A
few days ago I sent out an email blast to hundreds of publishers, seeking to
represent them and their authors. Like a
good book marketer, I wanted to get their attention, so I suggested that what
makes a book successful is not just the quality of the book’s content and
credentials of its author but one’s ability to promote the heck out of it.
Not
a radical idea. I thought I was saying
the obvious. But one publisher wrote me
back in anger, as if I personally accused him of being a failure. Maybe he is a failure, I have no idea. However, the fact is that most books will
struggle to be profitable let alone a verifiable success, unless there’s a good
publicity campaign to support them.
Perhaps
more authors and publishers than I’m aware of really don’t understand how book
publicity works. I recently spoke to the
CEO of an innovative company who also doesn’t quite get it. He wanted to launch a series of books purely
with Facebook ads and the sending out of a few press releases. He didn’t plan on sending out advance review
copies and he didn’t fully value or understand he needed to build a buzz months
before his book’s release.
Folks,
books don’t sell themselves. They need
to be discovered, yes, but they also need to be heavily marketed. One should utilize a combination of resources
to get attention, from social media and traditional media to speaking,
advertising, and seeking bulk sales.
Now,
there are some ugly truths out there:
Just
because you market a book, doesn’t mean it will succeed. But if you don’t try to market it, failure is
guaranteed.
Even
with a big spend, publicity exposure maybe limited. Spend wisely, but again, without pursuing
publicity it won’t come to you.
Not
all methods work for all people – ads may help one, but not another; some
speakers sell books and others do not; lots of media may skyrocket one book but
leave another struggling. You’ll have to
experiment to find what works best for you, but know that good book marketing
positions you for stronger branding and sales – and helps you influence others
with your empowering message.
Remember,
not all book marketing has to lead to lots of sales immediately to be deemed a
success. It builds you up for the
long-term, not just the short-term. When
you seek to get a new job or a promotion, when you look for representation by a
good literary agent, when you seek to move people’s hearts and minds, and when
you seek to get more speaking gigs, people will look at your media resume as a
point of reference.
Look
at the alternative.
What’s your strategy if you don’t spend time and resources on marketing your book? How lucky do you hope to be to have people seek out a book they don’t know exists? How will consumers, librarians, bookstores, and others get excited for or curious about your book if they’ve been told nothing about it?
What’s your strategy if you don’t spend time and resources on marketing your book? How lucky do you hope to be to have people seek out a book they don’t know exists? How will consumers, librarians, bookstores, and others get excited for or curious about your book if they’ve been told nothing about it?
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Enjoy New 2018 Author Book Marketing
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