Monday, February 3, 2020

What Should You Do To Market Your Book?


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If you ask a dozen home decorators for advice on how to fix your home up, no doubt you will receive 12 different opinions, with some overlap.  Why?  Because the possibilities are endless as to what you can do to a house.  Plus, each of these pros are experts at different things with their own sense of taste.  One decorator is not as good as another.

And neither is a marketer.

A room of marketers will express a wide range of views, based on their training, experience, knowledge, abilities, and preferences. More specifically, to market a book is not necessarily the same as marketing a widget. Still, some core principles are honored.

No matter what is marketed, you must determine:

·         Who is the spokesperson?
·         What’s the budget for advertising, marketing, and PR?
·         What or who makes up your core market?
·         Which are the best ways to reach your core market?
·         What message will inspire a purchase?

The world of marketing is huge.  You could quickly draw up a checklist of things you should do to market a book, which may include:

·         Developing a website.
·         Crafting press kit materials.
·         Contacting traditional and online media.
·         Pursuing social media.
·         Blogging and/or podcasting.
·         Speaking tour/webinars/teleseminars.
·         Advertising.
·         Attending conferences.

But what else may be important to you? What about:

·         Hiring influencers on social media.
·         Paying for book reviews.
·         Email marketing.
·         Direct mail to solicit bulk book buys.
·         Search Engine Optimization.
·         Telemarketing.
·         Cause marketing.
·         Affiliate selling.
·         Co-branding.
·         Word-of-mouth campaigns.
·         Referral programs.
·         Networking events.
·         Use of give-aways.
·         Buying mailing lists.

The list can go on and on. Here’s what I would suggest:

First, list your goals and objectives.

Second, set a timeline to achieve them and identify the smaller steps that need to get executed over a period of time.

Third, set a budget of your time and money.

Fourth, decide what you’ll do, what gets outsourced, and what gets ignored.

Five, do the things that are achievable, affordable, and within your skill set.

Six, expand to dreaming bigger and reaching further. Take a chance. Experiment.  Go out of your comfort zone.

Lastly, no matter how it turns out, keep going. The next book will benefit from the good and bad of this campaign. But as long as you are marketing your book and brand, you’re ahead of 90% of all authors.


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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 ©2020. 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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