Where Should Authors Advertise?

 

For authors seeking to market their message and sell more books, where should they advertise?

My gut reaction is to say “nowhere” but a better answer is “it depends.”

It depends on:

* What your goals are

* What your budget is

* What your other options are

Most advertising campaigns for most authors don’t work out well. They fail to sell enough books to make back the cost. But, ads could work if:

* Your book price is high enough to cover the ad costs

* You get more than a royalty from a book sale

* You have published several books, where the sale of one book could lead the reader to also buy your backlist if he likes your writing style

* You offer other services/products/events and the ad leads people to your site

* Your ad’s goal is to get a message out and to brand yourself as a leader and writer

* You seek to give something away, such as a book or content

Your ad budget can be tricky. Print ads for most authors are cost-prohibitive and not profitable. The only time print ads make sense is if you are already famous and you want to alert fans that your newest book is available. Print ads that need to introduce a new author or explain a book have too much of an uphill battle.

Digital ads are better and more cost-effective, but it likely will take too many costly clicks to generate a book sale when using pay-per-click ads on Google, Facebook, or Amazon.

Instead of advertising your book, pay for book reviews. That will get you more attention and credibility. If you have more budget, fund book award submissions or pay for special promotions. You can pay to boost strong blog posts on social media. You can also hire a publicist to generate media exposure for you or an experienced book marketer (I know a guy — hint, hint) who can show you how to market yourself successfully.

Other forms of advertising may have a pay-off, such as postcard mailings, handing out fliers, or doing gift-bag inserts at a targeted event.

So, where should you pay to advertise? It depends.

 

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. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

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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.