Authors can confound me with their state of mind. All too often they suffer from a drama of their own making. Indeed, the writer’s DNA, perhaps filled with lots of creative talent, is also supplemented with measured doses of fear, depression, challenge, needs, goals, laziness, ignorance, and ego. They sabotage themselves and can be their own worst enemy when it comes to book marketing. My professional opinion and advice?
Stop your baby-ass whining, make decisions, and take action!
Ok, so maybe I am being too hard on authors who make Hamlet look decisive, but in over 30 years of speaking with well over what must be 25,000 authors of all levels of notoriety and genre affiliation, I see a terrible pattern plaguing authors. They all too often stall when it comes to doing the things they must do.
But I can’t just tell them, “Hey, get your act together,” and expect them to do so any more than one can tell some obese person to put the bag of chips down and expect them to immediately comply. And yet, it seems that simple and straight forward. No second opinions are needed here. Authors, you know what I am talking about.
Okay, let’s look at the reasons – er, excuses – that authors fail to seize their book marketing moment:
· Been burned before by other promoters or advertisers.
So what? You had bad dates too – you didn’t stop dating
others, did you?
· Don’t know who to trust.
Follow your gut, do some research, and have faith. Take a chance and partner with someone.
· Not sure what to do.
Learn what to do. Don’t use ignorance as a crutch.
· Don’t believe they have time.
Make the time. You schedule what is important, and this is important.
· Believe they lack the needed skills.
Learn. Read a book. Take a course. Hire a coach. Experiment.
· Are not sure they should put money into this.
Of course, you should spend money. This is an investment. Don’t mortgage the house, but don’t cheap out on your dream.
· Fear of failure.
You can’t be inert because you are concerned you won’t succeed. You create your own prophecy if you don’t at least try to market your book.
· Fear of success.
You should be so lucky! Go out there and claim what could be yours. You will figure out how to manage “too many” sales and the burden of positive attention, should they come your way.
· They feel shy and uncomfortable with putting themselves in the spotlight.
Get over it. If you don’t talk it up for yourself, no one
else will.
So here is
the solution:
· Identify a pool of possible marketing activities to draw from, such as social media, traditional media, speaking, networking, advertising, book awards, etc.
· Determine what truly needs to be done and set a priority of order and timeline in place.
· Consider doing some things, especially what you like to do or feel capable of doing.
· Hire a pro to do other things. Outsource to meet the needs of where you are not as strong skilled or willing to do.
· Let go of what you won’t get to do or can’t afford to hire another to do. Just accept it and move on. No need to torment yourself and deliberate endlessly over the same shit. Do not feel tormented by guilt over not doing everything. Celebrate the things you are doing.
One thing you should do is hire a consultant, a professional book marketing coach who can teach and inform you, alerting you to best practices as to what you can do to help yourself. These are skills and resources that you will need as a writer throughout your writing career. Learn this once and you have it for life. You should be open to coaching. Every other aspect of Americans’ lives consists of one or more coaches. Take a look at this not-so-comprehensive list:
·
Career coach
·
Gym trainer
·
Class tutor
·
Sports coach
·
College admissions consultant
·
Financial advisor
·
Marriage counselor
·
Therapist
·
Party planner
·
Interior decorator
·
Accountant
·
Lawyer
·
Nutritionist
·
Personal shopper
Think of all the service industries out there, filled with millions of people who mainly talk, listen, and support. A book marketer is one of the people authors most certainly need in their life.
So, dear author, stop all of the bullshit and get real. There is no need for you to:
·
Sit on the sidelines in a state of confusion, fear, or
ignorance.
·
Operate under misconceptions or myths.
·
Accept crushed dreams or past failures as your
fate.
·
Lament over excuses that don’t really have currency.
·
Think book marketing is for another day. Get a sense of urgency.
·
Operate under wrong assumptions, think the timing
is wrong, or to feel incompetent.
We all need a new set
of eyes -- trained, experienced, and hungry – to help us with our book
marketing. We all need professional guidance to reaffirm our approach -- or to lead
us onto a better path, see new possibilities, and to instill hope -- even
optimism.
Today’s book marketer is your therapist, architect,
and lawyer all wrapped in one, here to support, craft, and advocate. Really, today’s book marketer is your
dominatrix, the one who truly understands what holds you back from getting exactly
what you want and need. Let me be your dominatrix. Pleasure will come from the
pain.
You just have to step away from the comfort of your
whine and seize the opportunity right before you.
Contact
Brian For Marketing Help!!
Brian Feinblum, the
founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to
help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand.
Learn, Grow, Succeed!!
Today Is Go Market Your Book Day
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/today-is-go-market-your-book-day.html
Fight
Against Seussism! Stop Banning Books!
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/fight-against-seussism.html
How to Get More Social Media Connections
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/follow-me-on-twitter-theprexpert.html
How Authors Can Build Their List Of Potential Book Buyers
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/how-can-authors-build-their-list-of.html
Author Report Cards: Do You Make The Grade?
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/author-report-cards-do-you-make-grade.html
Why Authors Don’t Get What They Want
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/why-authors-dont-get-what-they-want.html
How Can Authors Market More Efficiently?
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2021/01/how-can-authors-market-more-efficiently.html
Are You A Book Marketing Badass?
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/are-you-book-marketing-badass.html
How Authors Should Build A Platform
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/how-authors-should-build-platform.html
About Brian Feinblum
Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter
@theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2021. Born and
raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and
Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The
Writer and IBPA’s The Independent. This was named
one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby 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. It was also named by WinningWriters.com
as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity
for Book Expo America. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.
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