What’s Your Author Edge?

 

Imagine going on a speed dating adventure, where literally every three minutes you meet someone new. In that time, you each have to highlight what makes you an attractive package so that the other person can make a snappy decision as to whether they want to move forward with a date. This process, though perhaps filled with anxiety and awkwardness, is quite effective. It cuts down on the bullshit chit-chat. Get to the point. Sell yourself.   

Well, you need to market yourself and your book in a similar vein. Don’t expect a long conversation and lots of time to share all kinds of stories. Not at first. When you meet someone and want to blurt out your elevator speech, you need to do so quickly (in 30-40 seconds) and must get down to the core elements and best features right away. This is not the time for details. Just tease, flash, and intrigue.  

Find your edge.  

What will make you stand out? Is it:

• Physical traits: face, smile, body, clothes, scent, voice, mannerisms
• Demographics: Race, religion, geography
• Politics: Blue or red
• Values: your beliefs ethics, and ambitions
• Common History: where you lived, schools attended, jobs held, places traveled 
• Views: how you see the world

Look, people will judge you for the smallest and dumbest things. You can’t control all of that but be aware of how you present and come off to another person.  

Ask yourself:

·         Do you communicate your message well?

·         Do you speak with passion and conviction?

·         Do you sound qualified to write your book?

·         Do you seem truthful?

·         Do you enlighten, entertain, inform, or inspire?

·         Do you show how you are unique or different?

·         Do you serve their niche needs? 

You must find your edge, sharpen it, and cut through the clutter. 

Be ready to answer these questions:

·         Your books is about what?

·         Why should I care?

·         What will reading your book do to or for me?

·         Is your writing style to my liking?

·         How is your offer superior to all others? 

Of course, be colorful and loud. Use some great descriptive words to paint a picture. Never lie. Try to discover what the other person needs, wants, or has already experienced. Take what you know or can assume about the other, and shape your pitch to feed back to them what they must hear, and in the way they are open to hearing it, in order to make a sale.

 

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.