delivered. The scope of the work will indicate
what a vendor is doing. Anything else not included in it is up to you to do, so
don’t neglect those areas.
Third, have ways
to measure performance incrementally so that you can build on various
accomplishments.
Fourth, communication
is key. If you don’t get frequent input from your hired hand or you don’t
receive complete and regularly scheduled updates, there may be something wrong.
Fifth, divide
and conquer. Let one firm handle, say, traditional PR, and let another do
sales/ads/marketing. Carve out what you might do as well. Best not to put all
of your eggs in one basket, though many prefer one-stop shopping. Only do that
if you have complete confidence in your vendor.
Lastly, be
honest with yourself. If your book is nothing exceptional, don’t fool yourself
into thinking throwing money at it will make it a media darling. Be realistic
and you’ll do well.
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Brian Feinblum’s
views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of
his employer, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter
@theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This
is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2013
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