“The
greatest advances come not from new inventions, but from novel combinations of
already existing ones.”
This
was a quote from a Psychology Today
article about improving one’s brain functionality. I wonder if it can be applied to book
marketing.
Authors
are always looking for a convenient, quick, easy, and inexpensive way to
promote their books, market their brands, and project their messages on a wide
scale. Are there shortcuts to this?
Maybe
the way to promote a book successfully today is to draw upon existing methods
and combine some of them in a unique way that gives you an advantage over other
authors.
Is
there something that you can borrow from another industry and apply it to what
you do with your book? For instance, you
may be familiar with speed dating, where you attend an event and every two
minutes you talk to a new person.
Perhaps the book world can have speed marketing, where you line up
potential readers and you get two minutes with each one to make an impression
as to why they should buy your book.
Here’s
another idea. Everyone loves dog
videos. Use a dog, or many of them, to
participate in a funny 3-minute video on your book. No matter what your book is
about, you will get viewers.
People
will go to a galley to see art, photography, or something visual. Why not have a gallery display selected texts
from your book? They can create 10-12
poster-size excerpts of your book and display them on their walls for a
two-hour book-signing event. Maybe
people will get lured by one of the passages and buy a book.
Try
a Cracker Jacks approach. People love
getting a prize, especially in a box of a yummy-tasting snack. Work out a deal with a local store or farmer’s
market to give out your book for free when consumers make a purchase over a
certain dollar amount. The store can pay
you something for each book given away because it served to induce a purchase
of their product – and you’ll gain word-of-mouth exposure from the readers.
Do
what soap-box politicians and community activists do – pull up a box to stand
on, perhaps in a park, on a street corner, or outside a high-traffic location
like a mall, and start speaking about your book.
Your
book should be sold the way other opportunists hawk products. When it rains,
sell umbrellas. When it’s hot, sell
water. When it’s a festive day, like the
Fourth of July, sell balloons or fireworks.
Tie your book’s message into something that’s timely and sell your book
as the perfect gift for that holiday or moment.
Think
of how other items get sold and copy or mix these methods together to sell more
copies of your book. If you do well, others will likely copy you!
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Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative
opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone
and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him
on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels
much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2018. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in
Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and
IBPA’s Independent. This was named one of the best book
marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the
top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best
resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America.
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