Authors
– and publishers – desperately want their books to succeed. However, what isn’t clear is how much money
or resources should be allocated to properly market and promote a book. Here
are some things to consider when pondering the size of your investment:
1.
You Need To Do
Something
Sure
some books “get discovered” and sell from “word-of-mouth,” but even those
situations need something to precede them.
Some level of time and money needs to be applied properly so that the
media, retailers, libraries, and consumers know you exist. Doing nothing is not
an option.
2.
Budgets Can’t Be
Dictated By Emotions Or Production Costs
Authors
set budgets based on hope, ego, or fear and desperation. None of that should play a role here. Similarly, just because you already spent
thousands to edit, produce and ship your book, now’s not the time to shut the
wallet. Promoting your book is more
important than writing it.
3.
Diversify
Expenditures
Think
of your book as an investment and as such, you want to diversify your
portfolio. Divide your budget into PR
and marketing. PR is the securing of media and speaking events, while marketing is advertising, direct mail, and sponsorships. Most of your budget should go to PR. When you get the media to interview you, write
about you, or allow you to contribute content it comes off as a third-party
endorsement.
Within
your PR budget, consider hitting at least two types of media, such as radio and
online. There’s also print and
television. There’s local and national media, newsletters, industry trades, and
social media. Put your hand in more than one pot.
4.
Experiment But
Give It Enough Time
If
you do something you want to know it works, so you test it. But too many people make too much out of a
small sample. It would be like looking at the primary returns and trying to
predict a winner with just 1% of the returns in. Monitor what you do, but give it enough time
to judge its performance.
5.
Find Things That Are
Free
Plenty
of PR is free but time-consuming. How
much time will you budget to solicit bookstore signings, guest-posts on blogs,
or handing fliers out at an event? Still,
do the things you have the time to do while you pay others to do the things you
have less time, knowledge, or even a desire to do.
After
you make your initial expenditures and add up the wins and losses, you’ll reach
a critical point where you ask yourself:
Should I spend more money and if so, on what? Should I stop?
The
answer depends on two things: What’s
been working and how many opportunities exist in that area? You also need to go
back and look at what you’re trying to accomplish. You need clear goals to serve as your metric
to define success.
For
instance, you may want to promote a book to sell more books. If what you’re
doing is not profitable, you may decide to toss in the towel. However, if your objectives involve other
goals, such as branding, influencing others, or selling something else, then
you need to see if you are in fact succeeding in those areas.
Branding
oneself simply means to build up one’s profile and to look good when someone
Googles you. If you are getting some media exposure, keep at it. are you increasing your social media follower totals?
Influencing
others has to do with getting your message out and helping others to see a
different viewpoint and to be aided by your words. are you getting feedback that your message is being heard and felt?
Selling
something else could involve other books, videos, seminars or services. You may
use the PR and marketing campaign to draw people to your website and then once
there, you can monetize their visit. Are you seeing an increase in website traffic?
2016 Book Marketing & Book Publicity Toolkit
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