The Book Marketing Makeover

I went to Lord & Taylor last week – and the Gap – hoping to begin a long-needed makeover.  I got a haircut and also decided I would look into getting a nice watch.  The time has come for me to become someone who was always inside of me but for any number of reasons never fully realized.  I know I can’t stray too far from my essence, but I could certainly improve and benefit from a change.  I want to be realistic, but optimistically aggressive.  For authors and publishers, a book marketing makeover might be necessary.

How do you know if you need a book publicity makeover?

1.      Ask yourself if you are satisfied with the results you are getting.  Could you do better?

2.      If you were to change something, add something or stop doing something, what would you do?

3.      Do you see others doing a better job but you feel you could do just as well – if not better – than they are doing to promote a book?

What do you need for a book marketing makeover?

1.      An open mind on what to do

2.      Discipline to stick to your changes

3.      Confidence in yourself

4.      Ideas on what to change

5.      A willingness to invest more time and money into book publicity

Which areas might need to be changed?

Examine everything – nothing is sacred.  If it’s broke, fix it.  If it’s doing well, find out how to enhance it.  Have a vision, but be willing to change it.  Be gutsy.

You should look at:

·         Website – Visually or content wise, what needs fixing up?

·         Social Media – Are you active on all platforms and participating regularly?

·         Blog – Do you post often on it and share it with others?

·         New Media – Have you approached the media and secured coverage?

·         Sales – How is your distribution pipeline?

·         Speaking Engagements – How often do you speak?  How big are the groups?

·         Advertising – Are you spending your money wisely?

·         Your Appearance – Can you improve or clean up your image?

·         Branding – What is your brand and how do you communicate it to others?

·         Time – Are you putting in the hours necessary to market your book?

·         Budget – Have you invested funds in PR and marketing so you can achieve a solid ROI?

As with any makeover, some will respond favorably, some will not.  The changes you make will hopefully yield a positive net and will be worth your time, effort, and risk.  The only way to change your circumstances and improve your chances of success is to keep at book marketing and to evaluate it periodically to see if you need to do a book marketing makeover.

In Case You Missed It…

Can You Overcome 16 Obstacles To Being A Successful Writer?

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/overcoming-16-obstacles-to-being.html

Print Book Sales Are Growing

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/print-book-sales-climbing-higher.html

Ready For The $500 Book?

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-500-dollar-book-great-deal.html

How you will master the book marketing science of Captivology

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/will-you-master-book-marketing-science.html

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. 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 © 2015