Authors learn about book marketing by researching, consulting the pros, and doing. Trial by error is the most common approach.
But if you can take some pro-active steps,
I would suggest that you:
·
See
what the media is actually covering and find ways to package your message in an
appealing fashion.
·
Know
your direct competition and see why they may be viewed as better – then work
hard to counter such assumptions.
·
Learn
a little about a lot – look at media that covers topics, events and people that
have nothing to do with books or your area of expertise. You may get some ideas of how to pitch
yourself.
·
Observe
other industries and how they market people, products, or events. Can you take
some of those principles and apply it to yourself?
Authors
who work at promoting themselves will ultimately succeed. It’s a numbers game. The more you do, the better chance you
have. However, that’s predicated on your
doing the right things and doing them well.
If you pour your time into something that’s not useful – or into
something relevant but in an ineffective way – you will not go far.
Another
way authors become better book promoters is to hire others to help them. A professional can consult with you or
execute areas of your marketing, social media, publicity, speaking, or
advertising so that you can focus on other areas. Their success can give you a boost – or a head
start – and help you get to the next level.
Authors will be better at book marketing
once they realize:
·
Each
and every day something needs to be done – marketing is not a part-time affair.
·
They
need to act big, not just dream big - they must actually do stuff, not just
make lists and think about them.
·
When
they collaborate with other authors they’ll grow.
·
All
media has value and that nothing’s too small for them to do.
·
They
have to plan many months in advance when it comes to planning road tours,
speaking engagements, contacting major book reviewers, and seeking coverage in
leading magazines.
·
They
need to localize a message to local media and once they secure local coverage,
they can share that with national media.
·
Just
because they may not consume certain media, it doesn’t mean the media is not
worth doing (i.e. – don’t dismiss radio, blogs, or men’s magazines just because
you personally don’t read or listen to them).
·
Great
PR comes with grit, luck, creativity, timeliness, and because you actually have
something worthwhile to share and because you are qualified or perfectly positioned
to share it.
Being
good at promoting a book is an art that takes time to be practiced. The pay-off is worth it. But for many, writers should write, and book
promoters should promote.
DON”T MISS THESE!!!
The Book Marketing Strategies Of Best-Sellers
How Authors Can Sell More Books
No. 1 Book Publicity Resource: 2019 Toolkit For Authors -- FREE
How Authors Get Bulk Sales Now
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 ©2019. 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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