I
must get asked at least once a day by authors:
“How do I break through?”
How
does one answer that? It takes the
following – in combination of some kind:
1.
Great
book
2.
Luck
3.
Tireless
promotions
4.
Effective
marketing
5.
Creative
approach to branding and sales
It
requires these traits:
·
Courage
to try
·
Resilience
to rejection
·
Savvy,
pushy approach
·
Willingness
to apply time and financial resources
·
Grounded
in reality but optimistic and filled with hope
·
Act
with a sense of urgency
·
Good
networking skills
·
Have someone be your champion
Answering
the breakthrough question is a little like answering these questions:
·
How
do I meet my soul mate?
·
How
do I raise super successful kids?
·
How
do I live to be 95 or more?
More
important than asking the question, one must look introspectively and deeply to
find his or her own answer. You must
determine how badly you want this, and honestly assess how deserving you are of
it. Ask yourself; what else are you
willing to do or change that could yield greater results?
Everyone
wants to breakthrough but few know what to do and even fewer are willing or
able to do what it takes. Still, there’s
no guaranteed, foolproof method that can be applied by anyone for any book just
because they want to break through, even if it seems like they deserve a break.
Bad
things happen to nice people – and sometimes good things fail to materialize for
great writers. But there’s no reason to
feel defeated. If you are a truly talented writer and you believe in yourself, you just have to find the path
that leads to open doors. You’ll need to
take a risk and extend yourself, but greatness has a way of finding the
spotlight it seeks.
Perhaps
one’s breakthrough shall come when he or she takes an unconventional path. Rather than think best-seller list, awards,
or even major coverage in a top media outlet, think of other ways to build a readership and develop a growing fan base.
Think beyond the obvious.
What
do some authors do to break through?
1.
Participation in a huge book giveaway or charity event so they can get free exposure for their
book and generate reviews and strong word-of-mouth demand.
2.
Take
out a full-page ad in a trade publication that provokes a strong reaction.
3.
Land
some powerful testimonials from famous people.
4.
Get
amazing reviews from leading media outlets.
5.
Create
a video that goes viral.
6.
Pay
a book promoter or marketer to help you get out of the clutter pile.
7.
Get
someone famous or in the news to mention how the book changed their life.
8.
Do
a gimmicky event or get arrested or get attention with a public protest.
9.
Link
the book to a major lawsuit.
Demonstrate
how the book impacted real lives (such as a diet book that led someone to drop
140 pounds). You can’t break through unless you take ownership of the frame of
mind that you:
·
Can
do it.
·
Are
deserving of it.
·
Can’t
be denied of your destiny.
Attitude
drives the bus. You need a healthy dose
of confidence, faith and conviction – but not bloated ego. You should believe in yourself based on the
merits, but not simply feel entitled to success without any basis.
Someone
has to break through, why not you? But
we can’t all break through, so answer:
Why you?
You
may conclude that the current book is not the one that will get you noticed on
a grand scale. Sometimes success comes
on the second or third book. Keep
plugging away, keep learning and remain vigilant. Your time will come – provided you keep
pushing it and the stars align your way.
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Your 2017 Complete Author Book Marketing & PR Toolkit
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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 2017©. Born and raised in Brooklyn, now resides in Westchester. Named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs
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