BookMarketingBuzzBlog: 2023

Monday, March 27, 2023

Viral Tik Tok Video Reminds Authors It’s Never Too Late To Break Through

There was a story last month about how an 11-year-old book that had virtually no sales shot up to being the No.1 Amazon best-selling thrillers book. It is a story that will inspire all authors to keep trying, for it is never too late to get discovered.

So how did this all happen?

The daughter of author Lloyd Devereaux Richards took to Tik Tok, unknown to her dad, to post a video of her dad working in his office and telling viewers how he always puts family before his writing career, and that even though he spent 14 years writing the book, Stone Maidens, he was still content despite the poor book sales.

The video touched a nerve and was viewed 42.2 million times.

Quite often, the things that we think should make a difference, don’t -- but the things we don’t hold much weight for turn out to be what leads to a breakthrough. Case in point -- you can have a powerful resume but the job you apply for may simply go to someone who did another a favor or has a relationship with the person doing the hiring. This doesn’t mean things don’t happen on merit, but we see many instances when quirky things lead to fame and glory.

Now interestingly, this story, as amazing as it sounds, exposes other things about book marketing. Though it’s cool to hit the top spot of the genre bestseller list, it didn’t crack the top overall Amazon spots. Amazon updates its bestseller list every hour. It’s quite possible to hit No.1 spot for a genre with just a few hundred sales in a one-hour period.

So, though this is a wonderful success story, this book may still not have sold more than a few thousand copies despite 42,000,000 video views. Think about that.

10% of viewers could yield 4.2 million sales. 1% of viewers could yield 420,000 sales. 1 in a thousand views could yield 42,000 sales.

Likely, no more than 1 in every 10,000 views led to a book sale. That seems like some pathetic returns. But in the world of books, that is the picture of success.

Lessons learned here?

· it is never too late to market and be successful

· Despite tens of millions of video views, only a tiny percentage actually buy based on what they see

· To be an Amazon best-seller requires relatively few sales.

Keep hacking away – your breakthrough moment is perhaps one viral video away.

Need Book 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. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

Read This!

How To Get Others To Sell Your Book

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/how-to-get-others-to-sell-your-book.html

Newspapers That Authors Should Contact

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/newspapers-authors-should-contact.html

Messages That Sell Books

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/the-messages-that-sell-books.html

An Author’s Attitude Is Their Biggest Asset

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/authors-attitude-is-biggest-asset.html

Sell Your Books Here & Now

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/sell-your-books-here-now.html

Which Radio Opportunities Should Authors Pursue?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/which-radio-opportunities-should.html

What Authors Need to Do

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/what-authors-need-to-do.html

Which Writer Retreat Serves You Best?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/which-writer-retreat-serves-you-best.html

Is The Self-Publishing Book Boom Slowing Down?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/is-self-publishing-book-boom-slowing.html

How Can Writers Be Smooth Talkers?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/how-writers-can-be-smooth-talkers.html

Can Authors Rebound From A Bad Start?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/can-authors-rebound-from-bad-start.html

About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. 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 3.3 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts over the past dozen years, 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 www.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, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, 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: www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.

Sunday, March 26, 2023

How To Get Others To Sell Your Book

We all agree that authors can get more book sales when they actively market and promote their books. But authors need help. What can they say or do to get another person to help them sell their book?

Think about who can help you — and what might move them to ask others to buy your book. Is it a friend, neighbor, relative, colleague, alumni, or other who can buy your book or even ask others to buy it?

Why do people buy a book?

They may believe you wrote a great book on a topic that interests them. They want or need it — and the price is right. Perhaps they find the title catchy or the cover image alluring. Maybe the timing of your book is perfect and it is conveniently available.

But there are other reasons why people buy a book, as well as sell your book for you, including one or more of these:

Guilt — they feel obligated by your relationship to them. I mean, how could your mom not buy your book? How could your best friend not try to hawk your book for you?

Connection — they hope to become a closer friend and offer to buy your book as a gesture of good will.

Debt — they owe you a favor.

Edge — they are trying to curry a future favor.

Beliefs — they want to support your book’s message and will buy it — and sell copies to others.

Cause — perhaps a book’s sales raise funds for a good cause and they want to contribute by buying a copy and selling your book to others.

Incentive — they can make money from sales — a commission — if they sell your book.

Trade — they might exchange their services or mailing lists for something they perceive to be of equal or greater value. What can you give them in exchange for their resources or help.

Fun — make it an entertaining experience for one to help you.

Learn — show how they will learn something by helping you.

Network — indicate to thrm how they will meet people that could be helpful to them in the process of selling your book.

Internship — teens may help sell the book at no pay but they learn how to market and sell.

Resume — they get sales experience and a reference — and some money —from you if they sell some books.

Valued — make them feel valued and appreciated; thank profusely and tell them you need them.

There are people out there who can help you. Find a way to push the right buttons and you will no longer feel alone in your sales pursuits.