Authors: Shine A Spotlight Only On Certain Things

 

What do we tell ourselves? What do we tell others? Is it the same story? Is it truthful? 

I have one rule with publicity: Don’t lie. But you don’t have to tell the truth. 

Huh? 

Never lie, but you are under no legal or moral obligation to say everything. Only discuss the highlights, the appealing parts -- and skip or omit the areas you fall short in. See the difference? 

For instance, let’s say you got a mediocre book review from a magazine. Quote the best line -- and scrap the rest. It is not a lie, just not the whole truth.  

In marketing, advertising, speaking social media, and traditional media, we filter what we say and of course, seek to make ourselves look as best as we can. Forget the circumstances, shortfalls, or mistakes that your book may hold. Accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.  

The worlds of sales, politics, and fashion only know from the positives -- and anything else gets buried or ignored.  

In PR, the news media, politics, advertising, social media, or even our lives, we manipulate the image or message that we want people to see. Reality is not always this concrete, objective thing - it’s about facts and perceptions, theories and histories, and a blend of opinions. 

Authors need to figure out what they need to say and highlight and what they should remain silent on and avoid. No lies… just limit which truths will be shared.  

It may sound sinister, but it’s no different than how you may get when submitting a resume for a job or crafting a profile for a dating app. You ignore and silence the parts of your life that do not make you look so great. The same approach should be taken when you promote your book and market yourself. 

Call it the obituary factor. Obituaries don’t usually, bring up negatives. It’s not a full scorecard of one’s life, It’s merely a one-sided, all- positive retelling of one’s story. That’s the formula for book publicity. 

So, stop thinking about your negatives, losses, shortcomings, or weaknesses. Ignore them and erase them from your mindset or mouth. Only go out there and paint the picture that you want to be seen. 

Please Contact Me For Book PR 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. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres.

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2022. 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 award-winning blog has generated over 3.2 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts over the past decade, it 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 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Susan RoAne, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, IBPA, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.