Are
you underperforming when it comes to getting book publicity and if so, what can
you do about it?
In
order to fix a problem, you need to properly assess it. Identify, thus far, your book PR campaign’s
strengths, weaknesses, challenges and opportunities. What areas have potential
for success – and which ones have proven to be unviable?
Underperforming
doesn’t just mean you aren’t achieving results that you hoped to achieve or
even thought reasonably possible to obtain. It means you are below expectations
or the norm. You know you can still do better. So how will you fix this mess?
Start
by identifying what has worked so far.
Think about why it worked.
Continue with that approach. Was
it the angle pitched? Wasn’t it something
you did to convince others to cover your book? what was the method used to reach the media (phone vs. mail vs. in-person
vs. snail mail)? Did you have a
connection that was leveraged? Was there
a tie-in to the news cycle?
Then
look at what hasn’t worked. What could
be modified or overhauled about your approach?
Next,
look at upcoming opportunities. Are there upcoming story angles that you should
utilize, given the news cycle or holidays or honorary days that are coming up
to tie into?
Sometimes
an under-performing PR campaign needs to have goals or revised ones – and it
needs a rededication or commitment to achieving them. Will you spend 20 minutes a day on PR? An hour?
Two hours?
Another
area to explore is that maybe you need help.
Are you prepared to hire someone to help you market and promote your
book?
Look
at what you can expand to and try that you haven’t yet explored. Try seeking bookstore signings or using
Goodreads if you haven’t yet done so.
Look to calling people to present yourself as a speaker or look into
buying digital pay-per-click ads. Look
to fellow authors to trade resources and leads.
Think – and act -- differently if you want different results.
Your
other option, in reaction to an underperforming campaign, is to simply, stop
trying. Shut it down and write it off as
a big mistake and simply move on with your life.
Okay
so that would be a bit premature, extreme, and unproductive, but in certain
rare cases it might be the way to go.
Perhaps you guessed wildly wrong about your book’s potential appeal and
it’s time to stop the bleeding.
But
most authors are bullish about their books and every book needs time and
resources to succeed. Take a good look
at things and seek to make changes and improvements. By retooling your book
publicity campaign you’ll have a chance to make it a success.
DON”T MISS THESE!!!
What is the payoff for authors to getting a million clicks?
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marketer?
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themselves?
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marketing
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Enjoy New 2018 Author Book Marketing & PR Toolkit --
7th annual edition just released
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